Emma’s autistic daughter Eloise, 4, has been a big influence on her latest album
Growing up in a house in the grounds of Hull’s former Humbrol factory, Emma King was raised to a soundtrack of Fleetwood Mac and Elvis. While her friends were listening to Take That and the Spice Girls, Emma was on a very different track.
“I had a real mix of music coming into my ears from a young age,” said the Country singer-songwriter, who has just announced the release of her fourth album, Pocketful of Sun, on Friday, August 22. “When I was eight or nine, my parents just happened to have the CMA (Country Music Association) Awards on and it was something so different to what I would normally have access to.”
Emma decided there and then that Country was the way to go for her. Listening to legends such as Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, Emma realised her musical future to be America’s homes of rock ‘n’ roll – Nashville and Memphis.
From Marfleet Primary and South Holderness School, Emma went on to Hull College to study musical theatre. “I realised very quickly I couldn’t dance.”
Emma’s next stop on the journey was the south coast of England. As she turned 17, she won a scholarship to the Brighton Institute of Modern Music awarded by Carleen Anderson (Brand New Heavies, and god-daughter of James Brown).
It was here that Emma King and The Heartsets was formed, featuring former Asda worker Emma and four young musicians from Brighton, all busting out Country-tinged Americana. After multiple tours to Germany, and inspired by Emma’s ambition and plans to tour America, the band followed suit and together they began self-funded trips to Nashville, Tennessee.
Being signed by a label, recording at the famous Sun Studios (home of Elvis) and becoming a regular at Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Café were all to follow for Emma. She also represented the UK at Nashville’s CMA International Show, appeared on radio stations such as the famous WSM Radio (home of the Opry), and supported acts in the US, as well as Toploader, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Colin Blunstone and The Drifters, in the UK.
After eight years in Tennessee, Emma and her musician partner Ritch Spencer, who is also her co-writer/producer, decided the time was right to up sticks back to the UK and Emma’s Hull roots. The couple are now parents to Eloise, who starts at a specialist school in September.
“She has just turned four. She’s the joy of our lives,” said Emma, who was dubbed a BBC Radio 2 “One to Watch” on her return to home shores.
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“Eloise was diagnosed autistic at the age of two. She is completely non-speaking and has lots of sensory issues; we’ve been fighting for over a year to get the EHCP (education, health and care plan) to get her into a specialist school.
“It’s been a sad, hard, stressful year but we are through to the other end of it.” Pocketful of Sun’s title refers to the journey she has been on both as a musician and as a parent raising Eloise.
The sunflowers that feature on the cover of the titular single, out now, are not just a hopeful nod to the British summer. Eloise has played such a part in the song’s inspiration that sunflowers – the symbol of empathy and inclusivity for those with hidden disabilities – were a fitting element.
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The song sums up the infectious joy of childhood. Rather than dealing with struggles and inequalities and a need for reform of the SEND system – as its sister track Better Than It Was, does – the Pocketful of Sun single celebrates the raucous energy of youth.
A musical love letter to the Country sounds Emma was drawn to in her childhood, such as the cheeky mischief of The Chicks and the Country guitar-rock of Sheryl Crow, other tracks on Pocketful of Sun give listeners a glimpse into Emma’s years on the road in Nashville (18 Hours), her thoughts on the music industry (Sweetest Song) and a moving reflection of her home town of Hull (Guess It Was Ours).
With the thought that Country music spoke to her as a child, Emma now hopes to speak to others through Pocketful of Sun, regarding it as a “call to action” as much as a tribute to her dear daughter. She said: “I’m hoping as people listen to it they ask questions – SEND parents have so many of those.”
Later in the year, Emma King “and friends” will be performing a full band show at Wrecking Ball in Whitefriargate, Hull. The event takes place on October 11 at 8pm.
In a post about the date, Emma said: “I love playing my home town and this venue is the coolest. We can’t wait to bring the fun… & possibly cake.”
You can find more information at emmakingmusic.com