“After hearing Patsy Cline’s voice as a young girl I was forever changed. I thought to myself, ‘This is what heartbreak sounds like and this is what a real woman sounds like.’ I couldn’t wait to be a grown-up so that I could understand what she was feeling of whatever it was she was singing about: Pain. It was earthy, honest, painful, and I started to mimic her. I’d practice singing in the bathtub with my Barbies and in the bathroom cleaner. Patsy’s my teacher.”
“I was obsessed with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty growing up and to this day, I am still fully effected by all those dramatic orchestrations. The strings, the fairy choirs, the colors, the romance. When Sleeping Beauty is walking in the woods and singing “I Wonder” and then Prince Philip comes in… at the age of 8, I remember thinking it was hot. Another favorite Disney moment is when Cinderella, AKA Llenn Woods sings “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “So This Is Love.” It’s so hopeful and peaceful. Llenn Woods is a gangster.
The Annie soundtrack pretty much raised me. The songs are burnt in my brain and I start crying anytime the big orchestra part booms in on “It’s a Hard Knock Life” and then when Annie sings “Maybe”… I just can’t take it.
I’m a real sucker for light and dark. Annie and Patsy taught me how to sing honestly. They were my “Girl Scout Kit” on how to be a real singer.
Another record that blew my mind was when my best friend Tara bought me a Barbra Streisand record singing LIVE at Madison Square Garden. I memorized the whole show. I still have it memorized. When she sings “Papa Can You Hear Me,” I basically see my future and the earth shakes. It’s insane.
Judy Garland singing “Stormy Weather” LIVE at Carnegie Hall is a trip one should properly prepare oneself for because that shit is intense. It is the definition of magic tragedy. God, she sings pain so beautifully. I am honored to be able to sit down and listen to something so raw. The sound coming out of that teeny little middle-aged woman high on heartbreak and god knows what else is mesmerizing. I still hear little Frances fighting for the spotlight singing like a child star.
There will never be another Judy, or Patsy.”
—Emily West
“Don’t Ever Go To Paris When You’re Lonely” is taken from Emily West’s new EP “Symphonies,” in stores on August 18, 2017.
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PHOTO: KATE UNDERWOOD
