New video: “Happy Ever After”

A holiday centered on love can be laborious to get through when your heart is broken or hurting, so here’s some real-talk to balance out the romance:

I wrote “Happy Ever After” as a reminder that life is full of surprises, and that people are complex, ever-changing creatures – sometimes the ones we think we know best reveal themselves to be strangers when we least expect it. Because life is also steeped in irony, a few weeks after recording this song, I realized I had written myself less of a gentle reminder and more of an agonizing told-you-so. I’m releasing it into the world on Valentine’s Day because for the first time in a decade, this day is a painful one for me, and in my experience there are few better ways to feel pain than through sharing the art that grows from it.

Many thanks to producers Dango Rose and Evan Reeves for inviting me into the Elephant Collective, to musicians Darren Garvey (percussion, guitar) and Mekenzie Solidago (cello, vocals) for lending their talents to the track, to Dan Rodriguez for the lines that helped me tie the room together, and to all of you for your consistent support of my music and heart. Community is everything in this crazy world, and I’m endlessly grateful for you.

Credits:

Words/Music/Video by Emily Yates

Produced by Dango Rose and Evan Reeves (Rose-Reeves Productions) in association with Elephant Collective

Engineered by Evan Reeves

Mixed by Patrick Tracy

Additional mixing by Max Nordby

Recorded at Elephant Collective Studios, Boulder, CO

Musicians:
Emily Yates – Vocals, Ukulele
Darren Garvey – Percussion, Guitar
Mekenzie Solidago – Cello, Vocals
Erik Yates – Flute

with special guest Elliott Garvey as The Witch

New pre-release single: “You’re The Enemy,” Warrior Songs Vol. 2

Embed for Youíre the Enemy
A few months ago I wrote and recorded “You’re The Enemy,” a song about Military Sexual Trauma (MST), for the non-profit Warrior Songs‘ new compilation album Women At War. The album will be released in a couple months but in light of current events, we have decided to pre-release my song digitally now. You can stream it above and/or download with a pay-what-you-want option:

https://warriorsongs.org/track/1564039/you-re-the-enemy

This song is dedicated to all survivors of MST, especially those whose attackers have not had consequences.

Produced by Enion Pelta-Tiller & Emily Yates
Engineered by Andrew Gragg Lunsford at Mountain Star Studios – Black Hawk, CO on 04/19/2018
Baritone Ukulele & Lead Vocals : Emily Yates
Violin & Backing Vocals: Enion Pelta-Tiller
Upright Bass & Backing Vocals: Julie Gussaroff
Drums: Michelle Pietrafitta
Backing Vocals: Jenny Boykin Roe

I didn’t report being sexually assaulted in the military because I knew the investigation, if one even happened, would be even more demoralizing than being assaulted by people I knew.

I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford because there is no way in hell you can convince me a person would subject themselves to death threats AND the demeaning process of being questioned about past trauma by ridiculously-powerful frat boys unless they were either telling the truth or on a masochistic search for truly cruel and unusual punishment.

I believe survivors. I want justice for survivors. I am a survivor.

New video: “Tears In My Bong”

Cannabis is slowly being legalized, but you know what else is?
Fascism.

Written by Emily Yates

Music:
Emily Yates – vocals, ukulele, bass
Erik Yates – dobro

Videography and editing by Anne Leo

Featuring:
Cecilia Thorn
Parker Otwell Roe
Andy Thorn
Erik Yates
Adrian Engfer
Jaquita Straw
Annsley Dolan

New Op-Ed: Afghan, Iraqi Interpreters Rebuild Lives With Help of US Vets

Afghan, Iraqi Interpreters Left Behind by the US Government, Rebuild Lives With Help of US Vets

http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/afghan-iraqi-interpreters-left-behind-by-the-us-government-rebuild-lives-with-help-of-us-vets

EMILY YATES FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

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Imagine you’re being forced to flee your home. Not just your home, but your country, and not just for now, but forever.

Imagine you can only pack one carry-on sized bag, weighing no more than 50 pounds, from which you must rebuild your entire life. Everything else stays behind.

Imagine getting to your new, foreign home, only to discover that your funds are nowhere near enough to live on, your education and work skills don’t translate into a local job, and you’re immediately in debt to the government for the flight that brought you to safety. You have no health care, the culture you’re now immersed in is entirely unfamiliar to you and every day is a struggle to adjust to a life you never thought you’d be living.

Now imagine the reason you must do this is because the United States military … Read More