I was fortunate enough to get to spend a couple of hours with Emily Wells and her drummer Sam at the Majestic on Wednesday night. In from Los Angeles, Emily said it was nice to be back in the Midwest again, as she could definitely feel the difference in attitude and noted that she lived in Indianapolis from 9 to 19. Though, it was their first time ever in Detroit so I felt the need to send them off with a few bags of Better Made chips and Faygo.
Luckily for Emily and Sam, they get along as if they were a close brother and sister team. Playful and lively, the duo (their bassist is sitting this one out and is back in California) has a great energy that makes it easy to get entranced by their performance on and off the stage. They travel from city to city in a packed up car enjoying things like “I Spy” types of games with friends back home to keep them busy and Emily has an assortment of “lucky socks” to rev her up before going on stage.
I had heard Wells’ Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks, and thought I knew what I was expecting at this show. Wow was I wrong. This performance absolutely blew me away. What I saw was a duo performance. But what I heard was a symphony where you would have expected to see at least 3 times as many performers on stage. Emily picks up a violin and plays a few riffs while layering multiple recorded portions on top of each other, sings a few bits and layers them as well, all with Sam’s drum explosion accompanying. It really is breathtaking and I was in awe of the bold sound coming from the stage. I would highly recommend you check out Emily Wells, and you will be blown away too. 