Uncle Emmington: Bracing For The Impact
You might’ve seen us talking a lot about Charitindie 2023 in April. This was a charity livestream put on by Cayt W and featured twelve indie artists, raising money for The Trevor Project. And now one of those artists has released her first solo music video, called ‘No Cowboys Are Coming’. Let me tell you about Uncle Emmington.
Everyone’s favourite Uncle Emmington is the artist name used by Alabama musician Em Kirby. The ukulele player and guitarist is formerly of acoustic five-piece Embrace the Chaos, their official music video for ‘What’s A Home?’ was released back in December 2021. Under the name Em, she put out her first album titled ‘Unoriginal’ in 2020, with some songs debuted earlier on her YouTube account. Her account includes covers of Taylor Swift, Karen O, Cass Elliot and Kimya Dawson, but also a lot of demos, including working versions that would later appear in studio quality.
In January 2022, Uncle Emmington released her second album, the thirty-one track ‘Alphabet Soup’. Following the release, Em performed a song from the record called ‘Writers Are Cruel’ on Fox 10 News’ Studio 10. Back in April, Em recorded a nine-song set for Charitindie 2023, playing tracks from ‘Unoriginal’ and ‘Alphabet Soup’ as well as some unreleased pieces we’ll sure will see the light of day soon! More recently, Em launched the Shammy Awards, a celebration of indie music featuring some of the artists from Charitindie 2023 and many more. Voting is open and can be viewed here. Uncle Emmington’s latest single ‘No Cowboys Are Coming’ is taken from ‘Alphabet Soup’.
‘There’s no villain in the story twirling his moustache, the ropes that bind these limbs of mine appeared in a flash.’
Like most Uncle Emmington songs, 'No Cowboys Are Coming' is short and sparse, but full of substance. There’s mood and tension in Em’s choice of chords, but it’s the way Emmington brings melody to her lyrics that makes her such a good songwriter. This and her adjustment of tempo as the first chorus hits really feel like the stakes are being raised as a train is hurtling towards her character:
‘There are no cowboys that are coming, so whatever happens, guess I’ll make do.’
Though Em steers away from full-band arrangements on ‘Alphabet Soup’, ‘Cowboys’ is one of five songs that benefits from additional violin playing from Joseph Guarisco. It’s his playing that helps to inform the tension conjured by Em’s songwriting of the damsel on the tracks.
In Uncle Emmington’s first music video, she takes this concept to the next level. Carefully editing herself between the grains of black and white stock footage, Em is both a damsel in distress and a cowboy performing her track. When the damsel realises ‘There are no cowboys coming’, she accepts responsibility for her fate, and frees herself from her own precarious situation.
Continue reading for our Q&A with Uncle Emmington. We ask about the writing of ‘No Cowboys Are Coming’, the shooting of the video and her work with Joseph Guarisco and Ryan Avinger when recording ‘Alphabet Soup’. We also ask about her experience as part of Charitindie 2023, her first Shammy Awards and forthcoming music. All this and more below!
1. Your latest single 'No Cowboys Are Coming' is taken from your second album 'Alphabet Soup', what kicked off the writing of this track? Do words often come first when you write?
I actually have the exact moment I was inspired to write this song documented! I was freaking out one night, incredibly nervous about the end of high school and the possibility I wouldn’t get into my dream college. In a fervent spam post I wrote: “as much as i don’t want to admit it, the future is a complete mystery and yet it’s racing towards me like i’m a damsel tied to train tracks.” While sometimes I start with melodies or chord progressions, this is one of the cases where a line came to me first and I instantly started writing. I didn’t end up getting into that school, by the way, but I got a great song out of the whole ordeal!
2. Violin is performed by Joseph Guarisco on this track, did you give him much direction when laying down his part or was the song's arrangement more interpreted by him?
He came up with the violin part pretty much independently! I sent him the track before he joined me in the studio to lay down his part, and since I don’t know anything about playing the violin, I trusted him to come up with something great. I ended up loving the result, and am forever grateful for how much it elevates the song.
3. The video is perfect for this song, where did the idea come from to use stock footage here? Where did you film your parts?
Thank you so much! I knew that I wanted to parody the silent film and western tropes present in the lyrics, and I decided to use clips of actual examples to contrast with the clips of me. After an exhaustive location search, I ended up filming my parts at the Railroad Museum in Foley, Alabama. I couldn’t have done it without my mom and my best friend Maddi, who helped me film and did my hair and makeup!
4. Of all the songs on 'Alphabet Soup', what led you to choosing this one for a music video?
It’s one that people often tell me is their favorite, and I think it has a strong cinematic/narrative element that was just begging for a visual!
‘Alphabet Soup’ album artwork.
5. You recorded 'Alphabet Soup' with Ryan Avinger at Dauphin Street Sound, how was that experience? How long did it take to record this album?
It was an amazing experience! Ryan is the greatest to work with, and I hope to keep recording there as long as possible. It took me almost a full year!
6. Of course we know you well through your performance for Charitindie 2023, what was that whole experience like for you?
It was awesome! I loved being able to be part of something that was for a good cause, in collaboration with so many of the indie musicians I know and love! Huge thanks to you and Cayt for getting that set up! I hope to be a part of next year’s stream as well.
7. You've just started your first Shammy Awards, tell us more about that. How did the idea begin?
I was eagerly anticipating the Grammys, and I noticed the lack of an indie musician awards show in the circles I run in. With the help of fellow musician Copeland James (whose song Small Talk is coming out on May 19th, by the way!), I decided to set one up. Both nominations and winners are publicly voted on. I love a bad pun, so I named it the Shammy Awards. Voting is still going on now, and I hope to do it again next year!
8. I'm hoping you can get Taylor Swift tickets! What are your top three Taylor songs and why?
Thank you so much! I’ve started feeling like a stockbroker because of how closely I monitor the rise and fall of ticket prices every day. Trying to pick only three Taylor songs feels like an impossible task, but I think I’m going to have to go with Cruel Summer (one of her biggest bops, with amazing lyrics and a characteristically killer bridge), Holy Ground (Red was the first CD I ever owned, and Holy Ground was such a favorite that I sung it at my elementary school talent show), and Glitch (it’s one of my boyfriend’s favorites, so it’s kind of become one of “our songs”). And now I’m starting to question if I should replace one of those with Our Song. I told you this was impossible!
9. It's been more than a year since the release of 'Alphabet Soup', have you been working on a follow-up? I know you have 'The Furniture Song'!
I’ve been working on a follow-up EP! I’ve done two studio sessions so far, but there’s still a lot of progress to be made. I’m so excited for the theming and aesthetics I’ve been planning for this, as well as for the fuller sound, as compared to my earlier work, that’ll be present on several of the tracks. The Furniture Song is going to be the lead single, and I can’t wait to share it with y’all. I don’t have a release date yet, but I hopefully will soon!
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The music of Uncle Emmington is available to stream and download in all the usual places.
Vote in Emmington’s Shammy Awards via this Google Doc form.
Follow Uncle Emmington on Facebook @UncleEmmington, on Instagram and TikTok @uncle_emmington, and on Twitter @unc_emm.
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