Electronic Press Kit

High Resolution Photos by Kristi Jan Hoover

Biography

Songwriter Emily Pinkerton crafts original music that “unites the traditional and the modern in a stunning, beautiful fashion” (PopMatters). She is a founding member of The Early Mays, an old-time, vocal harmony trio that topped the National Folk-DJ charts and was featured twice on NPR’s Mountain Stage. Emily is currently creating a set of solo piano ballads that explore voice and gender, with riveting depictions of breaking silence. The themes of gender and autonomy are also at the heart of Ephemera Ballads for fivebyfive.

The roots of Ephemera Ballads stretch back to Emily’s research in South America in the early 2000s. She documented the work of women in Chilean canto a lo poeta, a genre that is historically viewed as masculine. It is also a style of sung poetry that was once printed as “broadside ballads” in the 18th and 19th century: large sheets of paper with news, stories and social commentary in verse. Similar printed poetry traditions have existed around the globe, and last year Emily decided to learn more about broadsides in the United States. Drawing from the special collections of the New York State Library, she wove together the threads of stories about women from the Hudson Valley to create a new song cycle for fivebyfive.

Past chamber music projects include Rounder Songs (New Amsterdam Records, 2017; Independent Music Awards, 2019), and Looking for Violeta, a folk opera about Chilean songwriter Violeta Parra in partnership with Quantum Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to her performance and composition, Emily is a passionate educator. She has worked as a Music Industry professor at The College of Saint Rose, an Ethnomusicology Instructor at The University of Pittsburgh, and an ENL Teacher at Albany High School. She serves on the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Composition and Songwriting Committee which provides creative opportunities for K-12 students across the state.

 

Press HIghlights | Solo Work

The best of two cultures and songwriting styles... Pinkerton's songs employ earthy metaphors that reflect her spiritual and emotional world.  

--NUVO, Indianapolis, IN

...a definite recommendation for people for whom crossing cultural bridges is a labor of love.

 --FolkWorld, Germany

It's hard not to be enchanted with Emily Pinkerton's music when it takes you from the North American Midwest to the South American Andes.  The ubiquitous guitar makes it accessible, but the Latin rhythms and language turn it into an exotic, luscious thing.  Pinkerton went from Valparaiso, IN to Valparaiso, Chile as an exchange student, taking with ehr a love of old-time fiddle and banjo.  She became a critically acclaimed performer, singing both American old-time music and tunes in the Andean singer-songwriter style of Violeta Parra.  

--Cleveland Scene, Cleveland, OH

Pinkerton sets a poem by Venezuelan poet Henry Martínez and sings it with an understated passion that accents the desperate emotion of unrequited love.  Pinkerton also writes solid country tunes like the honky tonk lament "Beautiful Dress" and folky tearjerkers like the dark cello-driven "Ends of the Earth."

 --Sing Out!, National Folk Music Magazine

Press for the Early Mays...

Press for Rounder Songs...

Career highlights

  • USA Songwriting Competition Finalist | Folk/Acoustic Category, 2023

  • IAMA Best Duo/Group | The Early Mays, 2023

  • NPR’s Mountain Stage | The Early Mays, 2022

  • Independent Music Award Winner | Rounder Songs, Eclectic EP, 2019

  • Teaches Songwriting in The College of Saint Rose Music Industry Program

  • The Heinz Endowments | Pittsburgh Foundation Creative Development Grant for composition, performance of Rounder Songs

  • NewMusic USA Award for composition of "Three Forks of Hell"

  • Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, Roster Artist

  • Appalachian String Band Music Festival, 1st place in Neo-Traditional Band Competition, 3rd place in Flatfoot Dance competition

  • West Virginia State Folk Music Festival, 3rd place in Fiddle Competition

  • Uncle Dave Macon Festival, 3rd place in Fiddle Competition

  • Official Showcases at NERFA, SERFA and FARM Conferences

  • Chilean-American Fulbright Association and the Organization of American States Grants for study of Chilean Canto a lo Poeta

Sound and Tech

Contact Emily for stage plots and tech for...

  • Solo performance

  • Rounder Songs

  • The Early Mays

recent venues

National Sawdust, TUTTI Festival and Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series with NOW Ensemble; NPR's Mountain Stage, Appalachian String Band Music Festival, HOTA Fest and Fiddle and Bow Society with The Early Mays; Merkin Hall with Eddy Marcano, SongSpace, Acoustic Music Works