Miss Emily: The Medicine Review

Today’s Blues Rock landscape is filled with blooming young artists like Taj Farrant, Grace Bowers, and Ally Venable. It is indeed a great time to be a fan of the genre. If The Medicine is any indication, Emily Fennell (aka Miss Emily) graces us with what we might call a “late bloomer.” Our Canadian friends might scoff at this since she is a three-time Maple Blues Award Female Vocalist of the Year, along with a 2021 JUNO Award nomination for Blues Album of the Year for her 2020 live album Miss Emily LIVE at The Isabel. This pandemic lockdown project compiled selections from multiple sold-out performances between 2017 and 2020 and also won three Maple Blues Awards. However, even her 2019 Maple Blues Award for New Artist of the Year came after two tireless decades performing gigs along the Toronto-to-Montreal corridor. She juggled being a single mother and scratching out a living playing everything from small-town bars to classic venues and eventually higher-profile festivals like Montreal Jazz Fest, Ottawa Bluesfest, and the Beaches Jazz Festival in Toronto.

What surfaces in nine tracks of The Medicine are gritty, vulnerable, celebratory moments sung with the conviction of a woman who learned to command a room long before festival stages knew her name. Grammy-winning producer Colin Linden called Emily “a truth teller.” Along this journey she gained the respect and collaboration of Canadian music industry veterans. The most notable is her work with Gord Sinclair and Rob Baker, bassist and guitarist of the iconic Canadian band The Tragically Hip. Sinclair and Baker appear prominently in the aforementioned Miss Emily LIVE at The Isabel and 2017’s In Between.

For The Medicine, Emily would venture south of the border to Pinhead Recorders in Nashville and enlist Linden to bring his credentials (known for his work with Keb’ Mo’, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, and Gregg Allman) to the producer’s chair. Linden drew from his past work to assemble a polished team, including percussionist George Receli and bassist David Santos from Bob Dylan’s Band, Keb’ Mo’ keyboardist Michael Hicks, Gospel/Soul singers Ann & Regina McCrary (The McCrary Sisters) for backing vocal,s and a legendary team of Nashville session musicians. Linden would also play acoustic, electric, and bass guitar on the record.

The album opens with “My Freedom,” an intense Memphis soul statement of introspection and inspiration. Emily has certainly overcome hardships to get where she is and shares that inspiration with lyrics like “There’s no use looking back when the past is dark and reckless,” “this life is still worth living,” and “I was the one who held the key to my freedom.” It’s followed by the first single, “Stand Together, Band Together,” a gospel-oozing anthem about unity in this divisive world. The messaging is clear: “the children are watching and waiting” and “It takes more than one star to light that sky.” With the release, Emily posted on Instagram, “I wrote this song to share a connective moment with my audiences when I perform live,” and “This is a song about community. This is a song about strength in numbers. This is a reminder we are not alone in this world.”

That theme flows throughout the album, but it is also grounded in stark reality. The title track, requested by a fan who lost a loved one to an overdose, “The Medicine,” is an emotionally heavy, bluesy ballad highlighting the softer side of Emily’s powerful vocal range. For those affected by this tragic affliction who often blame themselves, the lyric “You took the medicine till the medicine took you” offers some solace and, for others, raises awareness. As of this writing, Miss Emily is working on a music video to bring more visibility to this blight. “Solid Ground” is a warm, touching song written for her daughter 20 years ago during a rough patch. It wasn’t released until the single leading up to the album. With the release, Emily posted, “As a young mother I wrote this song as a promise to her – that I didn’t know what the future would hold but I would do my best, so she knew she was loved and supported no matter what.”

There are three tracks on the album where Emily shares writing credits. Starting with “Maybe,” co-written with long-time collaborator Rob Baker, it’s a booming anthem of commitment. Colin Linden contributes to “Running Again,” a catchy upbeat tune with a little 70’s R&B flavor. My personal favorite on the album, co-written by Emily’s music mentor Suzanne Pasternak, is “Smith’s Bay Drowning.” This is a haunting, tragic folk tale of children drowning in a boating accident with roots in Emily’s birthplace, Prince Edward Island in Lake Ontario. You cannot hear this song and not think of “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by another Canadian legend, Gordon Lightfoot.

The album closes with the powerful, heartfelt “Thank You” in “Remember This Song,” a passionate rock ballad highlighted by Emily’s vocals, Linden’s guitar, and polished to perfection by The McCrary Sisters’ backing vocals. As mentioned earlier, The Medicine is gritty and vulnerable. It is also grounded in reality and strives to be inspiring for those who listen to the words. I couldn’t say it better than the author herself: “Music is here to heal you friends, and I hope The Medicine does just that.”

The Review: 8.5/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– My Freedom
– Stand Together Band Together
– The Medicine
– Smith’s Bay Drowning
– Remember This Song

The Big Hit

– Stand Together Band Together