What can be said about larger than life Queen Emily, other than during her recent appearance on Jools Holland’s 250th Anniversary Show she has wowed the nation! Before that, she has wowed transatlantic audiences when she received ‘thumbs up’ on America’s Got Talent.

If this sounds fabulous, let me tell you that it was a long way coming for the single mother from Stockton, CA, who started singing as a little girl in church but – as she grew up – came to realize that more often than not, life gets in the way of one's dreams. Busy with raising her children all by herself instead of nurturing her musical aspirations, Emily decided that it was time to stop dreaming and start acting when she turned forty. The sudden epiphany led her to the ‘America’s Got Talent’ auditions and the rest, as they say, is history. Well, it’s a bit more complex than that, but to put it simplified: Queen Emily is a true testament to how far you can go if you work hard and never stop believing in your dreams.

A highly talented R&B singer, Emily draws her inspiration from artists like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland. She uses her rich and soulful voice to tell the story of her life's trials and tribulations and records with The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (also know as The Swampers) – a group of American soul, R&B and country studio musicians based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Some of them form her current band, namely Jimmy Johnson and Reggie Young on guitars, David Hood on bass, Clayton Ivey on keyboards and James Robertson on drums. Artists who recorded with The Swampers are as diverse as the Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Elvis, JJ Cale, Etta James, Rod Stewart, James Brown, Dusty Springfield, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bobby Bland, to name but a few.
Emily’s R&B producers are Malaco Record’s Tommy Couch and Frederick Knight of Stax Records.

Now that the (admittedly impressive) statistics are out of the way, I can finally move on to the review bit. After I had received an invite to Queen Emily’s gig at The 12 Bar Club in central London, I must confess that my initial reaction was that of slight bewilderment. Not only because the artist in question is the winner of a talent show I couldn’t care less about (PR-people, please take note!). No, what really baffled me was the choice of venue. For while The 12 Bar Club no doubt provides ambience in a small and intimate setting, I was wondering as to why a singer of Emily’s calibre was made to make do with the venue’s rather restrictive surroundings.
As it turned out, I wasn’t too far off the mark. Producer David Hood, who also is the bassist for Emily’s band, stood next to me prior to the gig. “I have no idea why I was invited here” he remarked dryly, “seeing how there ain’t enough space for me to play!” Indeed, the tiny stage was almost entirely taken up by Queen Emily and her keyboard player Clayton Ivey. There simply wasn’t enough room left for a third musician. David wasn’t exactly happy, and who could blame him! He proceeded to tell me that he had a great time playing with Emily’s entire band on Jools Holland though, and seemed very excited that she and the band are so well received in general and by British audiences in particular.

The venue filled up fast – and it's not as if there was much space to fill anyway. First number was ‘Just Got Started Loving You’, a solid R&B number delivered with great passion. Without her full band and only one keyboard player for backing, Queen Emily’s powerful voice came to even greater prominence while performing the songs in a stripped down version.
‘Angel In Your Arms’ followed next and this one turned out to be a beautiful and mellow soul number, with an arrangement that’s slightly reminiscent of Phillysound (think ‘Me and Mrs. Jones’ by Billy Paul). The song is about a woman who is being cheated on and then decides to turn the table on her guy (“The angel in your arms this morning is gonna be the devil in someone elses arms tonight… “. You go, lady!

The crowd was truly captivated by Emily’s voice, and so was I. ‘Throw Away Me’ was in similar fashion to the previous song, while ‘Still Crazy’ seems about a personal chapter in her life. Each number was delivered with confidence and not once did she sound out of tune – a fact that’s particularly impressive, given there was barely any instrumental support to disguise possible vocal glitches.

Bobby Bland’s ‘There’s No Easy Way To Say Goodbye’ has become Emily’s signature song and of course, that’s the one everyone was waiting for. For the final number, she went one further when even the keyboard accompaniment was left out. ‘And I Am Telling You’ was performed entirely a capella and I knew then I made the right decision to accept the invite to the gig. There was much applause after the final track and although it was a rather short set with only six songs, it was perfect. Any more songs, and things would have begun sounding repetitive - seeing how there was no band as such.
I’m still no fan of programs like ‘America’s Got Talent’ or ‘X-Factor’ and never will be, but I am now a fan of Queen Emily for sure!

After the set, I had opportunity to chat with a spirited and bubbly Emily over a pint. She’s still overwhelmed by it all and tells me she has a whale of a time on her first UK visit. Rest assured it won’t be her last; after all, she has an album coming out here on November 15th. Asked why the album is going to be released in the UK first, she reveals that although the USA appreciate her talents, she doesn’t necessarily stand out as there are so many R&B and soul singers already, whereas in Great Britain she’s more of a novelty act. It makes sense, so let’s hope that her freshness and raw energy won’t be erased by overproduced material that ends up sounding too slick. After all, her roots are steeped in R&B. Looks like exciting times are ahead and really, she deserves every second of it!