This Summer by Emily Carroll

What a long journey these songs have made. If you know me well or even only a little, you know I’ve had a handful of songs that I’ve carried around with me for the better part of a decade. You know this because I’ve played them for you whether on stage or around a campfire, relaxing by the pool late at night or in memorial for a friend. The reason these songs have stood the test of time is because of you. When there is a guitar in my hand you ask for these songs, the least I could do for you was record them.

Here’s how the story goes. Back in 2015 after finishing up my EP “The River” I was feeling inspired to write again, but this time I was looking to change up my sound. Jerry Weber introduced me to guitarist Ben Sparaco, and we started working on new songs together. The collaboration grew to include three other incredibly talented and creative musicians. Josh Foster on keys, Jerry Weber on percussion, and we brought back Ben Manburg on bass. As we all started working new songs emerged. Ideas flowed freely and we laid down part after part. In December of 2015 we were given the opportunity to perform these new songs but we needed a few more tunes to fill our time. So they asked about my old songs and I knew they would work perfectly to fill out our set. After our performance at the beginning of 2016 we went back into the studio refining songs, writing parts for new instruments and adding textures and layers to both old and new songs, creating a whole new sound. We were blessed again to be able to perform these songs as they were recorded with the idea that we would finish recording and release an album by the end of 2016. But then life happened. Ben Sparaco went back to college, Josh and Jerry were playing shows three, sometimes four nights a week. I got married and bought my first house. And the songs would go untouched for three years. Then 2020 brought us a global pandemic and brought me my first-born son. This got us all thinking, if we don’t do this now, then when? So, we refocused on the music and I’ve never been prouder. Here is a little of the old and a little of the new and we hope from the bottom of our heart that you enjoy, This Summer.

Emily Carroll is an independent, singer songwriter who plays the guitar, piano, trumpet and sings.