Watch Emily West’s Captivating Cover of ‘Nights in White Satin’
That clichéd and mostly erroneous saying on every reality talent show, “Everyone’s a winner,” is actually true for Emily West. After placing second on America’s Got Talent last year, the Iowa native has taken a major career rebound. She inked a deal with Sony Music Masterworks for a new album, All for You, to be released this summer. And while she didn’t win the show’s grand prize of a Las Vegas residency, she has scored residencies in four major U.S. cities. Starting April 2nd, West will play strings of shows in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago. (See the full list of dates below.)
West’s success comes after years of paying her dues. She moved to Nashville in 2000 and worked as a songwriter and backup singer before signing a deal with Capitol Records in 2008. But the three singles released via Capitol, including an ACM award-nominated duet with Keith Urban, failed to crack the charts’ Top 30. She lost both her label and publishing deals, but refused to give up, releasing several more tracks independently before auditioning for America’s Got Talent.
The song that solidified West’s spot in the finals of the NBC show was her intoxicating cover of the Moody Blues’ 1967 hit, “Nights in White Satin.” Watch above as she turns the classic rock song into a piano-driven power ballad, performing the song again on the Grand Ole Opry earlier this month.
On a totally different end of the dynamic Emily West spectrum, the chanteuse released another cover song this week, this time teaming with Postmodern Jukebox to put a Roy Orbison-style spin on Kanye West and Paul McCartney’s “Only One.” Watch the video below.
Emily West Tour Dates
April 2nd — New York City’s SubCulture
April 7th — Philadelphia’s Upstairs Live
April 9th — New York City’s SubCulture
April 14th — Philadelphia’s Upstairs Live
April 21st — Philadelphia’s Upstairs Live
April 23rd — New York City’s SubCulture
April 28th — Philadelphia’s Upstairs Live
Thurs April 30th — New York City’s SubCulture
May 6th — Los Angeles’ Hotel Café
May 13th — Los Angeles’ Hotel Café
May 20th — Los Angeles’ Hotel Café
May 27th — Los Angeles’ Hotel Café
June 4th — Chicago’s Davenport’s Piano Bar
June 18th — Chicago’s Davenport’s Piano Bar
June 25th — Chicago’s Davenport’s Piano Bar