In Family Wars, Emi and her band provide an achingly authentic sound that will transport you into a smokey holler with a red hot still cooking up a the batch of ‘shine. The foundation for the rich ole timey sound is a multi-faceted band that includes accordion, dobro, ukulele, bass, drums & guitar. Together they provide a captivating backing to Emi’s stunning portrayal of rural America in which both the narrative and quality of her falsetto delivery utterly belie her 15 years (as does her song writing which addresses such weighty issues as dysfunctional families, domestic violence, mass murder and freedom in America). If you at all like Americana, give the artist Rolling Stone called one of “10 new country artists you need to know” a spin before she makes it big.

RIYL: Hazel Dickens, Shannon Moser, Gillian Welch

#1 Family Wars - Lovely toe tapper with gobs of twangy strings about a dysfunctional family (fast, 3:42)***
#2 There's Got To Be More - Whimsical acoustic duet with Jim Lauderdale about redemption (med, 4:24)*
#3 Scarecrow - Haunting mandolin sets the mood for this tale of an abused woman driven to killing her husband (med, 3:36)**
#4 Oh, Caroline - Soaring fiddle work nicely complements this duet with John Hamilton (fast, 4:14)**
#5 Crimson Moon - Powerfully delivered song of young woman picking herself up after a break up, with divine backing vocals from the McCrary sisters (med, 3:18)**
#6 Jonas Black - Uptempo picking on against a downer story of a mass shooter (med, 2:59)*
#7 Politicians Dance - Interesting fiddle work (med, 3:47)
#8 Same Boat - Spare accompaniment on this tale about learning to respect one another (slow, 2:43)
#9 The Ghost of Hank Williams -Beautiful yodeling and etherial mandolin accent a great story about the first man of country. (slow, 4:08)***
#10 Meanwhile In America - Apolitical tale about how lucky we are to be Americans, with simple piano that gives plenty of room for her great voice (slow, 3:20)**

Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XuslC4MiTM&list=OLAK5uy_k5F_5EMtDWTCLzb9UPJW6X3dWczvegtXI