ABOUT EMMA GALE
Singer, Songwriter, Lyricist, Topliner
Emma Gale cut her teeth as a cover’s singer based in Cambridgeshire and moved to Dorset in the early 2000s. Influenced by songwriters like Suzanne Vega, Sheryl Crow, Leonard Cohen and Gilbert O’Sullivan, she decided to move away from singing cover songs and attended a songwriting retreat at Bath Spa University to learn how to write songs. This opened up the world of songwriting.
Songwriting has introduced her to a network of songwriters across the globe and led her to complete a master’s degree in songwriting in 2017. Emma released her debut single Let’s See What the Earth Has to Say in April 2020. The song was written and released within one week of the UK going into lockdown.
Emma travels all over the UK to co-write with songwriters and has attended songwriting retreats run by Boo Hewerdine, Chris Difford and other notable songwriting tutors. Emma attended Judy Stakee’s ‘It Starts with A Song’ songwriting retreat in March 2020. Judy was the record executive who brought Sheryl Crow and Katy Perry to fame. Unfortunately, her time in Nashville was cut short by the UK lockdown when she had to return home.
Emma says, “I had one of the best weeks of my life, it was amazing. Spending time with likeminded people is always inspiring but we were 45 minutes from Nashville in a small town called Joelton, staying in a ranch which was absolutely gorgeous. I met some wonderful people out there and will remember it for the rest of my life. Some of them were like me and relatively new to songwriting while others were professional artists in New York, LA and Nashville. My husband was supposed to join me out there but because of Coronavirus I had to cut the second week short’.
Emma describes herself as an accidental indie artist. Her debut single Let’s See What the Earth Has to Say was played all over the world and the accompanying video went viral. This has led her to starting to develop her profile as an artist in her own right. In August 2021, Emma recorded at the Abbey Road Studios and played at The Bedford in Balham where the likes of Ed Sheeren, Sam Smith, Paolon Nutini, James Morrison, Jorja Smith and George Ezra have played.
Her dream is to become a published songwriter writing songs for other artists and as such is undertaking a PhD at Birmingham City University under the supervision of Dr Simon Barber (Sodajerker) and Dr. Nicholas Gebhardt Professor of Jazz and Popular Music Studies. Emma is researching the Role of the Amateur Songwriter in the Music Industries which is an ethnographical study and will research her progress from the amateur to professional songwriting ranks.
Emma put the lockdown to good use, taking advantage of songwriters who were online courses and attended courses by Pat Pattison, Andrea Stolpe, Garry Burr and Mary Gauthier. Emma works with Robin Frederick who is based in LA and is supporting her with developing her skills for writing for film and TV.
Emma continues to co-write regularly and is completing a production course with PointBlank Music School.
Emma is in the process of completing an album of her own songs, working with producer Boo Hewerdine (The Bible & Eddi Reader) and engineer Chris Pepper from Saltwell Studios. The album is a mix of Amerciana and acoustic songs which boasts Robbie McIntosh (Pretenders, Paul McCartney, John Mayer) on electric and slide guitar and Melvyn Duffy (First Aid Kit, Squeeze) playing steel guitar. Emma has also been working with Simon Ellis (song writer, producer and musical director who has worked with the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Westlife, S Club 7, East 17) and will have a range of contemporary pop demos ready in early 2022.
In the music world, there’s no standing still. You must constantly strive to evolve and tour with the purpose of offering something unique to devoted fans and followers. They find inspiration wherever they look and channel whatever moves them into their music.