In the 25th edition of our special series on songwriting, Sarah talks to the St. Paul-based singer-songwriter about songs that influenced her as an artist.
About That Song #25
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
In the 25th installment of this series, I connected with Emmy Woods, a rising Minnesota-based singer-songwriter from North Dakota. Whether playing solo or with her band, the Red Pine Ramblers, Emmy blends country, folk and blues into her distinctive sound, so I was interested to learn about formative songs in her musical path thus far!
Emmy Woods. Photo credit: Joey Snburg.
Sarah: Hi Emmy! Thank you so much for coming over to About That Song! I had the chance to hear you a while back as part of the most wonderful Minneapolis Songwriter Rounds at 331 Club. It was so far past my bedtime, but the chance to hear your gorgeous voice, and be introduced to your stellar songwriting, was absolutely worth the missed sleep! You’re in the process of releasing new music to the world, and I’d love to learn a little bit more about what brought you to this spot in your artistic journey—via a few songs, maybe? For starters, do you remember the song that you heard that made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Emmy: First and foremost, thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of About That Song, Sarah! This is a tricky question for me to answer because I don’t remember the exact moment I wanted to be a songwriter. I have always loved music and as soon as I found my way to the guitar I started playing around with writing my own songs. So it wasn’t so much a song that made me want to start songwriting as it was my mom’s old classical guitar. She saved up her babysitting money to buy that guitar when she was young and all three of her children ended up learning on it. It’s still one of my favorites to play!
Sarah: Your Mom’s babysitting money would one day lead to her daughter writing songs—that is a gorgeous story! Also—I’m thinking now that there could easily be a sister interview series to this one called “About That Guitar” someday…
Emmy: Ummmm … YES! I love that idea so much. I adore hearing the stories behind instruments. When you start that series, I am so here for it!
There isn’t a song that made me want to be a songwriter, but there is a song that inspired me to start sharing my songs: “Swan Dive” by Ani DiFranco. At its core, I think that song is about letting go of societal constraints and the parts of yourself that hold you back. Worries about failure or what others might think can be soooo stifling to creativity. The lyrics to that song really demonstrate to me how freeing it can be to embrace the possibility of failure and let yourself just … be. When we do that, we create this sort of boundless space in which to be creative … and I think that’s where the magic happens :)
Sarah: I agree. And let’s aim to make more of that space—for ourselves, and each other. Ani DiFranco’s lyrics can absolutely set up that space, and also her distinctive phrasing and playing. Listening to this song I hear no boundaries. What a light bearer!
Once you began writing, did you feel like a writer immediately? Was there a song that gave you that “a-HA! I AM a songwriter!” moment? Tell us about that song.
Emmy: Oh gosh! I didn’t call myself a writer (or a musician!) until I had been playing and writing for years. In hindsight that was silly—I was writing songs and playing music, so I was, by definition, a songwriter and musician! I thought that in order to be considered a songwriter I had to be recording and performing my music. I think that was just imposter syndrome talking; I don’t believe that’s true anymore. Whether a person is writing songs just for themselves or writing songs for the radio, they’ve got my respect and admiration and I 100% call that songwriting.
Sarah: ME TOO. They are songwriters! I feel like going a bit Oprah and saying “YOU are a songwriter and YOU are a songwriter!” That imposter syndrome voice you reference tends to live in so many folks.
Emmy: Haha! I can totally picture that and I feel like you actually do do that in so many ways already, with this interview series, Toilet Tunes and, of course, your weekly songwriter challenge. I see you out there empowering other songwriters left and right—it’s super inspiring and does a lot to keep the Twin Cities music scene positive and supportive so … thank you!
Back to your original question … The first song I wrote that helped me see myself as a songwriter was a tune called “Lottery.” I was in college and had been crushin on this wonderful human who was (according to the grapevine) crushing on me back, but we were both too shy to do anything about it (tragic, I know!). So I wrote a song about it. I didn’t ever play it for the crush but I did play it for my best friends, Ashley and Becky. They loved it and encouraged me to start sharing it around campfires and open mics.
That love and support really helped me come out of my shell a bit—I slowly started sharing more of my songs and kept writing! It was another several years before I got comfy enough to perform regularly or record, but it was around then I began to really see myself as a songwriter. As for the crush … after over a year I finally asked him out by letter via campus mail.
Emmy Woods. Photo credit: Benjamin Pegani.
Sarah: Campus mail. Oh, my heart!!! Also, let’s say a big thank-you to all the Ashleys and Beckys out there who love and encourage budding songwriters.
Your upcoming single “Million Miles Per Hour” is about sledding but, as I recall from hearing you tell the story at 331, it’s about a slightly more specific version of sledding. Can you tell us about that song?
Emmy: I’d love to! “Million Miles Per Hour” is one of my favorite songs to share. I grew up in rural North Dakota. I was one of seven (five brothers and one sister). That song is a sort of hodgepodge of happy memories from my childhood, where I come from, and what it taught me about life and love. The chorus is inspired by a sledding adventure I took with my brother Danny and a friend. There was a big hill in the neighborhood that we weren’t supposed to sled on because it had what was left of a barbed wire fence running across it. One day we decided we were going to give it a try anyway, so we dragged a couple sleds over to the hill, and man oh man did we have a blast. I always joke that we lived to tell the tale because we had two rules: 1) Duck when you get to the fence and 2) Don’t tell Mama.
That was the adventure that inspired the lines:
My biggest thrill is still
A million miles per hour
Sledding down a hill
Straight for barbed wire
My brother yelling “DUCK!
But don’t you tell Mama
She’ll be mad as hell
It ain’t worth the drama”
I feel like I should add that my mom was (and is) one of the calmest, sweetest, and least dramatic people I know. She probably would’ve been mad as hell, but for good reason. She was pretty nice about it when we told her nearly twenty years later, though.
Sarah: I have to ask—when was the last time you went sledding?
Emmy: I’m embarrassed to admit it’s been a few years! It’s on my list of winter adventures for this season though.
Sarah: Excellent! Wishing you some lightning speed and maybe a barbed-wire-free zone! Recently, you recorded a stunning acoustic version of your song “White Horse” for Adventures in Americana’s North Country Song Sessions—can you tell us about that song?
Emmy: Thanks for your kind words! That song means a lot to me and has been hard for me to share and talk about until very recently.
“White Horse” is about my experiences with grief after I lost someone very dear to my heart to fentanyl poisoning. He was both a very close friend and my significant other. Having only known him while he was in recovery, his death felt very unexpected and sudden. I was thrust into this completely different reality … and got kind of stuck there, to be honest. I didn’t really know how to keep moving, so … I just didn’t.
When I wrote “White Horse” it was really about processing that feeling of being stuck in my grief. For a while, I thought it was too sad to share with people and I didn’t think I wanted to. But there’s a very beautiful poem by Mary Oliver called “Lead.” In it, she shares the heartbreaking story of a loon dying on a lake shore and I think the final lines beautifully summarize at least one reason why we share sadness in songs, poetry, and art:
I tell you this to break your heart,
By which I mean only
That it break open and never close again
To the rest of the world.
I guess it’s in that spirit that I’ve chosen to start sharing that song (and others I wrote during that time). As hard as it is for me to tap back into those feelings when I sing, I also think it’s important to share those experiences, to break hearts open so that they might be inspired to support efforts to heal the opiate crisis, whether or not they have direct experience with it.
I also want people who are experiencing grief to know that they’re not alone and that it’s okay, even normal, to feel stuck in it. It’s okay to stand still and catch your breath, even as the world around you doesn’t. And most importantly, that it’s okay to talk (or sing) about it. Grief and addiction are topics many folks try to avoid, and that can make it hard for those who are actively experiencing them to feel safe and comfortable talking about them. But I think it’s so important that we do; for many of us, it’s a critical part of healing.
Sarah: Emmy, thank you so much. For bravely opening your heart and sharing a bit of your story, and his story. For sharing the wise words of Mary Oliver with us (yes, always, Mary Oliver forever). Songs can make … light from the heaviest of substances, I think.
It looks like you’ve been growing a few musical residencies in the Twin Cities; can you tell us where we might hear you play that song—or any other song for that matter—soon?
Emmy: I have been working on a few residencies, and I’m very excited about all of them!
Second Sundays of the month I perform with my band, The Red Pine Ramblers, 7–9pm at the 331 Club. We love it there!
On the third Sundays of the month, you can find me at Insight Brewing in Minneapolis. I perform as a solo act and invite two other songwriters to perform with me. Music goes 4–7pm and it’s a family/kid-friendly space.
I also organize an event called Songbird Series at MetroNOME Brewery with 2–3 songwriters. It’s held in their listening room, Fingal’s Cave, 7–9:30pm every third Wednesday of the month. I occasionally perform at this one, but usually invite others to sing and participate as an audience member instead. I will be performing at the next one, however! I’ll share the evening with Molly Brandt and Becky Kapell. It’s on December 20 and you can get tickets on MetroNOME’s event page.
“Million Miles Per Hour” comes out this Friday, December 15! You can pre-save it here.
Listen to “White Horse”
Emmy’s website Emmy’s LinkTree“Million Miles Per Hour” Single Credits
Producer: Emmy Woods (Emily Royer)
Assistant Producer: Jake (Jacob) Johnson
Sound engineer: Bob (Brandon) Delage
Mixing Engineer: Jason McGlone, Hideaway studios
Mastering Engineer: Rob Schlette, Anthem Mastering
Lyrics, melody, vocals, and acoustic guitar: written and arranged by Emmy Woods
Lead guitar, fiddle, supporting vocals: written and arranged by Jake (Jacob) Johnson
Keyboards, supporting vocals: written and arranged by Lydia Lecher
Drums and Percussion: written and arranged by Brody Kucera
Bass guitar: written and arranged by Bob (Brandon) Delage
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.