JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Emily Ann Roberts shared the notion you “can't hide country” when she released her debut album last year. But now, the Knoxville native would tell you the mantra has become less of a confession and more of a promise to herself.
“I felt like for the first time, ‘This is who I am,’” Roberts told Tri-Cities Scene. “You’ve got the more traditional music (on the record). Then you’ve got some big-band songs that excited me.
And that's why I cut ‘em.” Roberts will perform such unapologetically country tunes Thursday, Aug. 16, as part of Jamey Johnson’s What A View Tour at Johnson City’s Freedom Hall Civic Center.
She opens the show acoustically ahead of Ben Haggard — country singer and son to legendary artist Merle Haggard — all before headliner and “In Color” crooner Johnson takes the stage. Roberts’ acoustic set is only the better to showcase her love for country and Appalachian-infused music. “It’s really neat because usually we’re out with the whole band and we have the whole shebang happening,” Roberts said.
“When it's more acoustic-driven and it's just guitars and the song, you can really lean into the music and what the song is saying. Sometimes I think when things are more broken down they can be even more special.” Roberts didn’t suddenly emerge from her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee with fiddle-driven tunes at the ready — and often, despite the advice of Nashville music executives.
Instead, her .