Emm Gryner
Emm Gryner
For Immediate Release
Emm Gryner To Release New Yacht Rock Influenced Single “Valencia”
Out Nov. 11th On Highwire Records
The award-winning singer/songwriter, actor and best-selling author Emm Gryner is thrilled to announce her newest album Business & Pleasure, forthcoming this Spring 2023 on HighWire Records. Along with the news of the upcoming album, she is excited to release the first single “Valencia,” due out on Nov. 11th.
Emm is a critically acclaimed artist and musician who has been nominated for three Juno Awards, twice for “Pop Album of The Year.” Her accolades include singing and playing keyboards in David Bowie’s band starting at the age of 24. Bowie’s acclaimed “Glastonbury 2000” documents her performance in front of more than 100,000 fans at the famous festival. In addition, Gryner helped bring the first music video recorded in outer space to the world when she collaborated with astronaut Chris Hadfield on “Space Oddity.”
With the new single and album, Emm Gryner has created music that brings her the most joy. Emm comments, “The pandemic meant we all had to come to terms with our mortality. It made me look hard at my life–and I realized that the music that brings me the most joy is the west coast sound or “yacht rock.” Bands like Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers have always been so musically interesting to me – especially since I have played bass since I was 14. After many years of doing what other people have told me to do in the business, I decided to make the kind of album that I would buy.”
The inspiration behind creating “Valencia” is both beautiful and inspiring. Emm states “Where the Pacific Ocean meets North America there is a place called The Graveyard Coast. Here many ships saw their demise–including one called ‘Valencia,’ which was lost in 1906. All 100 people onboard, including women and children died. Due to thick cloud cover, the ship could not follow the stars (its only way of navigating that night) and sank into cold waters, later spawning mythical tales of skeletons rising from the sea, and ghostly lifeboat parties. Along this same coast, in 2016, I lost my then-husband. When he returned from a hiking trip along the same shores, he wasn’t the same, nor was life and family as I knew it. I likened the death of my marriage to this lonely shipwreck, yet somehow after time we are able to rise again, like those mythical tales of ghosts and parties in the moonlight.”
“Valencia” was recorded at the legendary Sound Emporium in Nashville. Fred Mollin joined Emm as the producer for the upcoming album. Fred is an acclaimed producer whose credits include many records made during the time when Yacht Rock was topping the charts between 1977-1982. He lent an authentic feel for the sound Emm wanted to achieve with the new record. The horns in the new song were recorded at Fred’s clubhouse and vocals were recorded at Loud in Nashville. The full album was written with poet Michael Holmes, and features guest artists like drummer Shannon Forrest (Toto), keyboardist Pat Coil (Michael McDonald), singer Catherine Russell (Steely Dan), and guitarists Tom Bukovac (Taylor Swift) and Pat Buchanan (Hall & Oates, Dolly Parton).
Emm concludes, “This song is completely different from my previous work. Much of what I did before was guided by a sound that I forged in the 90’s, but this taps into all of the music I loved growing up near Detroit: Motown, soul, pop and R&B. I was very influenced by Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Anita Baker and Fleetwood Mac. To this day, their music just doesn’t get old — it feels timeless, and everyone still wants to hear it no matter how much trends change. To be able to write and produce a song that sounds like it could belong in that era is one of my life’s dreams coming true. It means that I’m finally doing what I want to be doing, instead of following someone else’s blueprint.”
Pre-save here: https://bfan.link/Emm-Gryner-Valencia
Follow here: