Emy Reynolds:
From the very beginning hearing my mom’s accordion and piano playing intrigued me. She played mostly polka, classical and Joni Mitchell songs. It was on road trips as a young kid that I would sort through the bag of cassette tapes in our 1984 yellow Volvo that I learned of the early folk artists that I fell in love with. My mom and dad's cassette collection was vast and influencing. Artists such as Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel, Loggins and Messina, and early country tunes morphed my early love for music. We all sang loud together in the car. My mom taught me piano and took me to lessons next to a white church by the park. Little did piper (my band mate) and I know that as kids we had the same piano teacher in the small town of Ojai that we both grew up in. I found a guitar in the storage/computer room that would lead me on the journey to songwriting. I learned a lot from local musicians, Patricia from The Cardinalli’s for guitar, and Jaye Hersh my high school choir teacher, who got me to sing in front of people. By the end of my junior year in high school I began writing songs. After high school I met my amazing band mates Ro Rowan and Piper Denney. We’ve been playing all over, and are excited to finish our first EP and travel playing music together!
Piper Denney:
I grew up surrounded by music. My dad was a luthier, and was always whistling along to Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash while doing repairs from home. He'd let me play with the guitars when they were finished. I remember sitting for hours trying to get my little hands to wrap around the neck. My Parents signed me up for piano lessons but it never stuck. A couple of years later my brother Justin introduced me to Nirvana. I found myself drumming on everything around me- tables, chairs, and a set of pots and pans I strung together before saving enough for a drum set. My brother moved out and left an electric guitar behind for me to find in the blue shed he was living out of. I sat in my room for hours teaching myself to play. After playing in various garage bands I was in a Battle of the Bands where I met Emy Reynolds and later Ro Rowan. I feel so lucky to have met them!
Ro grew up in La Crescenta, California listening to classical music, The Beatles, The Mamas and The Papas, The Cowsills, Simon and Garfunkel, and musical soundtracks. She started tinkering on her mother’s piano and her grandmother’s organ at the age of 3.
At 8, Ro began playing the cello. Despite playing and excelling in orchestras and chamber groups, she always dreamed of playing cello in a band. Her brother introduced her to groups such as Alphaville, Peter Schilling, TransX and Kraftwerk which sparked an instant fascination with music technology, synthesizers, and electronics. She began experimenting with keyboards, electric guitars, a 4-track, sound effects, and drum beats.
In 1995, devastated by the death of her grandmother, Ro stopped playing cello. For seven years she was unable to play. Then Ro had a chance meeting in college with a childhood fellow cellist who now was principal cellist for the UCLA Philharmonia. She attended her friend's concert with daKAH, a Hip Hop Orchestra, and "woke up." She immediately made efforts to return to her love, the cello. Within three weeks, rusty and nervous, she auditioned for the UCLA Symphony Orchestra and made last chair in the newly formed orchestra. She played in the Symphony Orchestra for the next two years, sharpening her skills, until she graduated in 2004 with a degree in Musicology.
Just shortly before graduating, Ro started focusing on her dream to play in a band. She joined a group as their cellist and backup vocalist and went on to play with a string of singer/songwriters before meeting up with Emy Reynolds in the summer of 2007. It was an instant connection.
Ro returned to the UCLA Symphony Orchestra in the Fall of 2007 as principal cellist. In addition to playing in the Emy Reynold's Band, she continues to work as a studio musician for alternative and pop artists such. She can also be heard on several soundtracks and short films. In December 2008, she lived her dream and joined daKAH for a performance at Royce Hall.
Steve Key, www.stevekey.com Host of Songwriters Showcases --every Tues., The Clubhouse SLO --every Wed., Pour House, Paso Robles --every Thurs. The Porch Santa Margarita
I don't know if you've seen this kid's website, but it has some really solid writing. (I'm assuming you have seen it, since it has some pretty good things to say about you and it sounds like he knows you)
The only reason I found your very cool music is because I was looking at the story "the guts" by Chuck Pahlinuik, and I ran across this kids webpage of writing. I was reading down the list and I saw "my thoughts on Emy Reynolds" and I thought, "who is this person, that this person has thoughts on?"
Hey Em & Ems, you & little "P" rocked the casbah at Movinos!!!! Loved the new songs & hanging with you. I still have a bag of sweet t's (shirts) aching to be artified by Emmmmm :) Love, Les