Emmy Russell’s musical roots run deep, since as a young girl she toured and performed alongside her grandmother, Loretta Lynn, and mother, Patsy Lynn. Despite not fitting the typical "Queen of Country" mold, Emmy's unique voice and songwriting talent still shine through. In a recent episode of American Idol, her heartfelt song "Skinny" captivated audiences and earned her a ticket to Hollywood. This powerful song explores Emmy's personal struggles with an eating disorder and a lack of confidence, marking a pivotal moment in her journey towards self-discovery and musical success. Enjoy this interview, and don't miss out on Emmy Russell's bright future in the music industry!
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00:00Emmy Russell, welcome to Biscuits and Jam.
00:02Thank you for having me.
00:04Kind of makes me hungry.
00:06Biscuits and Jam.
00:07Great to see you.
00:09Where am I reaching you right now?
00:10I am in Nashville, Tennessee right now.
00:13Goodlitzville.
00:14So Goodlitzville, yeah, if you know where that is.
00:16Okay.
00:17And you've been there for most of your life, at least in the Nashville area, right?
00:21I was born in Hurricane Mills, which was where like Meemaw and everyone kind of grew up.
00:27And then we moved to Kingston Springs, and now I'm in Nashville.
00:30So, yeah.
00:31Okay.
00:31One of my favorite cities.
00:34Well, listen.
00:35Where are you at?
00:35I'm in Birmingham.
00:37Oh, okay.
00:38Cool.
00:39Birmingham, Alabama.
00:40Just down the road.
00:41Yep.
00:41Yep.
00:42Come visit sometime.
00:43Hey, I'd love to.
00:46So, Emmy, I just got to tell you, I interviewed your grandmother on this podcast.
00:53Wow.
00:54And it was truly one of the highlights of my career, getting to talk to her.
01:00Um, and I remember we talked about, uh, we talked about biscuits and cornbread and songwriting.
01:08Um, and, um, I will never forget her laugh, which was so real and so genuine.
01:17And, um, and, you know, you could just tell, like she had done a million interviews, um, but she was just right there and was just so lovely.
01:26Yeah, the laugh made me tear up.
01:28I'm kind of tearing up as you were talking about her laugh.
01:30It's so genuine and she's so present with who she's with, too.
01:33Yeah.
01:33So, she doesn't even think about the hundred interviews she's ever done.
01:36She's just like with.
01:37Yeah.
01:37That's cool.
01:38Wow.
01:38Thank you for telling me that.
01:39I actually had no idea.
01:40So, it's even a cooler honor to be here now that I've known that she's been here, too.
01:44Well, you'll, I, if, maybe you can go listen to it at some point.
01:48And, yeah, and it was just, uh, it was a, she had, um, the album Still Woman Enough was coming out.
01:55Yeah.
01:55Um, and I remember she sang a little bit of Ones on the Way, um, which I'll also never forget.
02:03Um.
02:03Wow.
02:04Yeah.
02:05Um.
02:05That's so neat.
02:07But, so, tell me about your grandmother and, and your, just your relationship with her.
02:13I mean, you called her Meemaw, right?
02:15Yeah, I call her Meemaw.
02:16I grew up going on the road with her.
02:18So, my mom, she actually was in a duet, um, in a duo, uh, country group called The Lens.
02:24Yep.
02:25And they were on the road with her touring.
02:28And, um, my mom became her manager.
02:30So, whenever I was born, they kind of quit doing their, you know, out in Nashville thing
02:35and went on tour with her and opened up.
02:37And I was just on the road as a baby.
02:40As soon as I was out, I was actually born on her, my grandpa and my grandma's anniversary.
02:45I was a premature kid.
02:47And so, I think that's kind of weird.
02:48I think God kind of was like, I'm going to send her on the day that they got married.
02:51Just to show her that they're alike.
02:54Wow.
02:54Wow.
02:55Just grew up singing, two years old, singing on the road and very close my entire life.
02:59What a special connection.
03:01And to have that, that date.
03:03I mean, every time your birthday comes around, you know, you're thinking about, about that,
03:06I'm sure.
03:07Yeah, I do think about her and him.
03:09I never met my grandpa, but I think it's really cool.
03:12I think about her a lot on birthday.
03:14Well, I want to ask you about that house.
03:16Um, so you grew up in one of the coolest houses in the South.
03:22I mean, or at least, you know, spending a lot of time there, um, at Hurricane Mills.
03:28And it must have been like a fantasy land for a kid.
03:33Um, but of course for you, it was just, you know, I mean, I guess for a long time it was
03:38just, you know, that was just the, what all houses looked like.
03:42Yeah.
03:42Um, but tell me a little bit about that house and, and if you, did you have favorite rooms
03:48that you loved to go into?
03:50Gosh, strangely, I loved like the, um, the kitchen, all the cool, like wallpapers.
03:56They always had these really neat wallpapers and like this little, um, butter churner that
04:00I used to always play with as like a kid.
04:02And, um, I love the, just the columns outside.
04:04Like I would always play around the columns of the house.
04:07Um, Mima actually had a house behind that house.
04:10So I spent primarily a lot of my childhood in the house behind the, um, the house that
04:15she was raised in.
04:17Right.
04:17So, um, it was so cool and so fun.
04:20I used to go over there all the time and just play.
04:22Um, yeah, I loved, I loved that house.
04:25I'm guessing you probably spent a little bit of time in her dress closet.
04:29Oh my gosh.
04:30Well, you know, they were so, they're so strict on people.
04:33You know, Mima, she doesn't care.
04:34She's like, Oh honey, go ahead.
04:35You can wear that anytime.
04:36But you know, everyone else was like, don't touch that.
04:38That's like prize winner.
04:39And I'm like, it's just a dress.
04:43But for her, for her, she just saw it as a dress.
04:45Everyone saw it as, you know, something special, which it is.
04:48But yeah, I've, I've tried on a few things.
04:52I mean, I would think so.
04:54Um, we talked about those dresses when, when we did the interview and, uh, she said, you
04:59know, I love putting them on and she said, people laugh about it, but you know, I worked
05:05hard and you know, I earned these dresses and I'm going to wear them whenever I want to.
05:10Oh, Tim Cobb, actually.
05:12Um, the guy that lived with her, her assistant, um, took care of her and all that kind of
05:17stuff.
05:17He actually makes those dresses.
05:19He always, he made her all those dresses.
05:21Really?
05:21It was so cool.
05:22And he actually passed away like a month after she passed away, which was so weird.
05:26Cause it's just back to back.
05:27Yeah.
05:28One kind of wanted to be with the other.
05:29So, yeah.
05:30Yeah.
05:31Emmy, you mentioned the kitchen.
05:32Um, and I'm wondering if your grandmother talked to me a lot about food.
05:38And I'm wondering if you remember her doing a lot of just sort of ordinary grandmother
05:44things like, you know, baking cookies or making pancakes, that kind of thing.
05:48You know, it's funny.
05:49Meemaw never cooked for me or anyone.
05:53It was always Tim.
05:54Tim did it all.
05:55But now did she have a cooking book?
05:56Yes.
05:56But did I ever get to taste any of her cooking?
05:59No.
06:00So unfair.
06:02But she did make food.
06:04Well, I, I remember hearing somewhere.
06:07It might've actually been your mom or your aunt that said this, that, uh, her favorite
06:13thing in the world was banana pudding.
06:16Oh my gosh.
06:17Yes.
06:17And it's mine too.
06:18It is.
06:20Yes.
06:20I love banana pudding.
06:22She loved banana pudding too, but I'd always make her a peanut butter milkshake.
06:25So peanut butter milkshakes, brownie brittle and banana pudding.
06:29Those are her three top favorite desserts.
06:32So did she have a particular kind that she liked?
06:35I mean, would you say she was kind of a banana pudding connoisseur?
06:38Was she specific about, you know, what, what she liked?
06:41What we always had around was the one with the wave.
06:44What are they?
06:44Those little wafers.
06:45Oh yeah.
06:46What are those called?
06:46Those little nabiscos.
06:48Those vanilla wafers.
06:48Yeah.
06:49Oh my gosh.
06:51So many of those and just bananas and you know, it was just the, the, the stuff, the banana
06:58stuff in it.
06:59But no, the wafers, a lot of wafers.
07:02Yeah.
07:02You can't have too many of those.
07:04Oh no, you can't.
07:05You know, we also talked a lot about the holidays and, um, she loved the holidays.
07:12Um, she talked about having these big get togethers with the family.
07:17And I'm just wondering what your memories of some of those get togethers would be.
07:21I remember just having so many cousins and then like all around the house, just everyone
07:26running and then everyone would get their turn to say hi to Meemaw.
07:29And then we would like open up presents and we'd give her hugs and just, yeah, it was
07:34just like a big family celebration.
07:36So many cousins.
07:37Like I, I don't even know all my cousins' names.
07:40Like I do and I know their faces, but so many, so much family shows up.
07:44I can't keep up with it at all.
07:46And there's always a new baby being born.
07:48And so it's just kind of like.
07:51Yeah.
07:51Well, I got to imagine that there was a lot of music involved.
07:54A lot of musicians actually in the family.
07:57Yes.
07:57So many musicians in the family.
07:59And so for the holidays, was there a lot of singing or was there a lot of, or was it
08:03a more, you know, kind of serious affair?
08:07It was more just everyone kind of like laughing and being around each other.
08:12There wasn't really much music probably because everyone does music all the time.
08:15We're like, that's the last thing we want to do.
08:17We want to just hang out and talk.
08:18So it's all very close.
08:21We're all very close.
08:22Except for the hundred billion cousins.
08:25Well, you got a long life ahead of you and you can, you'll meet them all someday.
08:29Yes.
08:32Well, Emmy, I want to come back to your grandmother in a minute, but I want to ask you about your
08:36mom, Patsy, who was named after Patsy Kline, which is, which is so cool.
08:45She had and has had a successful music career of her own and, you know, performed for a long
08:53time with, with your aunt, also produced several of Loretta's records, right?
09:00Mm-hmm.
09:01She produced, wrote.
09:03So I'm wondering how instrumental she was in your musical journey and what your kind
09:09of connection is with your mom when it comes to music.
09:11Me and my mom are super close.
09:14Like she always took me out on the road, very close.
09:16Like I'd always take, you know, advice from my mom.
09:19Um, yeah, I kind of, whenever I got about 16, I was kind of like, okay, mom, give me some
09:26space.
09:27Yeah.
09:27Cause she's got such a strong personality.
09:29Some, I kind of had to like grow away from my mom a little bit, like just a little bit.
09:34We're still like this, still like this.
09:37Um, but, um, yeah, she, she's my, she was my manager on the road whenever I started opening
09:43up for me, mom, when I was like 17, 16.
09:46Um, so we're super tight.
09:48Me and my mom write songs together, you know, very rarely, but we used to write all the time
09:52together.
09:53And so when did that really start for you in terms of the songwriting?
09:57I mean, you know, when did you have a song, something that you'd put down that felt like,
10:04okay, this is, you know, this feels like something, this feels like something I've tapped into that
10:10I hadn't really tapped into before, you know, when did that kind of start for you?
10:17Well, I started writing short stories first, you know, like in school, like I would just
10:22write like, you know, the hero story of like the underdog and then she like rises up and,
10:28um, yeah, but my, my first song, I think I wrote, it was to the, it was for the talent
10:33show and I was in the second grade and it was called keep trying again.
10:35And it was just about math and how I just failed.
10:38But then I was like, keep trying again.
10:40But then whenever I was about nine, I wrote a song called the mirror can lie.
10:44And it was just, you know, it doesn't show you what's inside kind of, that's what the
10:48hook was like the mirror can lie.
10:50It doesn't show you what's inside.
10:51So I was really always like attracted to like identity, finding out who you are.
10:56And I don't know why now I look back at it and I'm like, Oh, that makes sense now.
10:59But I was always like about those kinds of songs.
11:03Yeah.
11:04I mean, I mean, that's pretty powerful stuff for a nine year old.
11:07Meemaw always told me, she's like, you're like a 40 year old woman trapped in a nine
11:10year old body.
11:11That's what she said.
11:12Yeah.
11:12And I'd play guitar and I learned guitar whenever I was seven really well, but I got my first
11:17guitar when I was four.
11:18And so I was just, you know, and then going on the road, I don't know, music, original
11:23music is just how I process.
11:24And so, yeah.
11:26Was that a guitar that came from her, from your grandmother?
11:31Cause you have that song called Meemaw's guitar.
11:34That was later on in the story, but my first guitar, you know, my dad got for me.
11:38Yeah.
11:39Yeah.
11:39Right.
11:39A baby Martin.
11:40Right.
11:41Baby Martin.
11:42Which is a great guitar to start on.
11:44Yeah.
11:45Too nice.
11:46Yeah.
11:48Whenever I have kids, I'm like, no, I'm going to put them on a baby Martin.
11:50Wow.
11:51So, okay.
11:52So you're really young when you start putting things down on paper and start thinking about
11:58songwriting.
11:59And I saw this video of you, I think you were maybe like 11 years old and you were performing
12:05a song called If I Die Young.
12:09If I Die Young.
12:10Yeah.
12:11And your grandmother is standing right beside you on the stage and just lets you sing the
12:18whole thing and she seems so proud.
12:22Was that a big moment for you or was that something that was kind of happening, you know,
12:27regularly at that point?
12:29At that point, it was happening like almost every other week.
12:32Okay.
12:32And so I would sing one song everyone knew, which was If I Die Young, and then I'd sing
12:37an original song.
12:39Meemaw always told me to do that because everyone wants to sing along with you, but then if you
12:43want to share your heart, you know, do that too, but not too much.
12:47That's what she, that's her advice.
12:50And then I sang If I Die Young and everyone loved whenever I sang that song.
12:54Yeah, I was like 11 years old.
12:56Wow.
12:57I mean, so fearless and, you know, up there in front of, I'm sure, a lot of people with
13:04your mom on stage, your grandmother on stage, right?
13:07So many, so many.
13:08Well, I'm curious about the guitar that you mentioned in the song, Meemaw's guitar.
13:16So if it wasn't your first guitar, is that a, was there a specific reference there to
13:23a guitar that she gave you or was it more of a general kind of idea?
13:27It was a real guitar.
13:29Meemaw passed me down her guitar when I was 15 at the Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry.
13:34Um, and she said, you're the one that can do it.
13:38So you're the music, like you're, she always thought I was just had this spark about me
13:42ever since I was a little kid.
13:43And she, she felt that she needed to give me the guitars, like the torch in a way, or
13:48the mantle.
13:49And Lord knows that I probably can't hold that.
13:52That's too much.
13:52But she passed me down her guitar when I was 15.
13:56Wow.
13:56Yeah.
13:57And that was the song that, that was the one that she wrote, like all these, you know,
14:00don't come home and drink in, like just these like big songs.
14:05On that guitar.
14:06On that guitar.
14:07Yeah.
14:07Holds a lot of history.
14:08Sure does.
14:09So that song's called Unwinding the Strings.
14:11And so, yeah, it's just all like the history, like unwinding it all and thinking about it.
14:17And yeah.
14:18So I was 15 when I wrote a song about her passing me down that guitar.
14:22And I sang it that night that she passed me it down.
14:23And I was kind of like honoring the moment.
14:26Wow.
14:27Is that a guitar that you pick up often?
14:31Well, it's actually at the museum.
14:32Oh, it is?
14:33But when I want to go get, when I want to go get it, I can.
14:37When you really need some extra mojo.
14:40When I need some extra mojo.
14:43Well, you know.
14:44That means when I really need some extra pressure.
14:46Yeah, right.
14:47I know.
14:47I'm sure there's.
14:48I like very rarely playing it because it, yeah, it's a pretty mojo guitar.
14:52Yeah, there is some pressure, I'm sure.
14:55You know, she's got so many great songs.
14:58There's too many to count, Emmy.
15:00But, you know, when you think about all these songs and these songs that you grew up with,
15:06you know, Coal Miner's Daughter, Fizz City, You Ain't Woman Enough.
15:11I mean, is there one that you were especially fond of or that you had a strong connection to?
15:20My dad actually wrote a song with her and it was called Miss Being Mrs.
15:25and every time I heard that song, I would just cry and it just, like, I miss being Mrs.
15:33Like, that's just such a cool idea.
15:36I think she actually told my dad that and then he kind of helped her finish it.
15:39I love Coal Miner's Daughter.
15:41I feel like that has a very special meaning to it because it's her life.
15:44And then now, like, whenever I hear, you know, Coal Miner's Daughter, I think when I walked,
15:48I walked in that house and I was doing a video because I was doing a tribute for her, Coal Miner's Daughter,
15:54and I sang it and I said, nothing left but the floors, nothing lives here anymore
15:59except the memories of a Coal Miner's Daughter.
16:01And I was like, it made me cry thinking about it, but I was walking through that hallway
16:05and I was like, man, nothing left but the floors, you know, except the memories of Meemaw.
16:11Like, that's how I heard it.
16:13And so, yeah, that song is really special to me now, now that I'm older.
16:18I'm sure.
16:21Well, Emmy, I want to ask you about a song of yours, and it's a song that you performed at American Idol,
16:31and it's called Skinny.
16:34And, you know, you said it was about someone who's struggling with an eating disorder.
16:42Tell me a little bit about what you were thinking when you wrote that song.
16:46Well, on the road, people would always take pictures of me like this, like really from down below,
16:51and you would all, you know, just like, just, and I started developing an eating disorder
16:56when I was like 16, 17 out on the road, and I just stopped eating and drinking a lot of coffee,
17:00and, you know, you're going all the time.
17:02And I just really cared what people thought of me.
17:06I think the pressure really got to me, so much so that I quit the tour,
17:12and then I kind of went on and did like a mission trip for like four years.
17:15I was gone, and I was really free from that eating disorder,
17:20and then it came back to me when I came back to the United States,
17:23and I was feeling that pressure again of not feeling enough,
17:27and I started going through the eating disorder.
17:29And then like a friend came up to me, his name's Dennis, and he said,
17:32Hey, I got an idea called Skinny. I feel like you're supposed to write it.
17:35He had no idea. I told no one that I was going through an eating disorder.
17:38This was about a year and a half ago.
17:39Oh, no, yeah, a year and a half ago.
17:41And I said, I'm in eating disorder recovery right now.
17:45And he was like, I had no idea.
17:47And then about, you know, several months after that, we wrote the song
17:51because I could actually sing it.
17:55Yeah, so that song comes from a real place.
17:57I was the girl that – I didn't say that, but I was the girl that had the eating disorder.
18:02Wow. Well, it's an incredibly powerful song,
18:06and I think, you know, you've seen that and felt that.
18:09Thanks.
18:10Through this whole experience.
18:13But it also, you know, it seems like a gutsy one to particularly to share with such a big audience
18:23and on such a big stage.
18:25What made you decide this is the one that I really, you know, I want to share on this stage?
18:33The first, whenever I arrived, I was going to sing a song called Breakup Song, and I did sing it.
18:38And they said, we want to know why, like, we want to know, like, more songs.
18:43Give us more songs.
18:44And I said, well, I do have a song called Skinny.
18:46So you weren't planning on singing that one when you walked in there?
18:49No.
18:50Oh, my gosh.
18:51No, no, no, I was not planning on it.
18:54Wow.
18:54But I just kind of felt in that hour, like, you need to sing the song, you know, sing the song.
19:00So that one's really close to my heart.
19:02So I was like, I guess I need to do that one.
19:05Well, Emmy, I'm wondering what kind of response you've gotten since it came out, you know,
19:09from people who are going through something similar.
19:14I get, you know, people sending pictures of their daughters like that were on feeding tubes.
19:20I remember just saying, like, thank you for saying this.
19:24You know, it's not talked about.
19:25But, you know, 70 million people in the world have suffered with an eating disorder.
19:30And no one talks about it.
19:31But there was a reason why the original video was Songhouse.
19:34It went viral because, you know, people have it underneath clothes.
19:40You know, in the dark, people have stuff, hard stuff.
19:46And that was mine.
19:47And it's 70 million other people's.
19:49Yeah.
19:50I got a lot of DMs, a lot of messages, a lot of calls.
19:53I'm sure.
19:53And I don't think you're done talking about it or sharing this or being on this journey either.
20:00Yeah.
20:02Emmy, I want to ask you about another special performance that I saw that you did at the Grand Ole Opry
20:09when you performed a duet with Lucas Nelson.
20:13Yeah.
20:13And it was a song called Lay Me Down.
20:15Yes.
20:16And what was really cool about that to me was that Willie Nelson, Lucas's dad, and Loretta
20:25had performed the song together about, I don't know, seven or eight years ago.
20:31What did that moment mean to you to be standing on that stage in that circle honoring your grandmother?
20:38Gosh, I remember that moment.
20:42I was sitting in the pews and just crying the entire night.
20:47And I felt like, I don't know if anyone's ever felt the Holy Spirit before listening to this,
20:51but it felt like I was just crying for no reason.
20:54Like something was just bigger than me that was there.
20:58And I just really felt like it was just her presence that was just in, filled the space.
21:03And I remember just walking up there, and that was the first time that she wasn't standing next to me
21:07like you saw when I was 11, you know.
21:10And so I remember I told the crowd, and I just wanted to bring them in that memory with me.
21:14And I said, you know, this is the first time that Meemaw's not, you know, in the corner
21:21watching me with her proud eyes.
21:22So, you know, just thank you for being here.
21:24And then everyone was just with, and there felt like this, almost like this grief of her,
21:31but almost like a celebration of her life all together with me.
21:37And then having Lucas next to me, this humble human being, like he's so humble.
21:43He's like, I said, I think I need to say something.
21:45And he said, well, go on ahead.
21:48You lead the show.
21:49And I'm like, Lucas Nelson, like this is my first performance since I left tour with Meemaw
21:54when I was 19.
21:55You know, I was living in Brazil.
21:56I was gone for four years.
21:59And for him to do that was really gracious.
22:02And then it got nominated for Performance of the Year for CMT.
22:06It didn't win, but I mean, what an honor.
22:10Like people like resonated.
22:12Like, I don't know.
22:14Truth resonates.
22:16So I don't know.
22:17I was so, like, bigger than me.
22:22It just all felt bigger than me.
22:23Had you been on that stage before with your grandmother?
22:27Oh, man.
22:28I feel like maybe I have one time.
22:32One time.
22:33Gosh, but everything's a blur, though.
22:35It's been so long.
22:36Like, I probably have been.
22:38I did the Ryman, but I don't know if I did the Grand Ole Opry.
22:41Right.
22:41Wait, no, the Ryman.
22:42We did it at the Ryman.
22:43Goodness gracious, Emmy.
22:45Yeah, was that the Ryman?
22:46Yes.
22:47The Ryman.
22:48I played the Ryman.
22:49But I'm talking about the Grand Ole Opry album.
22:50Right.
22:51The Ryman, yes.
22:52I played with her.
22:53That was whenever she passed me down her guitar.
22:54Oh, wow.
22:55I just now put that together.
22:57So she gave me her guitar in the same place where I sang for her.
23:03She gave me that guitar when I was 15, and I sang about her life.
23:06Or just, like, for her honoring her passing in the same place.
23:11I just now thought about that.
23:12Wow.
23:13That's so neat.
23:15Well, it's a really special performance, and I'm sure everybody was very much feeling it
23:23in the room that night.
23:24You know, you said you left for a number of years, about four years.
23:36Was this mostly kind of a big, long mission trip, or what was the – just tell me a little
23:43bit about that journey.
23:44It was like a school – it was just a school for, like, kind of like missionary school kind
23:50of thing, non-denominational, Christian.
23:53But I went, and I didn't – I didn't believe in God.
23:55My whole family did believe in God, but I didn't believe in God.
23:58And I was like, well – I was on the tour, and I remember taking off my eyelashes at the
24:01tour.
24:01And I remember meeting Selena Gomez, and I was like, why am I not happy?
24:05I have everything I've ever wanted.
24:06You know, I'm following in my grandmother's footsteps, and I couldn't fill that hole inside.
24:12And I just said, I don't know who the girl behind the eyes are.
24:15And so Meemaw had her stroke, and then I said, okay, this is a curse because, you know, she's
24:21sick, but it's also a blessing because I can find out, who am I outside of you?
24:24I was having a really bad eating disorder at the time.
24:27So I left, and I went to Kona, Hawaii, and then from there I went to Brazil.
24:32And I had, like, a deep encounter with God, and someone – the preacher, he called me
24:36out in the crowd, and he said, you.
24:38And I said, oh, my gosh, he's preaching on hunger.
24:40And I said, God, I don't have anything, but I do have hunger.
24:44Like, I mean, I've given – I feel like I'm, you know, out here I paid $10,000.
24:49Like, show up.
24:50And in that moment, I just felt like a pin drop in my spirit.
24:55And he said, supernatural creativity.
24:57And he said, you're going to know who you are, your identity.
25:00And I felt like I never knew my identity outside my grandma.
25:03It was always, you know, her granddaughter.
25:07And so for that time period, I was just Emmy that lived in Kona, and then I moved to
25:14Brazil.
25:16And then I always had this desire for creativity.
25:19And so I came back and got involved in the music.
25:22But, yeah, I was gone for quite some time.
25:25Wow.
25:25Well, it sounds like a very worthwhile journey.
25:27That is for sure.
25:29Oh, I wish people would just take six months.
25:31If you're unhappy, then please just take six months of your life and dive deep.
25:36Go somewhere.
25:37Do something that you love.
25:38Like, I told my mom, I said, Mom, I don't want to be a singer anymore.
25:42And I never thought that I would ever come back to it.
25:44Because I always thought I was jaded.
25:46You know, like, I'll never, ever use me on my guitar ever again.
25:49You know, like, how can I ever pick up that guitar and feel like I can measure up?
25:55Well, Emmy, you've come back to it in a pretty big way.
25:59Yeah.
25:59It's interesting.
26:02American Idol is, like, the, like, I'm just shocked that it's, like, you know, it's just, wow.
26:08I would have never thought, hey, you're going to be on American Idol.
26:10And you're going to sing a song about your eating disorder that you're suffering with right now.
26:14And, yeah, they're going to say that you're also related to Loretta Lynn.
26:17I would have been like, ugh.
26:21And it's happening.
26:23It's happening.
26:24Well, you know, you talked about your grandmother's kind of spirituality and everyone in your family or a lot of people in your family having that connection.
26:40And, you know, she came out with this book last spring.
26:45And it was just a few months after she died.
26:47And it was called A Song and a Prayer.
26:50God in the House.
26:52Yeah.
26:52And I was looking at it, and there's a line in there that says, most people don't stop to smell the roses.
27:02They're too busy worrying about everything.
27:06People are the same in every generation.
27:09They just find new things to worry over.
27:12Does that sound like her?
27:14Gosh.
27:15Yeah, it does.
27:16She's really creative in her wording.
27:18She's really creative in her wording.
27:20That does sound like her.
27:21Well, I love that.
27:23And it just, it sounds like she wanted to kind of leave a little gift for people after she was gone.
27:32And I love that it's that book.
27:33I love that it's that book after she passed, too.
27:35Yeah.
27:37She's such a gift.
27:38Well, Emmy, you know, I'm sure that you're going to have a lot of opportunities after American Idol is over.
27:44What are you most excited about?
27:46What are you looking forward to?
27:48Gosh, I think just, I showed it to my audition with no makeup on, and I've played my most vulnerable song.
27:54I think I can just be myself, and I'm really excited that I can just be myself, and being ordinary and not, you know, changing everything about yourself to look like you're from, you know, Hollywood is like, kind of, is okay.
28:08And it works, and people resonate.
28:10And so it's, I think, if anything, it's like being myself in the music industry, being myself and, you know, talking to you, or I'm still a little nervous, though, because I'm getting used to all this talking and stuff.
28:21But I don't know, just learning how to just show up.
28:25Well, just keep doing what you're doing.
28:29Well, Emmy, I just have one more question for you.
28:31Okay.
28:32What does it mean to you to be Southern?
28:36You know, it's funny.
28:39Well, first I thought of food.
28:43That's true.
28:44And then I'm talking to you, so I thought of biscuits, and I was like, well, those are really good.
28:48Biscuits are my favorite food.
28:49I don't know if you know that.
28:49But being Southern to me, honestly, just means that, I mean, if one person's falling, the other person's there, like right there.
28:59You know, there's no, I have so many friends that would tell me how it is if ever I got too big in my head, like a big head.
29:07They'd be like, hey, you know, remember where you came from now?
29:10And I'm like, oof.
29:11Like, they just, I feel like, they're not scared to get dirty.
29:14Like, you know, and they tell you the truth.
29:16And being Southern to me just means, well, the food, and then just the people are just so there for you.
29:24There's that hospitality.
29:25It's real, the Southern hospitality.
29:28And just, like, very truthful.
29:31Meemaw was a little bit too truthful sometimes.
29:33She was pretty truthful.
29:34So truthful.
29:35And I think that that's what gave me the ammunition to write a song like Skinny.
29:39I think I'm completely different than my grandma, but someone commented and said,
29:42you're so much like her because that was such a gutsy song to sing, just like so many songs in her time were so gutsy.
29:49And I was like, oh, wow.
29:51Maybe she gave me a little truth gene.
29:54But was it scary for her like it is for me?
29:55I think probably a little less for her.
29:58She's very brave.
29:59She's very brave.
30:00Well, I think you're pretty brave yourself.
30:04And you're doing beautiful things and writing some beautiful music.
30:09And keep at it.
30:12And thanks so much for being on Biscuits & Jam.
30:14Thank you for having me.