Emilee Boyce

A melody that’s Emilee
A voice pure Boyce

Every musician wants to say: it’s all about the music.

But, in these days when most songs are made by television shows rather than by artists, very few singers can claim to be creators and controllers of their work.

Not so with Emilee Boyce. This genuine article is a singer-songwriter in the classic style. And, just like all great performers who have worked out that simplicity and authenticity equate to genius, what she does is not that tricky: it’s just one girl, one guitar, loads of talent and lots of graft – but it’s the perfect antidote to pre-packaged predictability.

Actually, Emilee can’t be predictable because she doesn’t know herself where things will go next. “I asked my brother to teach me how to play the guitar,” she says, “and he taught me two chords then got fed up and left me to it. So, because I’m self-taught, I have no idea how things should be done. I just do what feels right to me.”

The end result is songs that have been produced without a mould or any sense of confinement – and their unique nature has already produced some impressive reactions. Emilee comments: “Some musicians have said to me that they have been very happily surprised that I have been prepared to throw in a chord that wouldn’t normally be used in the kind of song I’m playing. I actually don’t share that surprise because, to me, I just use the chords I want and I’ve never considered the idea that some chords come from rock and some from jazz. Hey, maybe some of the chords I use even come from Belgium.”

Emilee’s lyrics deal with her relationships with people and the world and tell stories that people will relate to. And the key point is that the words – just like the music – are real: they’re about real things and real people.

“I’ve lived all the emotions in the lyrics and I live them again when I’m singing them,” Emilee adds. “Everything in all my music is as genuine and as much a part of me as I can make it.”

Emilee was born in New Romney in Kent and was spotted as a sixteen-year-old playing at Folkestone Festival by Martin Hayles, platinum-disc-winning sound engineer for bands from East 17 to xxx. “She shone,” Martin comments. “I have seen hundreds of acts and heard thousands of songs but Emilee’s talent, passion and delivery stood out like a beacon. I’ve been excited about working with her since I first saw her.”

The gap between their first encounter and the first album has been to allow Emilee to learn her trade. “When U2 signed to Island, the first thing they were told was to go out on the road and practise their skills,” Martin notes. “The fact that it worked so surpassingly well for U2 shows it’s the right route for real musicians to take.”

And there’s Emilee Boyce: real music from a real musician.