AOTA-231124 - Composer/lyricist Emily Drennan

This Thanksgiving weekend on Art in the Air, the program features composer Emily Dernan sharing her musical journey and a personal song release about her father's death. There is also a spotlight on a one-man version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol at the Toll Theater. The hosts introduce themselves and mention that the show is supported by various arts organizations. They also mention the different radio stations and platforms where the show can be heard. They interview Jim LaPieta, the performer of the one-man Christmas Carol, who talks about his theater career and his interest in other art forms like animation. He describes his version of the show and mentions the showtimes at the Toll Theater. They also mention another theater production, Murder on the Rerun, and encourage listeners to support the public radio station. The hosts then welcome Emily Dernan, a singer and composer, who talks about her musical background and her latest song release. This Thanksgiving weekend on Art in the Air, our whole program features composer, lyricist, voiceover artist, music producer, and recording artist Emily Dernan sharing her musical journey plus a deeply personal 2023 song release about the tragic death of her father, I Know Your Name. Our spotlights are the one-man version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol with Jim LaPieta at Toll Theater running December 1st through the 10th. Express yourself through art, and show the world your heart. Express yourself through art, and show the world your heart. You're in the know with Esther and Mary, Art on the Air today. They're in the know with Mary and Esther, Art on the Air our way. Express yourself through art, and show the world your heart. Express yourself through art, and show the world your heart. Welcome, you're listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, WVLP 103.1 FM, and WDSO 88.3 FM, our weekly program covering the arts and arts events throughout Northwest Indiana and beyond. I'm Larry Breckner of New Perspectives Photography right alongside here with Esther Golden of The Nest in Michigan City. Aloha, everyone. We're your hosts for Art on the Air. Art on the Air is supported by an Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant, South Shore Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Art on the Air is heard every Sunday at 7 p.m. on Lakeshore Public Media, 89.1 FM, also streaming live at lakeshorepublicmedia.org, and is available on Lakeshore Public Media's website as a podcast. Also heard on Friday at 11 a.m. and Monday at 5 p.m. on WVLP 103.1 FM, streaming live at wvlp.org, and Tuesdays at 4 p.m. on WDSO 88.3 FM. Our spotlight interviews are also heard Wednesdays on Lakeshore Public Media. Information about Art on the Air is available at our website, breck.com slash aota. That includes a complete show archive, spotlight interviews, plus our show is available on multiple podcast platforms, including NPR One. Please like us on Facebook, Art on the Air WVLP, for information about upcoming shows and interviews. And we'd like to welcome to Art on the Air Spotlight. He's going to be doing a show at the Toll Theater, An Evening with Dickens. Of course, it's a one-man, The Christmas Carol, and it'll be running December 1st through the 10th, and directed by our friend Jeff Casey. Please welcome to Art on the Air Spotlight, Jim LaPietra. Aloha. Aloha. Thank you for having me. Well, Jim, tell us a little bit about yourself in the time that we have for this spotlight, and then we'll talk a little bit about the show, how it got created, and everything like that. Well, I have been doing theater in Chicago for roughly 15 years, and Christmas Carol has been one of those shows that I just seem to keep doing over and over. This will actually be my ninth production, and so this is my version that I'm bringing to the Toll. So you seek them out then? Yes, yes. So Dickens is no stranger to me. Do you do any other Dickens things other than The Christmas Carol? I know looking at your Facebook, you're involved in a lot of different things, but do you have any other versions of that, whether it be one man or otherwise? Not of my own. The one man version is my, I won't say my creation, because it is based on something that goes way back. But I have, you know, I've been in several productions throughout Chicagoland. I've done a radio play version. I've done it on stage eight times already. So I haven't ventured outside of Christmas Carol in terms of other Dickens work, though I have done a good deal of research in it. So what type of theater do you like to do? Do you do musical things, or do you prefer drama, comedy? I used to be almost exclusively musical comedy. That was sort of my forte. Yeah, your TikTok 30 days of musicals. Yes, I did this on my TikTok. Every day during the lockdown, I would do a musical song just to keep myself occupied. However, probably about 10 years ago, I said, yeah, I want to branch out more, and I want to start doing, you know, straight plays. And Christmas Carol was one of the first that came to me because it's a great story. It's also a great ghost story, and it's one that I grew up with. So it seemed like a natural leap to say, you know, I want to try something like this and step somewhat out of my comfort zone. Yeah, in your Instagram, I think it was, you listed a whole bunch of things that you're interested in. So do you currently draw? I mean, I'm going to just list them. Drawing, acting, film, theater, animation, puppetry, singing, video games, musical theater, eating. You know, there's like a whole list of different things. So are you involved with all of those things, or are they just interests? A lot of them are just interests, you know, mostly involved in theater, mostly involved in theater. And through theater, I've done some puppetry building and coaching. I've done a few film things as well, mostly sound based. And do you do animation, or do you just enjoy it? I took a class on animation. Oh man, this is probably 12 years ago now, but I took just a very brief class on it, and then I did a follow up class to it. So I've learned a little bit about like, at the time, Flash animation and, and a little bit of CGI animation that I can do as well, which is, it's a cool tool to have in your arsenal. I agree. Of course, Flash is all gone now. So I keep getting right on my computer, I have Flash, I guess, installed, and it keeps nagging me about Flash is no longer supported. So that's great. When did you first put together the show? When did you kind of take it and distill it into a one man thing? When was your first time out with it? About eight years ago, I was involved in, in the town I live in, there was a holiday stroll that they do every year. And I was asked to read a storybook version of A Christmas Carol. And I did it, you know, every 20 minutes or so, it was very short, it was like 10 minutes long. And the following year, they asked me to come back and do it again. And to make it a little bit longer. So I adapted the sort of one man version that was about 20 minutes long. And the following year, we did it again. And we made it, you know, a little bit bigger. And now all these years later, I'm doing it at the toll in a full two act structure. It's the full story. So it's really grown exponentially from from this little 10 minute segment that I did for a holiday party. So are there are there multiple sets for this? Do you do multiple changes? Are you in the same attire for the whole production? Well, I don't want to give too much away. But what appears to be a very simple set has a lot of we do a lot of tricks with lighting and with sound. Um, what's really interesting about this iteration is that I'm not playing all the characters. I'm playing Charles Dickens, playing all the characters. So you can you know, you can imagine what that's like. Yeah, can you give us a line? Just one line maybe from it in the voice that you use? Sure, sure. Um, this is from the opening of the show. I've endeavored in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea, which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt your houses pleasantly. And no one wished to lay it. Okay, Jim, real quick gives the showtimes and information. An evening with Dickens or a one man Christmas Carol runs the first two weekends of December at the Toll Theater and Hammond tickets are $24. We appreciate you coming in on Art in the Air Spotlight. It's Jim Lampraetra, directed by Jeff Casey at the Toll Theater. Thank you so much for sharing this on Art in the Air Spotlight. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. And a spotlight extra Michigan City's Footlight Players will present the Fred Carmichael mystery Murder on the Rerun running December 1 through the 10th. Art in the Air Spotlight and the complete one hour program on Lakeshore Public Media is brought to you by Macaulay Real Estate in Valparaiso, Oval Patrician Senior Broker. And as a reminder, if you'd like to have your events on Art in the Air Spotlight, or have a longer feature interview, email us at aotaatbrech.com. That's aotaatbrech.com. This is Pledge Week for your public radio station and Art on the Air encourages our loyal listeners to support this station by making a monthly sustaining pledge so we may continue to bring you this great program. This is Memorial Opera House Executive Director Megan Stoner and you are listening to Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM and on WVLP 103.1 FM. We would like to welcome Emily Drennan to Art on the Air. Emily has been singing from a young age and grew up in an abundantly musical family. Many accolades, awards, and successes followed and the honors continue. Emily is a published producer, lyricist, composer, and recording artist for TV and film, as well as a New York City Marathon finisher and Price is Right winner. Her latest release, I Know Your Name, is a tribute to her father. Aloha and welcome, Emily. Thank you for joining us. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Well, Emily, we want to talk, and especially I want to even touch on your theater career, and being in one of the shows, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, at some point in our interview, because that show is not very often produced, but we want to know your origin story, and like I like to say, how you got from where you were to where you're now. So, tell us all about Emily. Sure. So, I was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and like she said, I was born in a very musical family. My parents actually met in high school because of music. They were high school sweethearts. My dad was two years older, and his sister was in my mom's class, and he was a hotshot trumpet player, and he said, you know, I'm doing all these wonderful things, and his sister said, you need to meet this girl, Patty Hayes, at the time, and my mom has perfect pitch, and she's a brilliant musician. He said, you know, I'll meet her, whatever, and his sister, Mary, said, she's better than you are. You need to meet her, and he was like, no way, no way, and he met her, and he was like, oh, yeah, she's definitely better than I am, and so, he said, I'm staying with you ever since. So, they were high school sweethearts, went to college at Oklahoma State, and then my dad went to law school, and my mom got her master's there at OU as well, and so, I grew up always with music around me. It was just in our house, listening to, you know, Beethoven, and Karen Carpenter, and Sergio Mendez, and Brazil 66, and Motown, Chicago. We just listened to so many things, and I grew up going to concerts, and, you know, my mom was also a high school music teacher, and so, so many times, at least twice a month, we were at a concert. So, I was just enveloped in music from a very early age, and I started, I think, my first concert was maybe three or four. There was kind of a little music preschool. It was Miss K's music school, and we went, and we learned kind of about rhythm and things, and I got to be Miss Piggy in one of the productions, singing a little song, and La Cucaracha was actually one of my favorite songs that I did. I had a little dress and sang that, and interestingly, I also started singing in church, and there was one time that was a family fa la la, and I'm not sure my brother had been born yet, because I think I was maybe four, and we were going to do a Sandy Patty song, and we were all rehearsed, and, you know, I was going to do a great job, and I got up there, and they did not have a pink microphone, and I apparently refused to go on, and so my, you know, the little pop filter on the mic, and I wanted it to be pink, and my mom was like, Emily, you need to get up there. My dad was like, no, don't push her, babe. Like, we don't want to, like, scar her for her life from performing, and so, so I guess I didn't go on. I thought, gosh, if it were my child, I would have done the same thing, but no, we practiced this. We're doing it, whatever we need to do, but so I grew up singing in church, and that was really a safe haven, as well, to sing a lot of things, try a lot of things with little to no judgment, and I also grew up singing in choir. Once I got to my mom's choir, I was able to be in her show choir and choirs, as well, so it was just a place where I had so many wonderful friendships and wonderful people and got to sing such a diverse style of music. You know, we did classical and jazz and pop and even a little bit of rock, and it was just a place where I could, I could really sing and do a lot of different things, and my senior year of high school, I auditioned for, I applied for what's now called, is a program called Young Arts. Then it was called the National Foundation for Advancements of the Arts, and they had you send in a cassette tape at the time of you singing a few songs and just kind of detailing, you know, what you'd kind of done to that point, which, you know, a senior in high school, you hadn't done a lot. And so were you writing? Were you writing at that point? I was a little bit, yeah, I was a little bit, you know, my mom's a composer, as well, and she now, she's had three million, you know, copies of her music sold of secular and sacred music. And so I dabbled in it a little bit. I'm not sure if I had anything published at that point, like the choral piece, but I was writing a little bit, but what I sang were just standards. Sunday Kind of Love, I know, was one of them. Orange Colored Sky was one of them. And so I, and the reason I saw this is because in the high school counselor's guidance office, I saw a poster that just said, oh, if you're a singer, something applied. I was like, okay, you know, why not? I applied. And it was funny because, you know, I didn't think anything of it. And this package came in the mail one day, and it had all this stuff. And it said, you won, we're inviting you to go to Florida to work for a week, we're paying for it, for a masterclass with all these people. And that was really an impetus for me, because it was one of two people in the United States who were chosen in pop vocal, which is what I did. And I think at that point, there were 8,100 applicants in different disciplines, different artistic disciplines. But yeah, we got this package in the mail. I was like, are you kidding? Like, what is all this? So I ended up going and working with Bonnie Herman of Singers Unlimited and some other wonderful people. But that was really a springboard to say, hey, maybe I could actually consider this as a career. Because before I was like, yeah, I know I can sing, I know it's a business, I want to do other things as well. And that was it. That was a light bulb. It was like, hey, maybe, maybe I could do this. And with that, so that you have all the art scholars, and then the top level, if you are level one or level two, after the week is finished, where you have kind of a performance of sorts for adjudicators, if you're level one or two, you win some money and distinction, and then you can apply to be a National Presidential Scholar in the arts. And so I did that, I ended up being a level one winner, which was incredible. And it's so funny, I'll get curious, but I found out that I was a National Presidential Scholar because my parents came in on a Saturday morning, it was the day before my birthday. And I was on the front page of the paper. And it said, Emily Drennan is National Presidential Scholar, which is really incredible. The first thing, of course, to the high school senior, I said was, I can't believe they picked that picture. It was like, Oh, come on, my parents like Emily, you know, it's 8am on a Saturday morning for a high school senior. But with that came a full scholarship to Oklahoma State University for five years. And it was just a springboard of a lot of wonderful things. But that's such a great memory that I have my parents coming in, particularly my dad coming in, you know, like, what is this? Yeah, it was a very special moment. So from there, I did go to Oklahoma State while I also studied at Belmont University on my breaks and things. And I went to OSU for five years, where I was the vocalist for the jazz band and also sang in concert chorale. So it was still getting that classical and also the jazz. And so I got to do a lot of things. And I'd sing the national anthem for sporting events, which was really funny. It's funny, too, because, you know, as a singer, you're always having to kind of rehearse and there are practice rooms, but sometimes you can't go for various reasons. And when I was singing the national anthem, I was in an apartment complex where I was kind of practicing and I didn't finish the song on the other side of the wall. It was like, and I was like, OK, I'm good. And somebody else finished the song on the other side. I was like, and I went even over to the door. I was like, I'm sorry, I'm singing the national anthem for the game downstairs. I have to kind of warm up. I'll be done in just a few minutes. So was that an outside? Was that an outside or an inside? That one was an outside one. I think for that particular one, I think it was for like an OU OSU bedroom baseball game or something. I also did it like with the Thunder. I've been the national anthem a lot of times, but that one was for a baseball game, I think it was in the summer. And yeah, I was like, oh, gosh, I feel I feel bad. At least it was in the middle of the day. It wasn't like I'm singing at nine o'clock or something in a.m. or p.m. But yeah, it was fun. But OSU really gave me a lot of wonderful opportunities to sing in a variety of ways and pursue my degrees and other things. That was something that was really important to me to be able to get degrees and things where I could work in the business side of the music. So my first degree is economics, second degree is in Spanish, and then I have minors in finance, marketing, international business and Latin American studies. So a lot. I know I read all of that and I went, how does that day get organized for you? I know I am. I'm certainly a type A person. So I have that organizational skill to kind of put everything and pack everything in there. But there were times where I did actually petition the school to take more hours. I think there was one semester. I only did it once because it was a lot. But I think I did 21 hours with all the curriculum. So it was a lot. I didn't do that the first freshman year. You know, you really need to take a lot less to just get your bearings of school or just a totally different way of doing things. Yeah. And that was really the advice from my dad that said, you know, don't take too much. You want to make sure you get your GPA set, you get comfortable because there's so much newness there and you're just trying to you really learn who you are and who you're becoming in those years in college and who you want to be. And so that was great advice to not do too much at the beginning and certainly towards the end. It was a lot. So Emily, was your father also a singer and did you also pick up instruments as well as singing? So I played the piano starting, gosh, I would say maybe at age six or seven. And so my dad was not a singer. He would definitely say, nope, I'm not a singer. It was funny sometimes if we'd sing something in church, I would get the giggles because I'd listen to him and I'd say, no, like you need to change your lyrics a little bit and open your mouth. My mom was definitely the same. She has perfect pitch and she has a fantastic style vocally. So I got the vocal singing, you know, gene from her. But my dad played euphonium, baritone, piano, and they actually put themselves through college at OSU playing in bands and not only the marching band there, but they had a side gig as the Jim Drinan Quartet and the Chip Cooper Quartet. It depends who booked at the drummer, which is who his best friend or my dad booked it. They changed the name of the group along the way. That's very clever. It was, right? And so they made quite a bit of money in college just playing at various events and things. And so we knew I'd do piano and I wanted to do piano because then you could just read music and know how to do that. So I stuck with piano along the way. My brother played saxophone as my mom did too and was in band and he was an all-state sax player and he didn't do the singing route. He was like, Emily's got that covered. I don't want to, because everybody, you know, oh, do you sing as well? And I think he probably got, he was a good singer, but I think he got tired of answering that question. So we all kind of had our little niche here and there to do various different things. We never really performed all together, aside from a few times my mom, my brother, and I did a few times, which my dad was in heaven for that. Every year at Christmas, if we did a Christmas tune, he would bring it up. Do you remember when you guys sang this all together? My brother rolled his eyes. Oh, yes, I did. I remember the 12th time you told me. So what about your children? Do they favor singing or instruments? It's so interesting. So Jameson just turned five and Graham is two. And it's interesting to see how their pitch develops and rhythm develops at this age too. Jameson has an amazing memory for lyrics and for just picking out different styles of music. We actually took a video of him when he was two where we kind of did a drop the needle and he could name 30 different songs that we had played over the course of a few months. But he'd play two measures. Oh, that's Elton John. Oh, that's Jean-Baptiste. Oh, that's Beethoven, Taylor Swift. And I can barely, he could even speak, but he could figure out who these artists are. So that's really kind of his gift. He really is starting to like the piano as well. Even my husband was saying this morning, we have a piano that used to be my office. It is his bedroom. In New York, you've got to make do what you have to do. So he has a full, you know, real piano in there. So he was kind of playing and opens up like a little board book and just kind of sings the lyrics to that and plays the piano and stuff. Graham loves to sing. He will sing all day. Even when I wake up first thing in the morning, it's generally because Graham is singing, not my alarm. He's just doing his thing. It's very cute. His little, little voice. And he has these little songs and yeah. And he has actually really great pitch. And he has great rhythm too. If we want him to do something, we actually say, okay, if you do this, then you can play the drums. And we have some drumsticks and he plays the drums. So I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse that he has good rhythm because that means a lifetime. Percussion is wonderful. So he's great. As long as we maybe move to a larger apartment and have some sound shields or something. I always used to tease percussionists, we don't need no stinking notes. You look back in band or orchestras and you look back there, these guys are just making it up back there. They're not following. Oh, I know. But I mean, my parents and my husband as well, my husband was a saxophonist at Notre Dame playing in marching band. So I'm hopeful that they'll either be in choir or orchestra or band or a combination thereof. Because music is just so, even if it's not a profession, it's so important just for the mind. I mean, it's so mathematical to just learn. Yeah, the arts. Yeah, it's just the arts in general. It's so important. So I always try to, if there are saved arts programs or saved music and things, we try to support that because that's just such a wonderful thing for children to enrich their lives in a multitude of different ways. And so your children, do they enjoy the visual arts as well? Do they like to create in that way? Yeah, they do. Jameson actually really loves painting. So we kind of have an easel where he will paint and Graham likes coloring a little bit. He's still a little young to get too much into some things. You know, he'll stamp and we'll give him Play-Doh and things like that. But he is very quick to make a mess between the two. We say it's funny because on the playground, Jameson's pointing out the people who aren't wearing a helmet, who aren't following the rules, who, you know, that motorcycle. We even stopped one time with the police officers who we've befriended. And he said, well, there was somebody driving by who wasn't wearing a helmet. I didn't get his license plate, but you watch out for him, you know? Oh my gosh. Oh, he is. He's definitely, he gets a little bit of that type A from me. Graham is the first one that will jump off a table and, you know, paint the wall and break something. He's, you leave him for two seconds and if he's quiet and 30 seconds have gone by, something's happening for sure. So, Emily, I see you have some theater in your career. And I said at the top of the show, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I remember when they first came out, they couldn't even say that on television, the best little shh in Texas. But tell us about some of your theater roles that you've had over the years. Yeah. So I've done a lot of different things and I've had a lot of wonderful opportunities to do, to do some fun shows. My first show actually in New York was a show called Toxic Audio, which was off Broadway. It was just within maybe six months of moving to New York. And it was so funny because the theater, I lived on 42nd street for quite a few years. And that was my first apartment when I lived in New York. And the theater was a six minute walk from my apartment. And so I went because I was like, oh, this is interesting. But I mostly went because it was very close. It was an easy commute. Like, okay, I'll go. And it was all a cappella, which I'd grown up doing. You know, I read music very well because of all the studies I did in college and in high school and just having parents where you study piano. And so just tuning and intonation was something I really enjoyed. And they just had us sing things in a cappella and kind of do a call and response. And I was like, oh yeah, this is super easy. And they're like, do you want this gig? And I was like, yeah. Like I didn't really feel like I was auditioning. But it was an off Broadway show that subsequently we did later in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood and at the Luxor and kind of travel internationally with that too. And to tack on other a cappella, I think it was, gosh, eight, maybe 10 years later, I ended up doing another off Broadway a cappella show called Voca People. And that was one where I went to the audition. I was like, oh, I love a cappella. This is great. And it was like a week long audition of different things because it's kind of like Blue Man Group meets a cappella. So you're painted white, like you look like you look like an alien. That's the whole premise that they're aliens that come down to earth and kind of save the world and go back to their planet with music, Planet Voca. And that was one that was a crazy, crazy adventure. And both of these a cappella shows, the people who are in the cast are still some of my lifelong friends. But for that show, I ended up booking it and had to fly to China like the next day after I signed the contract because I was doing like a gig in China. And it was this weird, like a five or 10 year stint where I just traveled the world doing all of these shows, which was really incredible. And so I flew back after China and they're like, oh, the show is in Israel. And we had learned the show in Israel. So it was this wonderful time where we got to see the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, you know, all of these incredible historic monuments and things that are still there to this day and learn the show. And there were certainly some crazy things where we're living, you know, on a kibbutz and it was just wild. But getting to see Rehovot and Tel Aviv and just being in that place with these people running the show was really incredible. And so after that, we came back, did Off-Broadway for about a year and a half. And then I got to do tours of Dubai and Japan as well with the show. So just getting to see the world, you know, on somebody else's dime and get to perform and, you know, bring joy to other people. It just really been incredible to be able to travel and do that and get to perform at the same time. Like that's not lost on me how wonderful an opportunity that's been. Gosh, I'm thinking of other shows. Another show that was wonderful that kind of I did a callback to 10 years, maybe 10 years later, gosh, maybe seven years later was the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. So I did that for the anniversary year. So I'm on the DVD, the Netflix and NBC DVD and everything for that. And that was just a wonderful experience as well. And I'm the joy to the world soloist at the very end. And I did it later for the Spring Show, which was the Spring Spectacular that Nia Michaels was a choreographer for. And that was just a really cool show because it wasn't the typical Christmas show that you know. So it really featured the Rockettes in a really beautiful way. They just got to do different styles of dance. And then the music was a little more rock. And it was the first time they had the LED projectors on the walls of Radio City, which I think they spent like two or $3 million on them. But they really are spectacular. Like you can't walk away from that show, whether you like it or don't without saying that was a spectacle. Like that was spectacular. Like even one of the songs, it was raining. They were dancing literally in the rain. And then, you know, they have a scene where they, you know, push it off again. But that was really incredible. And I was a swing for that show, which means I didn't have to do every show. So I had my own dressing room and was ready to go. But then I would get to do it sometimes. So it was really, really fun. And more than that, last year was the first time I got to take my son, Jameson, to the show. And so it was really a full circle moment where we sat there, we got the little Radio City bear. And he even said, do you think they're going to ask you to sing, you know, before it starts? And I was like, I don't think so. And I said, certainly not for free either. But no. So we sat there and he enjoyed it. And you just got to see the wonder of that show through a child's eye and seeing Santa Claus. And that was just really special to be able to share that with him. So we had a little date. So he's already asked now, like, have you booked our tickets for a Radio City date? You know, we'll get to go and he has a little bow tie. How cute. You're listening to Art on the Air with our guest today, singer-songwriter Emily Drennan on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM and on WVLP 103.1 FM. So moving into composing and you've done that and we'll talk about your journey in doing composing and some of the stuff you've early released and we'll move up to one of your more current things, but tell us a little about that journey. Yeah, so I really started composing with my mom since she was kind of already in that world. I started writing lyrics for her and I started originally with just children's music. She's always been able to play anything in any key at any moment. She's one of those people that you're like, how do you even do that? And it's just easy for her. She doesn't even think about it. But lyrics were something that were much easier for me and just rhyming things. And she always didn't want to do the lyrics. She said, I don't want it. And I said, well, let me try. And we published, I don't know, maybe 10 together doing that for some children's songs. And then I started doing lyrics for some of her other sacred and secular work as well. And at that time I started kind of dabbling and just playing songs for myself just to, you know, kind of have something on my own. I thought, oh, you know, she's the songwriter. Like I'm the singer. We kind of have our established areas. Like I don't need to jump into that. But I thought that, you know, I kept getting kind of melodies and things. And so I would just take them. And I still do that now. If I get a melody, I just sing into my voice memo or a lyric, I'll kind of write it down at any point. And I kind of made a deal with myself that if I have any lyric or melody that comes to mind, I have to write it down instead of saying, I'll remember it later or, oh, I don't like it. I'm not going to, I say, nope, I write it down. If I don't ever get to it again, that's fine. But it's at least keeping myself honest with and having integrity in that process of, okay, something's coming to me and I need to give it an opportunity to come to fruition. So writing other songs later on, I started doing for my first album, I worked with another songwriter, Terry Silverlight, because we were doing stuff for TV and film. And we met because I was, I was singing. I'm a member of Redeemer Church here in New York. And he was playing and they hire a lot of musicians who are professional musicians. You know, he's played with Roberta Flack and a ton of different people. He's a percussionist. And so, and some of the people go to the church there and some of them don't. But we started kind of doing things. He said, hey, would you, you know, like to sing on some of this stuff? I'd like to hear what you could do. And I was like, sure. So we started working together and doing some songs. So a few of the songs are from him. And honestly, the time that I probably wrote the most was after I'd gone through, as most people, when their material comes out of a breakup, is I'd had a breakup and I just started writing a lot of lyrics and kind of playing on the piano with some of that as well. So a lot of the songs, particularly on my first album on the black side, because there's two sides of the heart, the white side and the black side, a lot of the black side songs originated from that breakup. But so I just started kind of putting things together kind of in that format. And it depends also on the album or otherwise, if I, I generally don't accompany myself just because I like to be a little more present in the moment and kind of see the audience members. And I also, and one of the benefits of being in New York is you know, lots of people who are perfect in their field. And so I'm a great piano player, but I know phenomenal piano players. And so I'd rather use them if I can, you know, and let me kind of shine in my own arena. Yeah, I just kind of started kind of doing that over time and writing things down. I still have a whole book of things I'd like to put together even more, but children certainly usurp a lot of that time. Well, they do both. They inspire. Right. They do. It's so wonderful. I tell people too, you know, children are wonderful and chaos, sometimes heavy on the wonderful, sometimes heavy on the chaos. Yeah. And that's a forever, that's a forever thing. That's not a new release. Like from into the woods, you know, be careful the things you say children will listen. Oh my goodness. Yes. For better or worse, for sure. For sure. So Emily, I would like to ask about the genesis of, I know your name, if you're comfortable talking about that story before we feature the song. Yeah, absolutely. So I can't promise that I won't cry, but I'll tell you. So my father on April 5th um, was killed by the recklessness of someone else. And you know, it's one of those things, and I recently did a different interview about this too. And it's just one of those things where you're just never prepared for that moment. It's just, just the moment that you dread, um, your entire life. And I think anybody who's experienced something like that, or a sudden or tragic loss would say the same thing. And, you know, he was just, as you've heard, he was just such a wonderful encourager and inspiration to me in a lot of ways. So I knew that I wanted to say something about what happened and to do it musically. Because music has just been such a part of our family. And it's also so transcendent. And so I started writing it just in my grieving process as a way to heal. And I knew I probably want to share it in some capacity, but I wasn't exactly sure how. But I just started writing. Did it start out as a song or did it start out as feelings? It started out as a song. I knew it would be a song, but it started out with the lyrics for sure. And the lyrics ended flowed over time, um, because the lyrics were not as nice as they are now, certainly. Because I wanted to encapsulate in the song the anger and the bitterness that can be there in a loss like that and really in any loss. And it's always there with grief, but also the love and the hope that is also there, particularly in that relationship that I had with my dad. And so I wanted to work through all of those feelings and keep some of them there and keep some of them really raw and try to bring also the hope and the joy and the high road. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly what my dad taught me to do, is to be the bigger person, to take the high road, and to continue putting one foot in front of the other. So that's what I was trying to do. So I started with the lyrics and the melody generally always comes to me at the same time. And then I kind of play with lots of chords around it. And it kind of just grew from there. I knew since the verse, the first and the second verse are completely juxtaposed, yet parallel. So the first verse is about the man who killed my father, and the second verse is about my father. And so it's both of them, the exact same scenarios lyrically, but it's changed with who they are. It's like, I know your name, I know what you were doing to that that day. I know my dad's name, I know what he was doing that day. And so also with the instrumentation, I wanted to continue with that stark difference. So the first verse is really hollow, and it has open fifths, and it doesn't have a lot of color or movement, there are lots of whole notes, and it is meant to feel uneasy and that there's a void there. And in the verse with dad, I just picture a green garden. It's just lush and moving and joyful and vibrant. There are lots of, yeah, there's harmony, there are thirds, there are eighth notes, there are strings, there's just more. And so I knew as we were kind of creating that, I wanted to have that starkness and that difference. And I brought in my husband, too. My husband's a producer as well. We own a company, Rock City Music, that produces albums and symphony shows around the country, too. And I brought him in and also two other arrangers, just so I can bounce their ideas off of it and kind of get their thoughts as well. Because it's always, even if you have something amazing, it can always be better or perfected with other people taking a look at it. And so they were gracious enough to be a part of that, too. And Rachel's a phenomenal piano player who lives in New York, and I've worked with her, and the style that she does is really what I wanted. So I knew if she would have me, I wanted her to play. There were plenty of times, she's like, why don't you just play? I said, nope, you're much better than I am. I want you to do it. And Adrian Mann, who's done several string arrangements for us, he's with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, actually. And so he did the string arrangement, and I kind of said, I played it, I kind of have a MIDI keyboard. I can play the strings and different instruments how I envision it and how I'd like it to hear. And then I kind of say, okay, now, if you could do some of your magic that supersedes mine, it would be great. And he always is up to that task. He's fantastic. So it kind of came together that way. And initially, we did not have an intro, and weren't sure what we wanted to do with the ending and the outro. And as we kind of played along with it, we decided at the beginning, we wanted those first four chords to have that same kind of intro, almost like an introduction to what we're going to talk about. So it has that, it has some thirds in it, but it has that openness and a little bit of that void and that grief already in, and the tension is there. And the ending is the same, that it's still, it continues, it doesn't really evolve, or it doesn't resolve, like grief doesn't resolve. But it's also in the higher octave, which kind of represents a little bit more hope, after remembering the memories that you had, remembering everything that you created with that person that cannot ever be taken away. There's a little bit more of a lightness to that. And so we wanted to try to do that with the instrumentation as well. Well, Emily, let's take a listen to that. This is Emily Drennan, and it's I Know Your Name. I know his name, the one that took it all away. I know his address, I'd like to drive by just to say that in that moment he changed everything for me. His carelessness and recklessness changed my reality. I know his job, where he was going on that day. I know his family, how they'd all probably say it sometimes happens, but there are lies there within. This I know, I'll not forget who I am and where we've been. He can take away the memories of everything we made. He can take away the laughter, the music will not fade. He can take away the dreams of all we did, all we are. The pain is like a shadow, but there's beauty in the scar. I know your name, the one who gave me everything. I know your address, the one who raised me in a way to make the best of everything and anything. To keep believing, not give up as lofty as it seems. I know your job, helping others every day. You know our family, how we'd all surely say, how could this happen, but there is strength there within. This I know, I'll not forget who you were and where we've been. He can take away the memories of everything we made. He can take away the laughter, the music will not fade. He can take away the dreams of all we did, all we are. The pain is like a shadow, but there's beauty in the scar. You were here today, you say keep on keeping on. Be the better person, let go of the wrong. Change this life, hold on to who you are. It seems like forever, but I'm never honest. Ah, because we still have the memories of everything we made. We still have the laughter, the music will not fade. We still have the dreams of all we did and all we are. The pain is like my shadow, but there's beauty in the scar. Forever beauty in that scar. And wow, that was, after hearing the story, that was Emily Drennan's I Know Your Name, and it's amazing. I'm just awestruck with that. Thank you. You're listening to Art on the Air with our guest today, singer-songwriter Emily Drennan on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM and on WVLP 103.1 FM. Now, I know you explained the ending part, and yes, musically, I can hear it, but those last words of yours, I mean, that's where, for me, that's where, like, it was like the ultimate in devastation, that last, I mean. Yeah, it was really important for me to keep that section raw and genuine and honest. So, I mean, I'm crying through those last few phrases. Yeah, you can hear it. Yeah, because it's also very important to me, for anybody who's experiencing grief, to know that all of those emotions are valid. All the tears are real, and they're important to shed. And so, I didn't want to take the best take and the cleanest take that you might for another song. I wanted this to be as real as possible, and that was my truth, and that is my truth. And you submitted this, being a Grammy voter myself, for consideration for the current year Grammy. So, I know on November 10th, you'll hear how that went. Yeah, I know. You never know how it's going to go. I was able to chat with and meet with a lot of people who really positively understood and felt the song, and it's amazing to me. Of course, it would be the ultimate beauty from ashes if I received a nomination, but if I don't, the number of people who said to me, you know, I lost my sister, or my father was murdered when I was four, or I lost my brother, and this song helped me. It's the reason why I do it. I hate to be so teary about it, but that's what makes me emotional, is that what happened to my dad can help somebody else through my music. Well, and we appreciate you sharing. The story behind that is so important, because hearing it and everything, when I first contacted you about being on the show and everything, but taking your listeners on that journey, it's such a sharing. You know, we only have about a minute left, and we want to give you a chance to let people know how to find you, and then we're going to play out with What the King is This, and tell us a little bit about that. So, Emily, tell us a little bit about that. Sure, sure. You can find me on emilyjordan.com. You can email me from there. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, all of those wonderful things. So, please feel free to reach out, send a message. I'd love to hear from you. And yes, this next song is an a cappella song. I did every single part of it. It's a Christmas tune, which is a mashup of We Three Kings and What Child is This? I love it. I just love it. I love it. I love it. Oh, I'm so glad. I'm so glad. Yeah, I wanted to bring all those, that a cappella background and all the harmonies, you know, just into play. And it was during COVID. So, I was like, I can't really be with anybody else. So, I'm going to record all the parts. And I had a lot of fun putting it together. So, yeah, I definitely hope everyone enjoys it as well. Yeah, it's incredibly lush and gorgeous. Emily, this has been a wonderful interview. We appreciate you coming on Art of the Year and sharing your deeply told story, your music. And it's just been an absolute pleasure meeting you, not just through the FYC, like you see on Facebook, but all that. Emily Drennan, you can find her at emilydrennan.com. You'll have a link on our website. She's also on Facebook. And I'll be listening to What King is This? Thank you so much for coming on Art of the Year. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Emily. I've enjoyed this conversation so much. Yeah, you too, you too. This has really been lovely. Thank you guys so much for having me. With three kings of oriental Bearing gifts of each ravish of fun Fields and fountains, moor and mountain Following yonder star Sweet silver bells, all seem to say What child is this who lay to rest On heavenly lands of meekness Whom angels greet with anthems sweet Whose shepherds watch, all seem to say This, this is Christ the King Whose shepherds guard and angels sing Haste, haste to bring Him laud The Babe, the Son of Mary Oh, star of wonder, star of light Star of royal beauty bright Westward leading, still proceeding Guide us to thy perfect light Do, do, do, do, do Ding, dong, ding, dong, do, do, ding, dong Ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong, dong Wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me Wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me, wish me the air is also heard Friday at 11 a.m. and Monday at 5 p.m. on WVLP 103.1 FM streaming live at WVLP.org our spotlight interviews are heard every Wednesday on Lakeshore Public Media thanks to Tom Maloney vice president of radio operation for Lakeshore Public Media and Greg Kovach WVLP's station manager our theme music is by Billy Foster with a vocal by Renee Foster art on the air is supported by an Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Grant South Shore Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts we'd like to thank our current underwriters for Lakeshore Public Media Macaulay real estate and Valparaiso Olga Patrician senior broker and for WVLP Walt Ridinger of Paragon Investments so we may continue to bring you art in the air we rely on you our listeners and underwriters for ongoing financial support if you're looking to support art on the air we have information on our website at breck.com slash AOTA where you can find out how to become a supporter or underwriter of our program in whatever amount you are able and like I say every week don't give till it hurts give till it feels good you'll feel so good about supporting art on the air if you're interested in being a guest or send us information about your arts arts related event or exhibit please email us at AOTA at breck.com that's AOTA at breck brech.com or contact us through our Facebook page your hosts were Larry Brechner and Esther Golden and we invite you back next week for another episode of art on the air. Aloha everyone have a splendid week. Larry and Esther, art on the air, our way. Express yourself in art and show the world your heart. Express yourself in art and show the world your heart.