Biography
With more than a decade of live experience behind her, the folk-pop singer/songwriter performing as Emma's Imagination achieved instant recognition by claiming victory in the debut season of Sky 1's Must Be the Music, a platform conceived as a counterpoint to The X Factor. Emma Gillespie entered the world in Edinburgh in 1983 and spent her formative years relocating repeatedly across Europe in tandem with her father's military postings. An early fascination with music prompted her to master the guitar and piano independently while composing raw, acoustic pieces steeped in adolescent turmoil. Spurred by her closest companion, she tested her songs at open-mike nights and sustained herself through an eclectic succession of occupations that ranged from vending vodka jellies at Glastonbury to instructing circus techniques in Galloway. A stint in New York, filled with informal jam sessions alongside local musicians, crystallized her resolve to commit fully to music; upon returning to the U.K. she settled in Glasgow and cultivated a modest following by performing on the city's pavements. In 2010 she entered the Sky 1 contest Must Be the Music, a format that, unlike Simon Cowell's productions, required contestants to present original songs. The three judges—Dizzee Rascal, Sharleen Spiteri, and Jamie Cullum—unanimously lauded her introspective strain of acoustic folk-pop. Her semi-final rendition of the self-written "Focus" entered the Top Ten the following week, and she ultimately prevailed over new wave band the Pictures in the Wembley Arena final, securing the £100,000 prize. The winning composition "This Day" became her second chart entry, after which she joined Gary Barlow's Future Records roster and cut her first album, Stand Still, alongside producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, James Morrison); the record debuted at number 14 in early 2011.
Albums
