Performing with Ronnie King on 3/26 at The Dune Room in Indio
No matter the genre, gig or setting, Emily V brings her Rock and Roll attitude to each show she’s a part of. Known for her virtuosity on the violin, the electricity that protrudes from her performances are palpable. You can witness Emily V live on March 26th at The Dune Room in Indio as she helps celebrate the release of Oscar and Grammy nominated producer and keyboardist Ronnie King’s album, Argentinian Nights. The Los Angeles-based violinist will be performing a solo set and if we’re lucky, she’ll join Ronnie on a song or two.
Not Your Typical Violinist
With the fitting tagline, “Not Your Typical Violinist”, Emily V has separated herself from all others. She shares further, “My tagline ‘Not Your Typical Violinist’ was something I came up with. I have played violin my whole life. I am classically trained but even my classical mentor knew I had something in me to play that wasn’t going to be typical. My whole life has been like that.” Emily has toured the U.S. for over 15 years playing at festivals, clubs, business conferences and private events. “I have never done anything in a typical or ‘expected’ fashion. And not in a trying to gain attention kind of way but this is just who I am to my core. One thing I pride myself in is knowing myself and what I absolutely love visually and sonically. As far as the tagline, it came to me as I was attempting to build a unique social media vibe for people to understand who I was and what I stood for. I started the hashtag and was quite literally the first person to use it. Others have caught on, but I am proud to say I am the O.G. of the tagline!”
Backdrops and Badges of Honor
Emily has performed in almost every possible environment with some extraordinary appearances. “I’ve done both solo shows, shows with DJs, shows as a duet and shows with many different types of bands. It’s hard to pick just a few standout performances…I would say one that was unexpected was meeting Robby Krieger of The Doors backstage of The Whisky a Go Go and then calling me up by name to go perform with him and trade violin and guitar solos. That was pretty cool! That night when I got off the stage, Dennis Quaid was standing there and complimented me on my violin skills.”
Emily’s humility shines through even as luminaries of the arts give her props. She shares another celebrity encounter. “Another recent experience that recently happened was I was performing on stage with a DJ tucked in the back of the stage, so it was mostly just a solo performance. It was a private engagement, and I had learned while I was getting ready to go on stage that I was opening for Too $hort. I knew my big brother was going to get a laugh out of this one because he was who introduced me to Hip Hop at a young age. While I was performing, I looked up where I happen to see the windows into the VIP green room and Too $hort was standing there watching me. When I got off stage and up to the green room, he opened the door and introduced himself to me. We chatted and took a photo. There may or may not be a collaboration in the cards.”
Visual Art of the Performance
It’s apparent Emily takes pride in her visual performance as much as the auditory. Her style and presentation are like no other. “I have always leaned into the world of fashion as well as fitness. Both lend themselves well to the world of being a musician. I believe people listen with their eyes. We are visual creatures. Do we want to see someone who doesn’t care how they look and someone who doesn’t feel the music or do we want to see people express themselves as uniquely as we all are and feel the music to their core? Look at David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Tool or even Cher. Every one of those artists and bands are different in their sound AND the way they present themselves on stage, with album art, how they move and perform. I also believe physical fitness is extremely important for artists. If you move like me and I have a violin on one side of me most often, I must keep everything strong, especially my core.”
Destined
Emily’s musical journey began at an early age. She shares how she was led to pick up and master the violin. “To be honest, I am not sure why the violin. I believe maybe I played violin in another life. My dad played violin when he was a young boy. He didn’t continue into high school as he dove into the sports world. He kept those violins he played though and when I was very young, around five years old, my parents pulled the violins out from underneath their bed. I vividly remember picking one of them up and messing around with it. I broke a string. I was instantly enamored. I begged my parents for lessons and when I was about to turn twelve, my mom knew I was serious and got me lessons with my first mentor. I was literally the student that no one ever had to ask to practice, not one single time in my life.” Emily’s dedication to her craft was noticeable from the get-go. “My mom took me once a week religiously to my teacher’s home and sat patiently, waiting until my lesson was complete. I would not be where I am today without the support of my parents or the way my teacher believed in my tenacity to be something other than a classical violinist.”
With such a massive repertoire already, Emily is preparing for the next chapter. “I have recorded for many other artists, I have performed for zillions of projects, and I have loved every second of it. But this year is the year that I release my own original music. I cannot explain how excited I am to finally start releasing songs and pieces of art I have been envisioning for years.”
Classic…Rock
Emilys’ Classical music background suggests she should have remained in that sphere. Instead, her mother and father provided the foundation for a jaunt on the unbeaten path. “My parents have an extremely extensive collection of vinyls. Most of it is in the genre of Classic Rock but I grew up with a wide range; Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, The Doors, Paul Simon, Miles Davis, Bob Marley, Carole King, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, etc. My older brothers turned me on to Grunge, Metal and Hip-Hop; Alice in Chains, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, Mad Season, Tupac, Coolio, Snoop Dogg etc. Of course, I started in the Classical world, but I also studied Jazz and transcribed Miles Davis solos to play violin and also taught myself Irish and Scottish tunes on mandolin and violin. My taste is wide-ranging, but my passion lies in the Rock world. I think it truly started with my dad. He used to listen to records with his big white headphones on his head lying on the floor of my his home office after dinner. I would come in there and he would let me listen. He’d tell me about the B-side Pink Floyd albums and the funky War tunes and on and on. We listened to music while making dinners in the evenings. I remember one time he shared with me a band called It’s A Beautiful Day. David Laflamme was the violinist, and they treated It like a lead instrument. Listen to ‘White Bird’, one of their biggest hits released in 1969. It’s the song that truly inspired me to take the violin where I have. That and Hendrix. Who doesn’t want to play violin like Hendrix played guitar? HA! When I got my first violin, my dad and I set it up and I got a Wah pedal and amp from my first boyfriend and went into my room for days on end trying to play like Jimi. It was completely awful sounding, but I have since gotten some of those tones down.”
Attending to Herself
Emily takes her physical and mental well-being seriously. That self-care translates to her glorious on-stage musical performances. “Being an artist is a challenging path. You’ve got to keep yourself steady in all ways, both physically and mentally. As I said before, physical health keeps you ready to be on the road and on stage. Mental health is also very serious. As artists, we put ourselves out there time and time again. Receiving ridicule and being told ‘no’ can add up and take their toll. I feel sometimes people forget we are humans too. Of course we love what we do, but that doesn’t mean there’s no struggle.” And through the strife, Emily has become a truly resilient musician.
In Harmony
Emily and Ronnie only recently connected. When you consider what a juggernaut Ronnie is on the piano and combine him with Emily’s dynamic musicianship, it’s going to be combustible to say the least. “Ronnie King is absolutely a fabulous artist and person. It has been really a great experience getting to know him on a deeper level and hear his new record. I believe the musical future has something for us that is very special. Keep your ears open.”
This will be Emily’s first time performing in the Music City that is Indio at The Dune Room and at a unique show to say the least. CV Weekly asked her what attendees should anticipate. “Expect the unexpected. I am truly excited and honored that Ronnie King chose me to support him. We have some surprises planned for the audience! All I can say is, don’t miss this show!”
Learn more about Emily V below:
https://linktr.ee/emilyvofficial
It’s A Beautiful Day – “White Bird”
