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Dec., 9, 2016
Emily Musolino, a singer-songstress, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Durham, returns to the island this weekend for two performances at Gaffer’s at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
She fronts the Emily Musolino Band and regularly performs as both bandleader and soloist around the country.
Her music is a mix of soul, rock and blues that has been described as a “Soul Diva Mind Explosion.”
“Etta James is probably one of my biggest influences – I’ve got her tattoo right here,” said Musolino, 27, in an Oct. 29, 2015, story by by Craig D. Lindsey of the Raleigh News& Observer.
Janis Joplin is another of her idols. “They’ve been really big inspirations. Anything with a big vocalist I’m a big fan of, like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra.” Musolino has always been a fan of older jazz music, but she also grew up on the heavy metal of Pantera and Metallica. “It just seems to come out through my filter in a bluesy, soulful way.”
Bluesy and soulful are two good ways to describe Musolino’s music. Profane, outrageous and downright merciless are also some words that might pop in the cranium while listening to her belt out tunes from her latest release, the 2014 EP “Jealous Girl.”
A Berklee College of Music graduate, Emily has performed, recorded and collaborated with various local and nationally-recognized artists, including Vinx, Shelley Nicole, Shana Tucker, Anna Wise (SonnyMoon, Kendrick Lamar, Cunnylinguists) and Eric Hirsh (The Beast, Orquesta GarDel, Eric Hirsh Quartet).
Emily released her newest album “Jealous Girl” in November 2014. She is also the newest member of Dark Water Rising, a Pembroke-based “rocky soul” band fronted by American Idol semi-finalist Charly Lowry.
Emily has been featured on NPR’s the State of Things with Frank Stasio and Durham’s own Clarion Content.
Her website is http://www.emilymusolino.com/