When independent artist Emmy Moyen contacted me, I was unfamiliar with the name, but I was intrigued when I heard her music. She had just the right balance of sweetness and sass, and I wanted to learn more.
Moyen was born in Kentucky but raised in Starkville, Mississippi. Many from her Kentucky family have a background in bluegrass music, which has always been a part of her life.
Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, and Natalie Hemby are some artists and songwriters who inspire her most. She also loves U2, Ashley McBryde, Tyler Childers, and Coldplay. But hearing Taylor Swift when she was three years old helped her figure out what she wanted to do.
“It was like this epiphany, ‘This is what I have to do.’ I was dead set on it. Since then, I can’t remember when I didn’t want to do music. I think I was around it so much that it was almost like an addiction for me,” Moyen said.
As a child, Moyen did Taylor Swift karaoke and was putting on “concerts” for her parents and friends.
She took guitar lessons as a child and was supposed to learn the classical and theoretical side of things, but she got impatient as she was learning chords and started singing. She also took piano as well.
While the accomplished songwriter writes her music on both piano and guitar, she mostly sings and travels with a guitar, especially since country music is her main focus.
“I had this love and passion for it from a very young age, and I am thankful for that direction because I feel like I’ve been very driven since then. I’ve always known what I wanted to do but had to find a way to get to Nashville,” she stated.
Her journey to Nashville was via Belmont College. With their Music Business and Songwriting programs, it was just the ticket she needed to get the ball of wax started.
She confirmed, “I have so much respect for people who just up and move here because I think that’s so daunting. Even still, I knew that I had these professors at Belmont and these opportunities here to start some things for me.”
Besides attending college and working on her music career, Moyen is a songwriting intern at Warner Chappell. Belmont has allowed her to have one foot in the college world and one foot in Nashville.
“If you can afford Belmont, it’ll teach you and get you seeing what you’re getting into before you get into it. And then you can decide if it’s for you or not,” she explained.
Even though she is just twenty years old, Moyen states she has written more than 150 songs already. About half have been co-writes, and half have been solo writes.
“I love co-writing, collaborating with others, getting to know them, and working together. But I also think writing alone is really special. It allows you to be more vulnerable,” she stated.
Moyen has quite a following while playing covers of famous songs and cleverly rewrites popular tunes. Acoustic rewrites include “He Loved Her First” from the daughter’s perspective and “Tin Man” sung from the Tin Man’s point of view.
However, the song that initially caught my attention was the original “Prayer Requests,” which expertly shows the fine line between prayer and gossip. She wrote to explain how word gets around in a small town.
On October 11, Moyen released her self-titled debut EP, which includes six songs that give the world a sneak peek into the artist’s true nature.
The record starts with a hat-tip to an ex, “Builder,” a song about someone who pushed her away, which ultimately turns out to be positive. The words Look at all that you’ve constructed/ Are you proud of what you’ve done/ Does it give you validation/ Do you like what I’ve become prove something good can come from a failed relationship.
It is followed by a beautiful song about her home state, “The Thing About Mississippi,” in which Moyen wishes she could be in two places at once, followed by the popular “Prayer Requests.”
Moyen’s inner Miranda Lambert shines in the bouncy “Crazy ‘Cause of You” and also in “Roots (Still Running),” where she admits though her roots run deep, they’re never going to stop her from running.
The EP ends with an anthem, “Life on Vinyl,” a tribute to songwriters everywhere who are brave enough to share their ups and downs with the world.
On August 23, Moyen opened for Spotlight artist Julia Cole, and knowing a little about both of them, I am sure they were two peas in a pod.
She said, “Opening for Julia Cole at Eddie’s Attic was an amazing experience! I feel so grateful for the opportunity to support an artist that I really respect at an iconic venue. Thanks to Julia Cole, her team, and Eddie’s Attic for a wonderful night!”
Moyen is a highly talented singer/songwriter who found me by watching what other rising artists were doing. She fits my demographic perfectly as I showcase as many female singer/songwriters as possible. Her self-titled debut EP is as good as any I have featured, and there is no doubt that this is just the beginning of her long and industrious music career.
You can follow Moyen on her website, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all streaming platforms.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
