visionary independent artist
Emily Rooker is an award-winning songwriter, producer, playwright and performer based in Memphis, Tennessee. She has written and recorded three studio albums, and in 2022 debuted her original rock opera, The Long Goodbye, at the Evergreen Theater after a successful $15,000 crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Rooker is the Memphis Songwriter’s Association 2022 Songwriter of the Year, and a member of the Memphis Flyer’s 20 > 30 Class of 2018. Rooker was awarded the 1st Place Jury Prize in the Hometowner Music Video category at the 2022 Indie Memphis Film Festival for “Don’t Come Home,” (dir. Emily Rooker & Mitchell Carter). The music video also received the Best Vocalist prize at the Prague Film Festival, and was a Semi-Finalist in the Music Video category at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. Rooker is also a founding member of the Memphis-based artist collective Artkognito. Rooker’s live performances often include theatrical and unexpected elements, and Rooker frequently collaborates with other artists to make work.
music
late night secrets
released August 2011, rooker’s debut is an intimate coming-of-age album which explores the end of childhood. late night secrets was written and recorded during rooker’s senior year of high school at jammin beetle studios in Fenton, Michigan. the work is a primarily acoustic, intimate, and poignant reflection of late adolescence and early adulthood
the next morning
rooker’s sophomore release, the next morning, picks up where late night secrets left off - the songs in the next morning were written while rooker attended college and deal with heartbreak, navigating adult friendships, sexual abuse, and waning mental health. for the first time, rooker experiments with a full-band for an easy listening indie pop experience.
the captain’s wife
from 2015-2018, rooker wrote, sang, and played keyboards in name and the nouns, a Memphis-based four-piece indie rock band. the captain’s wife is their singular release, an EP which highlights their unique blend of folk rock, Persian setar, soulful vocals, and harmonies. with tracks in both English and Farsi, the captain’s wife is both an encapsulation of friendship and a sonic experience similar to watching your favorite local bar band play live. the captain’s wife is featured in the Memphis Public Library’s “Memphis Sound Connection” project, a curated archive of local Memphis music.