Emily Wells 'Dirty' album

Emily Wells, a standout on last fall's sold-out Hotel Café tour, will preview material from Dirty, her upcoming EP, on a March tour that includes two shows at SXSW and supporting slots for Meiko and The Tallest Man on Earth. Dirty - which will be released on May 26th via Well's own label, creative control - follows her acclaimed 2008 album, The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties, which garnered play on such tastemaker stations as Los Angeles' KCRW and New York City's WFUV.

"Wells carves up elegant, classically based pop tunes and frosts them with Björk/Kate Bush-style embellishments...This multi-instrumentalist is multitalented, with subtle powers of magic and persuasion," said the LA Weekly while Flavorpill noted: "no one raises the bar for exquisitely crafted, orchestral (and danceable) indie folk like Emily Wells..."

On Dirty, Wells weaves folk, classical, hip-hop and experimental influences, effortlessly mixing up loops and samples with archaic instrumentation. From the ethereal, spine-tingling soundscape she conjures in "Symphony 9 & the Sunshine remix" to the playful "Whiskey & Rags," Wells' unexpected juxtapositions delight at every turn. For the sly, sensual "Take It Easy San Francisco," she elects to accompany herself on ukulele and, between symphonies, she tosses in a cover of Notorious B.I.G.'s classic "Juicy," slowing it down and turning it into an ambient dream, with violin and synths butting up against beats. You can check out the latter in the feature on Wells that aired recently on NPR's "All Things Considered".

"I love the studio," says Wells, who performs live as a trio, bringing drummer Sam Halterman and bassist Joey Reina along with her. "So I do a lot of live sampling and looping in an attempt to bring the studio to the stage. All the live looping is like a sporting event, or keeping the first take of every recording. I could fall off the balance beam...which makes it all so much more exciting."

Emily Wells tour dates
3/13 San Diego, CA The Loft/UC San Diego
3/15 Hermosa Beach, CA Saint Rocke (opening for Meiko)
3/26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour (opening for The Tallest Man on Earth)
3/19 Austin, TX Billions SXSW Showcase at Buffalo Billiards
3/20 Austin, TX SXSW Day Stage

Emily Wells biography
I love rap music and Vivaldi. Nina Simone and Biggie Smalls make my world go round. The first record i really, you know, heard, in headphones, was Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence". I play the violin and have since i was a little kid. Growing up, my home was filled with music. There was a lot of singing, french horn playing, and symphony listening, plus youth orchestras, church choirs and xylophones, I use to listen to the classic rock station in a three up front car with my two best friends, the windows cracked and the Indiana winter creeping in. I was born in Texas.

I love the studio, it could very well be my favorite place, (especially when it's raining). So I do a lot of live sampling and looping in an attempt to bring the studio to the stage. All the live looping is like a sporting event, or keeping the first take of every recording. I could fall off the balance beam... which makes it all so much more exciting.

As a dirty teen I would sneak into a tiny jazz hole in the wall almost every night and watch the band play. My favorite person there was an old upright bass player with a bushy smile. The women who worked there knew I wasn't of age... They served me coffee while I fell in love with jazz and live performance.

I really like to make beats, sample old records, but I often leave the beats up to my favorite drummer, Sam. Joey is the bass player and together we make a live trio. I started playing with them both a couple of years ago while making my first record "Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks." Even though I made and released a number of cassette tapes and CDs before that, I call "Sleepyhead" the first because all the others were similar to going to college. Very important, very influential to my future, but mostly, they were about learning. This year I released my latest work, "The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties", which consists of 10 songs heavily influenced by classical music and hip hop production.

I'm interested in old or odd instruments, samplers and synthesizers, mallets, and analogue reverb. I collect toy pianos, though I only have three. I'm interested in songs, and word play, and sonatas. I'm curious.... Most of all, I'm grateful for every day I get to make music.

press quotes
"Wells carves up elegant, classically based pop tunes and frosts them with Björk/Kate Bush-style embellishments... This multi-instrumentalist is multitalented, with subtle powers of magic and persuasion; she even "taught the neighborhood how to creep for you." -Falling James LA WEEKLY

"Many great composers have struggled to write nine symphonies in their lifetimes – think of Beethoven or Mahler. Now, a 20-something singer and violinist named Emily Wells has released an album containing ten symphonies. As you’ll hear, the term "symphony" is used rather loosely here; these are really electronic-folk songs that fuse layers of strings, bass, and drums to create rolling sonic textures. Working in her own recording studio, Wells played up to 21 separate tracks of violin on each symphony, often using an octave pedal to create the tones of a cello or viola. You can hear that DIY feel in the track, "Symphony Number 6."-picked by Brian Wise -WNYC's CD picks:

“Multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells says she's ‘most influenced by the songs and voices of Nina Simone and Bob Dylan.’ You can hear it in Emily's music. She's a singer-songwriter with unconventional and often chilling vocals." -NPR

"Emily Wells has a quavering, angelic voice that has a little aura of strangeness." -iTunes (indie spotlight)

"... she's something of a music phenomenon. She started playing violin during her pre-school years and was fielding record label offers at the age of 17. But she didn't want to be the pop star they were hoping to create, so she kept on her own path which eventually led to Los Angeles. It's hard to describe her music – I can start by calling it pop with classical elements (she's an incredible violin player). But with all the layers and layers of music, the songs end up sounding like symphonies – as they are named on her record. And to keep us guessing further, she covered the song "Juicy" by the Notorious B.I.G. Definitely keep an eye out for this one and check her out live if you can." -KCRW music news.. VOX

"....no one raises the bar for exquisitely crafted, orchestral (and danceable) indie folk like Emily Wells, who's celebrating the release of her ambitious new album. The Symphonies: Dreams Memories and Parties has been years in the making, and its soaring arrangements and heartbreaking harmonies are well worth the wait." – FLAVORPILL

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Emily Wells - Dirty