Seattle is full of inspiration. We invited artists from across the country to visit the city and create something new based off their experiences.
Emily King is a Grammy-nominated musician, living in New York City where she was born and raised. She writes and sings songs, and she plays the guitar. She's been making music her whole life, and she's constantly on the prowl for new musical ideas. In the midst of tour rehearsals and the hustle of day-to-day life, she came back to Seattle, which she’d been to before on tour, to recharge her battery and explore. "The idea of Seattle just struck up a happy feeling right away," she says.
She immersed herself in the city and collected sounds, sights, and experiences. "It's wonderful to be able to travel and be in a new place, and to try to log every taste and smell and sound into that one piece of art," King says. Here's what she found in Seattle.
The Journey
The Inspiration
A Sound Garden
The inspiration for the name of a certain Seattle-based band, sculptor Douglas Hollis’s “A Sound Garden” (1983) sits alongside Lake Washington, in northeastern Seattle. Its 12 steel towers contain organ pipes, which play low tones when the lake breezes pass through. It’s mesmerizing.
Heading back to New York City, Emily says she can see the similarities between Seattle and New York. "What makes it such a creative place is it feels like there is a longing here," she says. "It’s a beautiful city, but there are depths to it. There’s emotion and you need to see all sides of life to create good art. You can’t just be happy, you have to have some depth. I think that’s what people really appreciate about Seattle and I think that’s why the music that comes from Seattle is so popular because it really touches people’s emotions deeply."
"Now, after visiting Seattle and really seeing it, hearing it — all I have to do is connect the emotion and melody and do it from a genuine place."
The Song
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