A Shenandoah Valley talent who made a name for herself with Virginia Dreams Center Stage, ShenanArts and the Wayne Theatre, has planted her roots in a new city: Nashville.
Emily Henline, the young 13-year-old girl that many in the region watched grow up on local television and regional stages, is now 26, and working to make sure that people in Music City know her name too.
Henline, armed with her guitar and a tambourine, packed her bags for Nashville in 2016 and has never looked back.
“I’ve always known that Nashville was where I was going to end up,” said Henline in a recent interview with AFP.
Her family’s support pushed her to chase her dreams, something she says, is a huge blessing.
Her trek from Waynesboro to Music City was in large part due to advice from Staunton-based country artist Jimmy Fortune.
Henline said that Fortune told her, ‘you’ll make more happen on accident from Nashville than you could ever make happen on purpose from Virginia. If you want to have a career in music, you’re gonna have to move.’
“From that moment, that was the plan,” she said.
Henline has been busy “honing her craft” since she arrived in Nashville.
“I’ve been on this journey of discovery, trying to figure out who I am as an artist and the kind of music that I wanted to create and share,” she said. “I’ve been on this crazy journey of just writing.”
“My parents always kind of raised me to believe you shouldn’t have to change who you are to suit anybody else’s version of who you should be,” she said. “And that’s kind of what the song is about is just, I’m not going to change who I am for you. But hey, if it fits, and if it works, I’m down.”
Recording “Boot Fits” involved booking a studio with session musicians and watching a simple acoustic version of a song be brought to life with a full band.
“It’s the coolest thing,” she said. “It makes you feel like a kid at Christmas.”
Henline still travels home to Virginia a couple of times a year in between touring and writing rounds. She said she played “Boot Fits” at the Club at Ironwood in Staunton on one of her recent visits.
She has another song likely coming out in April titled “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”
Nashville, she said, has fueled her imagination.
“Nashville is filled with creativity and creative people,” Henline said. “There’s this energy here that makes making music and being creative just that much more fun, you know?”
Henline has been traveling the world with her music and hopes to continue to do so – and even come back to a stage in Virginia soon.
“I feel like I’m crossing all these places off my bucket list, getting to go sing and play live, doing what I love.
“So it’s literally been a dream.”
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Crystal Graham
