Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Sage.
Emily, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Hi! I’m Emily Sage, an Independent singer/songwriter based out of Charlotte, NC. Writing love songs and lullabies is my passion. I lean jazz and soul with a romantic songwriting style that is largely influenced by my time spent growing up in Portugal.
In 2012, I moved to Nashville, TN to study Songwriting and Music Business at Belmont University. This was such an incredible experience and am so grateful for the relationships I made here and everything I learned from my peers and professors. There was one thing I learned in Nashville that was difficult to hear, I was told quite a few times that my music is too slow, too boring, too depressing, too 6/8. That was hard to hear because I absolutely love ballads and lullabies. I love soft, jazzy, acoustic songs that sound like they were written for a movie. So that was pretty discouraging to hear over and over that the art you love isn’t that good and won’t be successful.
After graduating I needed a change of scenery for some clarity in direction with my life and career. I decided to move to Charlotte, NC in hopes of finding some clarity, because my family had recently moved to the area. After moving to Charlotte, I felt incredibly alone and even more confused about my path. One Sunday morning the pastor of the church I was going to started talking about Jeremiah 29:5-7 where it talks about investing in the place you have been brought to and pray for the city where you live no matter how long you intend to stay. I was inspired and convicted to pursue my music career even though I had barely any connections, recognition, or experience.
In the summer of 2018, I started an intimate concert series called CLT Loft Sessions which was held in a workspace loft in the South End of Charlotte. I didn’t have an EPK in order to get booked in a “real venue” so I created my own. It was so much work, way more than I thought, but this gave me the opportunity curate the full experience of my live performances from lighting, seating, and sound, to the person greeting people at the door— everything was encouraged to be welcoming. I sang 45 minutes’ worth of ballads and lullabies and invited local independent artists to perform their own unique sets at those concerts as well. After the first Loft Session, every event since has sold out (80-100 ppl). This was crazy to me. A crazy blessing.
Since I’ve been generously invited to perform at other concert events in Charlotte, I didn’t dream of playing when I first moved to Charlotte such as Sofar Sounds, the Charlotte Women’s March, US National Whitewater Center, The Jazz Room, and the Knight Theatre. My music has also been featured on NPR’s Here & Now, WFAE’s Amplifier, DEF | CLT, and the Queen City Nerve. In QC Nerve’s “Best in The Nest,” I was named Critic’s Pick Best Singer/Songwriter of 2019 and honestly, I’m going to hold onto that encouragement for a while.
There are ups and downs in the entertainment industry and as a creative it can be exhausting to produce and be judged by the bite-sized versions of your heart that you constantly wear on your sleeve. There is nothing more special than to be able to write and perform and share my songs and my story and hopefully encourage someone else to do the same. There is so much power in art, it speaks eternally beyond what the maker of that piece could say, because it travels farther than my reach and speaks into the lives of whoever decides to listen to Spotify discover or add a song to their playlist. It’s something magical.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
One of the biggest challenges is believing in myself. I have learned that it is so important to set boundaries for myself and my career that will keep me consistent when I am feeling like I can take on the world and say yes to everything and boundaries that will keep me on the path for when I am overwhelmed and don’t believe in myself and start to question everything.
We’d love to hear more about your music.
My debut single, “Nearer To You,” was released in March of 2019 and is available on all digital streaming platforms. The song was co-produced by Dylan Byrnes and Grammy-award winning producer and songwriter Swagg R’Cellious. It’s about desiring physical intimacy and vulnerability and being ready for that step, which is why I chose that to be my debut single. Just as the song is about being ready to be intimate with another, I am ready to be intimate and vulnerable by sharing my music with the world. I’m currently in the studio working on new solo music with my producers as well as some collaborations with Emmy Award-winning composer and producer, Jason Hausman and local rapper and producer YUNG Citizen. Expected 2020 release.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in Portugal (a third-culture-kid) until moving to the States for university. My experience was very international. Elementary through high school I went to an international school and had friends from all over the world and had the opportunity of learning about other cultures and traditions from other expats. This cultivated in me a love for learning about others and creating a safe, welcoming space for people to be themselves freely and enjoy other people who may be unlike them in background or worldview.
I grew up listening to a ton of Andrea Bocelli, Norah Jones, traditional Portuguese Fado music, and Disney Classics. This all definitely influenced my songwriting style as well as my love for classical music and jazz. It also stirred in me a love for musicals and music with imagery, which has actually inspired a lot of the themes in my upcoming music releases.
Though I could write pages and pages about my roots, these are the two things that have influenced my path the most. I am so grateful for my time in Portugal and the lessons I learned from living in an ever-changing, international community. I am so grateful for the teachers I had throughout my childhood who encouraged me to create, to sing, to study, to learn, to love, to explore freely, to have high standards of excellence, to have grace, and to create some more. I wouldn’t be where I am and I wouldn’t be who I am without every one of those people.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.emilysagemusic.com
- Email: info@emilysagemusic.com
- Instagram: @emilysagemusic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/emilysagemusic
Image Credit:
Erick Hodge, Colin Cassidy, Adam Eugene, and Heather Liebler
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
