PRESS ASSETS (AUDIO, PHOTOS and MORE):

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11gGFIQ9s6xlo9DW4wb9z1dCJmh1oUUCE?usp=sharing

CONTACT/INTERVIEWS:

emily@emilypinkerton.com | 412-999-3443

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Albany, NY — On December 4 at Albany Unitarian Universalist, songwriter Emily Pinkerton launches an album of chamber-folk music that brings ghost tales of the Hudson Valley to life. Drawing on library collections and local lore, “Ephemera Ballads” reimagines the lives of two women over sparkling banjo and shimmering harmonies. Pinkerton joins forces with fivebyfive, a powerhouse ensemble from Rochester that champions living composers and community causes. 

The songs take inspiration from broadside ballads: printed poems of yesteryear that shared news and stories in rhyming verse. For the album, Pinkerton explored the Broadside Ballad Collection and other materials at the New York State Library. Using the cadence of 19th century poetry, she wrote original songs where two women, at the margins of history, tell their own stories. 

The atmospheric chamber arrangements shift between transparent and heavy textures underneath Emily’s high, floating vocals. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the human voice the past few years. How we read power and authority in low-pitch and volume,” explains Pinkerton. “This piece pushes against that cultural lens, embracing highness and lightness as a symbol of strength.” 

“Ann Eliza” portrays a Saugerties woman whose “pale face” appears in the window of her empty home after her death. History remembers her as the wife of itinerant broadside poet Henry Backus, and legend describes her as sickly and weak. Pinkerton rebuilds her story with fragments of historical records, focusing on her strength and substance through family tragedy. From the hereafter, she asks “Why do you dress me all in white? Why do you say I cried? Why did I become a ghost so long before I died?” 

The last song, “Anna Dorothea,” portrays a young indentured servant whose brutal murder in 1755 was briefly documented by the Albany courts. Pinkerton places passages from the court document in counterpoint with new lyrics where Anna Dorothea Swarts gives her own first person account, asking “where does my body begin?” The piece confronts class, violence and bodily autonomy while honoring the complexity of a life that official records reduce to tragedy. Bridging these two songs, the instrumental “Wild Horses at Stony Point” reshapes an old dance tune, weaving together the brightness and darkness of the album.

“Ephemera Ballads has taken shape over the course of three years, and the collaboration with fivebyfive has been beautiful,” says Pinkerton. “It came along just as The College of Saint Rose was closing. I was losing a job and a place I loved, and the work sustained me as I stepped into the unknown.” The unknown has kept Pinkerton and family in the Capital Region where they continue to grow musical roots. Eric Polenik, the Artistic Director of fivebyfive recalls that “the response at the Rochester world premiere of Ephemera Ballads was tremendous, and working with Emily has been inspirational. We knew the piece deserved a professional recording, and we’re looking forward to the release and our first performance in Albany, NY.”

About Emily:

Emily Pinkerton’s ballads and banjo experiments grow in a lush space between folk and chamber music. She is a founding member of the old-time vocal trio The Early Mays (International Acoustic Music Award Winners, NPR’s Mountain Stage Feature Performers).  Past chamber music projects include “Rounder Songs” (New Amsterdam Records) and “Looking for Violeta,” a folk opera about Chilean musician Violeta Parra. Emily’s lifelong love of teaching brought her to Albany in 2018 to teach Songwriting at The College of Saint Rose. 

emilypinkerton.com

About fivebyfive:

Described as “classical turned loose in the toy store,” “top-flight,” and “imaginative,” fivebyfive is an award-winning, artist-led ensemble known for its impeccable musicianship and adventurous spirit. fivebyfive’s mission is to engage and inspire audiences in the collaborative, creative spirit of today’s chamber music. To realize its mission, fivebyfive commission, performs, and records music by the most exciting living composers with unforgettable musical experiences, advocating for creators who are underrepresented in the field and collaborating with partners across a wide array of disciplines.

fivebyfivemusic.com

“Ephemera Ballads” was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The piece is also supported in part by New Music USA. New York State Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections, including its Broadside Ballad Collection, were an indispensable source of inspiration.

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ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Live performance of “Ephemera Ballads” in Rochester, NY:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMipEsW8XuCPVezXtZFHKSfbEiIQvfv0b