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Emily Scott Robinson is a rising star in the Americana music scene. She calls the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado Home. Signed to John Prine’s Oh Boy Records, Robinson is out with a new album, Appalachia.

Robinson stopped by the Purple House on Pine to talk about the new album, and the hope and service of music.

Julia Caulfield (JC): This is your fifth album that’s coming out. How does it feel to have it enter into the world?

Emily Scott Robinson (ESR): It feels amazing. I am so in love with this album. The songs feel so powerful, and I worked on these songs for four years. I recorded them in a way that felt really good — in five days in the Hudson River Valley, in this beautiful church, right at the beginning of springtime. It was so magical. There’s this sense of wonder and openness that in the recording itself that feels like it’s in the DNA of the songs. I’m so happy it’s out. I’m so excited for these songs to make their way into the world.

JC: This album, Appalachia — what do you feel like it sounds like to you?

ESR: It feels kind of sparkly and warm, and in a less esoteric way, it’s very acoustic. There’s a lot of fiddle and cello and acoustic guitar. It feels, in some ways, almost like a solo record. There’s one full-band song, “Dirt Bag Saloon,” but otherwise it feels really intimate and warm.

The way we recorded it, we were all in one big church room, recording together, so there’s a live feel — like you’re in the room with us. That was very much on purpose because I love records that feel really organic and textural. So, it feels really organic, and textural, and acoustic, and very folky, with a little bluegrass influence, and there’s definitely one country banger on there. But it feels more intimate than my last couple of records.

JC: You’ve been a working singer-songwriter for a decade. You’ve had a number of albums that have, maybe, the same essence but flex different parts of who you are. How do you feel your writing, your music, your craft have shifted over the past 10 years?

ESR: In the early years of my career, I was really trying to prove myself as a songwriter. I had something to prove. I was climbing, it was scrappy. These songs feel more like they’re of service to the human experience, rather than coming from a place of needing to prove myself as a songwriter and a singer.

They feel more laid back, more relaxed, more grounded. I love my early records. When I listen to my albums through the years, I really here where I was an artist and a singer and a songwriter. I’m incredibly proud of all of that songwriting. But I do feel like I’ve moved into a different chapter of my life, and correspondingly a different chapter as a songwriter and an artist. These songs are of service or they’re useful in a way, rather than being ‘shine a light on me. I have something to prove.’ They feel more laid back, and relaxed and centered.

JC: With that notion of being of use, there’s a lot going on in the world right now. How do you hope these songs are useful at this moment?

ESR: I really hope they give people hope and fortify people’s spirits. I think these songs are messages of hope, and they shine a light on how we can take care of each other — as humans, as neighbors, as friends. I think there’s a sacred in the ordinary, and that’s really the heart of this record.

I hope the songs help people feel their way through these times and they help people remember to look to each other and not to give up hope in themselves or in their communities. There are a couple different truths that co-exist at once — there’s so much evidence for hope. There’s so much that we can’t control. There are so many painful experiences in life. There’s a lot of loss that doesn’t have meaning, it’s just painful and hard. There’s a lot of grief that we walk through as humans. But here we are. We have each other. That’s kind of my manifesto for these songs.

JC: Emily, thanks so much for coming in and chatting with us about Appalachia.

ESR: It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me. I love KOTO, I love you, Julia, and I love this community. It’s a great gift to be able to share music here.