Miss Emily is Making a Scene

October 13, 2025

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Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Miss Emily

Back in the 1990s, twelve-year-old Emily Fennell from Prince Edward County, Ontario was already turning heads at county fairs, winning one singing competition after another. While other contestants played it safe with songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “I Will Always Love You,” Emily stopped audiences in their tracks with K.D. Lang’s haunting version of Patsy Cline’s “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray.” That bold choice — and the spellbinding performance that came with it — said almost everything about the artist she would become. She had a voice that demanded attention, a fearless approach to music, and an instinct to take creative risks.

That same fearlessness would carry her through two decades of relentless performing — night after night in bars along the busy corridor between Toronto and Montreal. It was there, in the glow of bar lights and the grit of live performance, that Miss Emily’s voice, stage presence, and spirit were forged. Her powerful, emotionally charged shows soon caught the attention of theatre promoters and, later, the Canadian blues festival circuit, where she quickly became a standout.

Miss Emily’s latest album, The Medicine, was produced in Nashville at Pinhead Recorders by multiple JUNO and Grammy winner Colin Linden (Keb’ Mo’, T Bone Burnett). The record blends soul, Americana, and blues influences, reflecting her evolution as both an artist and a storyteller.

The Medicine explores the full spectrum of the human condition — celebrating unity and resilience in the uplifting anthem “Stand Together, Band Together,” while delving into vulnerability and loss on the moving title track. “Solid Ground,” written nearly twenty years ago as a parent’s promise to their child, finally finds its voice on this album. The powerful soul ballad “Maybe,” co-written with Rob Baker of The Tragically Hip, adds another emotional layer to the collection. At its core, The Medicine is a record about courage and connection — two qualities that have defined Miss Emily’s life and career from the start.

Her previous releases include Rise (2014), In Between (2017), LIVE at the Isabel (2020), and Defined By Love (2022), each marking a new chapter in her ongoing artistic journey.

Just before her 39th birthday — nearly twenty years into her career — Miss Emily earned her first Maple Blues Award for New Artist of the Year. That same year, she also won Female Vocalist of the Year, a title she went on to claim again in 2021 and 2023. In 2022, she took home the International Songwriting Competition award and received a JUNO nomination for Blues Album of the Year.

Her voice has been described as “big velvet thunder” by The Globe and Mail, while MuchMusic praised her live shows, saying, “Miss Emily can bring the house down just as well as Janis Joplin could. Never seen Miss Emily live? Do yourself a favour and catch a show. Quite simply — WOW.”

Reflecting on her latest work, Emily says:

“I made this record 20 years after releasing my first. It includes brand new songs that speak to the world as it is today, alongside songs I wrote two decades ago that are finally ready to be heard. I’m a product of my experiences and of the world around me, and this album was crafted to connect me with the listener. Ultimately, we’re one big community — vulnerable, loving, suffering, and surviving together.”

Every night on tour, Miss Emily opens her arms wide and invites her audience to sing with her. It’s a moment of shared trust — and when those voices rise in harmony, the message becomes clear. In an unpredictable world, music is the medicine that binds us all.