"You Go to Your Church" Video Out Now


Calling upon my Texas roots for this one. Here's another tune from the "We Who Believe in Freedom" album - "You Go to Your Church and I'll Go to Mine," originally by Phillips H. Lord in 1930. Ric Robertson and I updated just a few of the lyrics for our version, but I love how it's a bluegrass song with a message of religious tolerance and inclusivity.

Thanks to Nick Warner for filming and editing, and to Dillan Witherow for recording and mixing the audio.

Hear the album -
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2ywpVro
Bandcamp: https://emilyelbert.bandcamp.com/
iTunes: https://apple.co/2q89oVV

"Service" video out now

Here’s another video from the “We Who Believe in Freedom” acoustic sessions - an original tune, “Service.”

The song is about trying to deepen awareness of privilege and systems of injustice, and finding ways to contribute to our collective healing.

Thanks to Alex Cantatore of QuickActCasual for the video, and to Dillan for the audio (and letting me play his Gibson 125 & Benson amp) 🌿

Here's another original tune from the "We Who Believe in Freedom" album. This song is about trying to find the ways that each of us can deepen our awareness of systems of injustice and contribute to our collective healing.

"Resist!" Playlist

While making and sharing this new album, I’ve been charged up by all the radical folks from different walks of life making music for peace and justice. I put together a playlist of some of my favorites - it’s been fueling my travels all tour, so wanted to share with y’all too.  https://spoti.fi/2PSHxHI

(Art from the hands of Molly Costello Art & Design). 🌱

Songs of peace and justice that helped inspire We Who Believe in Freedom, and progressive movements of the past, present and future.

we have been given all the tools

northeastern u.s. house concert tour

10 house concerts in 10 days. Grassroots art & community are so faith-restoring. Thankful to the folks that opened up their homes these last two weeks, who made food and provided space and listened with such presence and generosity (and let me crash on their couches)! 

Photos by Michael & Susan Karchmer, Organic Photo Cape Cod, and Paul Schulenberg. Pantings by Paul Schulenberg’s Cape Cod painting group.

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Fall tour begins

Emily’s fall tour for “We Who Believe in Freedom” has kicked off in NYC, and will continue with dates throughout the Northeast, Texas, and California. Check the “tour” page for more info.

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L.A. Weekly's "Best of L.A. Music"

Honored to be included amongst the year's “Best of L.A. Music," in L.A. Weekly:

Best Jam Musician:

"Singer-guitarist Emily Elbert cooks up such a funky and engrossing groove of bluesy chords and jazzy accents that you might miss the pointed words she purrs slyly underneath "True Power," an unsparing repudiation of the current president; the single will be on her upcoming,social justice–focused EP, due out in September. "True power can't be bought or stolen/If you build a wall of hatred, prepare to watch it crumble," Elbert warns coolly with a smooth soulfulness even as her hands continue to casually shuffle and dole out quick-moving chords. The local guitarist has toured with Esperanza Spalding and played with Mike Gordon and Dweezil Zappa. It's rare that such an adept vocalist can also make her way around the guitar neck with Elbert's complete dexterity and non-flashy assurance." - Falling James

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L.A. Weekly Write-Up

Thanks to Falling James Moreland at L.A. Weekly for the great piece promoting this week's Hotel Cafe show:

"Emily Elbert would be considered remarkable just for her guitar playing, which segues from hard-edged funk and blues to more gently subtle jazz intricacy. But she’s an equally adept vocalist, weaving her soulful phrasing nimbly within the rhythms and “the silence in the space between the notes” of her guitar chords. The local singer tries to reconcile the opposing worlds of creationism and evolution in three succinct lines from the title track of her Evolve EP: 'There’s a force that brings us together/It’s the same one that created us all/And now the point is to evolve.' "

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Café Momentum Sunday Supper

Dallas family: I'm honored to be a part of Café Momentum's Sunday Supper Concert Series, presented by Eric Nadel. Café Momentum is a locally-sourced nonprofit restaurant that provides culinary, job and life-skill training, as well as continued mentorship and support to young people coming out of the juvenile detention system.

The amazing team at Café Momentum is developing a one-night-only menu for the concert, based on foods that have a personal significance to me, and I can't wait to share in it all together. Dallas songwriter Kirk Thurmond will be sharing his soulful sounds to open up the show as well. Please join us for this beautiful night of food, music, and community in support of CM's impactful work. Tickets here.