Emily Jane White facts for kids

Emily Jane White is a talented American singer and songwriter from Oakland, California. She has released seven albums and performed her music all around the world!

Growing Up and Music

Emily Jane White grew up in Fort Bragg, California. Her dad worked as a Merchant Marine, which means he worked on ships that carried goods. Her mom was a special education teacher.

Emily started playing music when she was just five years old. But she didn't really like the strict way piano lessons were taught. She preferred to make up her own music and play by ear, which means playing without sheet music. When she was 12, her dad taught her how to play chords on the guitar. By the time she was 16, she was already writing her own songs!

College and Early Bands

In 2003, Emily graduated from UC–Santa Cruz. She studied American Studies there. While in college, she explored music by joining punk and metal bands. Later, she started her own group called Diamond Star Halos.

Emily's Music Journey

After college, Emily spent some time in Bordeaux, France. Then, she moved to San Francisco to start performing her music.

First Album: Dark Undercoat

On November 2, 2007, Emily released her first album, Dark Undercoat. It came out through Double Negative Records. Later, it was released in Europe by Talitres and as a vinyl record by Saint Rose Records. The album included a song called "Wild Tigers I Have Known." This song was also the title track for a Cam Archer film! Cam Archer even directed some music videos for the album. Emily later said this album was "really basic" and sounded like early recordings. When she performed live, Jen Grady and Carey Lamprecht played string instruments with her.

Second Album: Victorian America

Emily's second album was called Victorian America. It was released in October 2009 in Europe and in April 2010 in the U.S. She recorded it in San Francisco and Oakland. Emily worked on the songs for this album with her band for about a year and a half before recording. She described it as a "more ambitious record" than her first. A song called "Liza" was available online before the album came out in the U.S.

More Albums and Collaborations

Emily's third album is named Ode to Sentience. The first song released from it was "Requiem Waltz."

In 2010, Emily was featured on a song called "Seeds" on the album Fall of Spring by Lonely Drifter Karen.

In December 2013, Emily released Blood/Lines. This album included a song with Marissa Nadler. People described it as a "new stylistic development" for Emily, meaning it had a fresh sound. It also had a "neo-gothic feel," which means it had a dark and mysterious vibe.

In June 2016, Emily announced a new album. A song called "Frozen Garden" was released before it. In July 2016, her fifth album, They Moved in Shadow All Together, came out. This album focused on important topics like fairness for different races and genders. Emily recorded this album over two years at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco.

Immanent Fire, Emily's sixth album, was released in November 2019. She wrote the songs for this album over two years. The lyrics on this record talked about big issues like environmental problems, how money and power work, and how men and women are treated. Emily worked with Anton Patzner to produce the album. He also helped with the sound and arrangements.

In 2022, Emily's song "Hole in the Middle" from her 2007 album was featured in the menu screen for the video game As Dusk Falls.

Emily's Musical Style

Emily Jane White often explores what she calls "the shadow side of life" in her music. She says this means she likes to show the hidden or less talked about parts of things. She believes you can discover "subtleties and nuances" in things that exist but people don't want to discuss.

One of her songs, "The Black Dove," was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Emily has said that it's important for everyone to understand racism, and that ignoring issues of racial unfairness is a problem.

Emily also gets ideas from her favorite writers. Some of her literary inspirations include Cormac McCarthy, Emily Brontë, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Discography

Albums

Singles