Emily Smith Vocals, Guitar, Djembe Ron Schmitt MalletKat synth Michael DeQuattro Vocals, Percussion Singer-songwriter Emily Smith has combined her beautiful voice and passionate songs with a truly distinctive rhythm section composed of Mike Dequattro playing a virtual orchestra of persussion instruments and Ron Schmitt playing bass and MalletKat synthesizer. Together with some of the guest musicians that contributed to the CD, Emily Smith & Synergy blend familiar pop and rock styles with exotic world, electronic and jazz elements for a sound that is a synergy of sweetness and intensity, beauty and power. LOOKIN’ AT ME – This song was written by Emily Smith and is about a breakup that just won’t completely happen. The lovers involved say they’re leaving, but find themselves looking at each other, unable to make the break. The song is in 6/8 time with a slightly Latin feel and features Em on vocals and acoustic guitar, Mike DeQuattro on percussion and backup vocals, and Ron Schmitt on bass synth. BACK AROUND – This is a blues song written by Emily that taunts a departed lover with the refrain that “you’ll never love like you did with me.” It includes Em on acoustic guitar and vocals, Ron on bass synth (upright bass sample), Mike on percussion (including the distinctive “ocean drum”) and a guest appearance by Terrence Case on slide guitar. COMIN’ OVER ME – Emily wrote this ethereal yet powerful ballad and it is one of the band’s favorites. To say it’s about falling in love is like saying mountains are high. Emily’s beautiful lyrics and voice convey the rapture and sublime ways that passion can cast a spell and pull you “down like a cascading stream” or lift you “higher on a wild bird’s wing.” It has Emily on vocals and guitar, Ron on synthesizer, Mike on percussion, and includes Jennifer Minuto on backup vocals. REVEAL – The title song of this album was written by Emily and lovingly scolds someone for refusing to heal from sorrow and move on to embrace life as given. It has a subtly funky gospel feel and includes Em on vocals and guitar, Mike on percussion and backup vocals, and Ron on organ and bass guitar. MOMENT – The music in this blues ballad was written by Emily, while the lyrics are by Julie Weinberg. It is about experiencing the deepest of despair, but it builds from Em’s solo guitar at the beginning to add layer after layer of sound until it is roaring in the middle – then the layers are stripped away to the end, leaving only Em’s lonely guitar riff again at the end. This song has Em on guitar and vocals, Mike on percussion, Ron on bass synth, and features guest Jennifer Minuto on piano. NO REASON – This song was written by Em and it dismisses the negativity, problems and whining she is hearing from someone with “I ain’t got the time to figure out what you’re going through.” In that spirit, Mike brings a great Afro-Caribbean groove to the percussion in the song (as well as back-up vocals), and Ron joins the party with a sampled steel drum part played on the Malletkat synth, as well as bass guitar. Em is playing guitar, singing and smiling. THOUGHTS OF YOU – This tender, poetic and introspective love song was written by Emily and deals with crossing that fine line where love can consume you and take some of your individual identity away. It includes Em on vocals and guitar, guest Brian Farrar on vocals and guitar, Mike on percussion and Ron on bass synth. BURDENS – Written by Emily, this lush sweeping ballad looks at the many obstacles in life that wear us out and wishes to “Lift these burdens off my weary shoulders and let me breathe again.” It features Em on vocals and guitar, multiple layers of synthesizer played by both Ron and Mike, with Ron also playing piano and Mike playing percussion. This song has the distinction of being selected by regional modern dance troupe Fusionworks Dance Co. to be choreographed and danced to during their 2009 season. WONDERFUL ALL AROUND – This song is generally misinterpreted as being about sex and that’s OK but, actually, it was written by Emily when she worked as a therapist with severely autistic children. It talks about an outing she took with them where she helped them at least partly escape their handicap for a brief time and feel “wonderful all around.” That’s what we’re thinking about when we play it! It has Em on guitar and vocals, Ron on Malletkat synth (bass marimba) and Mike playing powerful African rhythms on percussion. DJEMBE SONG – Emily wrote this song and yes, this one’s about sex and passion. A Djembe, for those unaware, is a goblet shaped African drum and this song features Emily singing and all three of the core band members, Em, Mike and Ron playing the drums without any other musical accompaniment. It starts out with a hypnotic slow pulse but then, when the vocals end, it steadily increases in both speed and power until it is a near frenzy, and then finally crashes to a finish. Get it? It was recorded live in one take with no overdubbing, and it usually ends our live shows. WITH YOU – The final song on the album was also written by Emily and it is a wistful and lovely solo performance by her singing and playing guitar. It is meant to capture the beauty and intimacy of Emily’s days before she joined up with Mike and Ron to form a band; when she performed as a solo singer-songwriter. It deals with loneliness and longing but ends on a hopeful note. It is often requested by audience members as a favorite encore song at our live shows.