As a part of their Unplugged Series, the brainchild of Beny Blaq Entertainment, The Park at Fourteenth brought another soul superstar to the District to get last weekend started off right. Friday's performer was none other than Emily King, a New York native who is not new to the music game. She already has a GRAMMY nomination under her belt, and she's poised to take her artistry in a new direction with the recent release of her seven-song EP, Seven.

Immensely mellow and quick to laughter, Emily sat down to chop it up with SoulBounce prior to her show. Clad in a cutout bolero that highlighted her impossibly flat stomach, she spoke about her influences as a musician, the artist she's most compared to, and her new project.

SoulBounce: How did you learn to play the guitar? Who are your Guitar Heroes, for lack of a better term?

Emily King: It's the best term, Guitar Hero. (Laughter) I remember I wanted to play guitar because I thought it was cool at parties. I love to sing, so I thought, you know, I'll just accompany myself. I remember my dad taught me "House of the Rising Sun," an old blues song, and from there I was like 'I can play something that sounds good!' When I got older, Jimi Hendrix was influential, in terms of songwriting and guitar playing he's a master, Jeff Buckley, and a lot of singer/songwriters as well.

SB: As a musician you often get compared to people, what artist do you find yourself getting compared to the most?

EK: It's gonna have to be Teena Marie. (Laughter) I mean I know she plays guitar, and she's great. I don't know that I sound like her, but I'll take it!

SB: She's definitely not a bad person to be compared to! (Laughter) What singers do you enjoy the most?

EK: I love Jeff Buckley. I love Cat Stevens. You know, I grew up with R&B, and like, I would just practice Mariah's runs in the bathroom...

SB: But you can actually sing, as opposed to other people. (Laughter)

EK: Oh, well I couldn't back then. (Laughter) It was rough. But shout outs to all the R&B vocalists, from Mary J. to SWV.



SB: So you recently released the Seven EP. What's the symbolism behind your project and what do you want people to take away from it?

EK: That's a heavy question. For me it was a very long process of collecting a body of work I really enjoyed. It came down to these seven songs, and I wanted to name the album and give it enough space so that the listeners could interpret it on their own. Seven is a very powerful number, and it has a lot of different meanings, and I have my own spiritual things about it. So that's how that came about.

SB: As a young person, what things did you miss out on being an artist?

EK: People would always come to New York, especially when I was a teenager, and ask 'what clubs do I go to?' and I felt like the biggest loser because I didn't know! I never went out like that. In retrospect I'm happy because I was introverted enough to build my skills. It takes a lot of alone time. Sometimes the most beautiful songs come from a very uncomfortable place.

SB: What artists outside of music do you enjoy most?

EK: That's a good one. I have a lot of painter friends. I'm going to shout out Kenny Rivero, he's very inspiring visually. I also love movies.

After our interview, Emily took to the stage and moved the crowd with her new songs. Interestingly enough, I ended up standing right next to her grandmother, who accompanied Emily and her mother to the performance. Her grandmother shared the fact music ran in her family; she was a violinist and Emily's own mother was a singer. With music in her blood and soul in her heart, became clear that Emily King was destined to rock the show that night.



[Photos: Daniel Logan]