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Vincent Neil Emerson’s thoughts are constantly racing – with one big exception: when he writes music, he calms down. “Songwriting is a great form of therapy for someone who has trouble dealing with things—and I’ve had that problem in the past,” Emerson says. Now, almost a decade into his career, The words come easier to him than ever before.
On Friday, he’ll prove that with the release of “Blue Stars,” his fourth studio album and first since 2023’s “The Golden Crystal Kingdom” – released via independent label La Honda Records.
“I wrote pretty much all of these songs in a matter of weeks. I write every now and then, but maybe once a year I sit down, have a creative burst and write intensively for a few weeks.”
His strongest work
The twelve-track Blue Stars is Emerson’s most complete project to date. It is the first of his four albums to feature his touring band, the Red Horse Band. Recorded in Nashville at Gnome Studios and produced by Patrick Lyons, the record is characterized by the swinging twang that has become a trademark of Emerson’s live shows. Throughout the album he sings about love, his childhood in East Texas and Louisiana, and his indigenous roots in the Choctaw Apache tribe.
He also expands his melodies and sound on the record. Together with Lyons, he brought brass players into the studio for “Louisiana Wind”. Over swampy percussion and keys, Emerson sings about partying in New Orleans, “dancing with my two left feet,” and how “the devil always needs another friend.” He explains that the song title alludes to the theme of overconsumption: if you’re drunk and swaying in the French Quarter, you look like you’re being blown back and forth in the wind.
“I’ve been going to New Orleans since I was a kid,” says Emerson, “to party, hang out, or just experience everything there is to see there. Louisiana is ancestral land for me. That’s where my tribe comes from, and I wanted to write a song about that state, but also about struggling with addiction and the whole party thing.”
Steve Earle and Guy Clark
Emerson experienced first hand how far he has come as a songwriter in March when Steve Earle invited him to a song swap at New York’s Beacon Theater – as the opening act for the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Although Emerson, at 33, is almost 40 years younger than Earle, the two passed balls to each other throughout the set. The show was set against the backdrop of immigration raids in Minneapolis and across the US, and at one point Emerson said to the audience: “You can’t be an immigrant on stolen land” – which earned him a standing ovation.
This brought him even closer to Earle. When he first played a new song for the revered songwriter, Earle responded by dropping the name of a deceased friend.
“He said Guy Clark told him he only got two types of feedback when you showed him a new song,” Emerson says. “Either he said, ‘Needs work’ or ‘Good work.’ Steve says that, turns to me and says, ‘Good work.’ My heart kind of just fucking sank into it. This is one of my heroes telling me this. That meant a lot to me.”
Such encounters have become normal for Emerson in the lead-up to the “Blue Stars” release – a release he will officially celebrate with his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday. The invitation to his first Opry appearance came from William Prince, the Canadian folk singer who had opened for Emerson on a tour of the Southeast earlier that year. During a stop in Tampa, Prince surprised him with the news that the Opry wanted him for their debut. “The first thought I had was: I’m probably the first person from my tribe to play the Opry,” Emerson says of his initial reaction.
Tour of Texas and the West
The show will be followed by a two-month headlining tour of clubs in Texas and the western United States – including historic venues such as Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, and the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, as well as two nights at Tractor Tavern, a staple of the live music scene in Seattle’s arts-loving Ballard district.
“I try not to think about what the audience will think of it, but I think about people who come from my situation, from a similar background to me,” he says, “and I just hope that someone takes something good away from what I write.”
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author. His book “(Almost) Almost Famous” is now available through Back Lounge Publishing.
