Page 32 - Leisure Living Magazine July 2017

On Stage,In Concert
& Other Celebrations
Compiled by Catharine Hadley, Arts and Entertainment Editor, catharinehadley@gmail.com
Catch Up With Emily Keener
Emily Keener will return to the Norwalk Reservoir for a special concert with the Firelands Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Aug. 27. She also will perform in Wakeman in July and Amherst earlier in August.
For the singer/songwriter who was fea- tured in Season 10 of NBC’s “The Voice,” the Norwalk performance will be a return to her old stomping grounds. “I used to perform at the reservoir all the time for the Norwalk summer concert series,” she said.
The event is part of the Norwalk bicen- tennial celebration, and will feature songs that she performed on “The Voice.” She will also play some of her original songs.
The Wakeman native said it’s a huge honor to be “backed up” by the San- dusky-based orchestra. “I’ve never per- formed in front of an orchestra before,” she said. “I’m excited and I think it’s going to be really interesting.”
Keener has been busy since she returned from “The Voice” last April. “It’s been quite the adventure. I released my latest full- length record the same year, in November,” she said. “It was just a huge exciting thing to have finished in my life, because I hadn’t released a record for a
year or two, and I had
a lot of new songs I
wanted to share with
the world ... Now that
it’s released I’ve just
been playing shows
and touring as much
as I can and writing
new songs as well,
gearing up for the
next record.”
The new album, titled “Breakfast,” was co-produced by Dalton Brand and Noah Heyman. “They poured their hearts and souls into the record, and they’re my very dear friends,” Keener said.
Heyman has a studio in downtown Norwalk called “Far Around Recording”. Keener is sharing her craft there, giving songwriting lessons. She’s accepting new students, and those who are interested can contact her at booking@emilykeener.com.
Keener recently completed a two-and- a-half-week tour of the West Coast, and soon plans to perform in Iowa, Illinois and Florida. Setting up the tours involves a lot of organization. “A lot of it is just email- ing,” she said with a laugh. She was able to meet a lot of people who are involved in the music industry during her time on the television show, which has made it easier to get connected in new cities.
She’s enjoyed being able to stay with friends, or friends of friends, while she’s toured. “The couple of things that I’ve done have felt like half-vacations,” she said. “I haven’t really worked up to the stage where I play a show a night, or a show every other night. I haven’t gotten to the grueling part yet, but I will soon. It’s not as easy as it might seem. I know it’s going to be hard,
but I know it will be worth it.”
What makes the effort worth ittoher?
“I think my favorite thing is when somebody tells me that my music has affected them or helped them in some way,” she said. “As a songwriter I do my best to write about the human ex-
perience.”
For information on her up-
32 |LeisureLiving July 2017
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A wide variety of entertainers perform at
Third Thursday in Vermilion