RECENT PRESS
"Guaranteed to leave you feeling a lot brighter..."-Matt Davies, NetRhythms
"Emily Hurd is captivating on stage. Her wide vocal range, light fingers and clever lyrics aren't the only reasons why she's become a regular on the Chicago music scene. The way she wails through songs of love and loneliness with such emotion has gotten the Windy City buzzing." -WLUC TV6
"Choruses you can hum all the way to oblivion." -J. S. Ivany
"About equal parts Shawn Colvin (vocal beauty, heartland roots), Tori Amos (pianistic punch) and Maria Muldaur (bluesy buzz), Hurd displays plenty of charm and chops. In a clear, strong voice, with perfect but unfussy diction, she sings well-made songs. Her sturdy piano style echoes pop styles, New Orleans jelly-roll and playful Vince Guaraldi light jazz." -Daily Gazette
"Each song is a tiny chip of a mysterious compound of intelligent thought and honest feeling." -J. Sobel (read more)
"I felt your boots stomping from the stage all the way into my green room, and it sounded real good." -Roger McGuinn
"If it’s not an oxymoron, I like the sense of understated urgency in Emily Hurd’s voice. Now, sure there’s more than a touch of Janis in it, but Emily’s is a more controlled instrument. Maybe that’s what’s so intriguing—sensing that she could belt it out like Big Mama Thornton but she chooses not to—for the most part. It’s good stuff. She plays the piano, she sings, she writes some really good tunes." -Richard Milne, WXRT
"Strains of Joni Mitchell's signature album, 'Blue,' come to mind. Emily Hurd...exposes the palpable beauty that both love and nature have in common."-Lisa Torem
"Her songs touch on universal themes of love and loneliness, Hurd belting like Russian-American piano-pop diva Regina Spektor and exhaling words like hazy smoke rings." -Andy Downing, Chicago Tribune
"With all due respect to your natural parents, you are the bastard daughter of Van Morrison and Lucinda Williams." -Jimmy T, The Old Town School of Folk Music
"Rockford native Emily Hurd has shared the stage with Betty Lavette, Irma Thomas, and a number of other iconic artists. While her vocals are stunning, the real draw to Emily is in her lyrics. They are strong, original, and fearless. I never get the sense that anything Emily has got to say is being re-hashed. It's no wonder she's been a winner in so many songwriting contests." -R.A.C.T.
"Sometimes, I think I’ve listened to something, and then I pop it in and say, ‘Wow, I missed this one.’ That’s what the disc called ‘Daytime Fireflies’ from Emily Hurd did. I’m glad I brought it with me on a drive the other day because the opening tune just knocks me out. I know it will you as well. It’s called ‘Kids in Red Wagons.’ I remember when I heard that this week: I was in stop-and-go on the Eisenhower outbound, and I popped in Emily Hurd’s latest recording, and I thought, ‘Ok, I’ve got one song I’m going to play this week, for SURE." -Richard Milne, WXRT
"Janis Joplinesque. Emily is a favorite of mine." -Rick Kogan WGN Radio
"The Barefoot Session has caught the attention of radio stations across the globe. To say Hurd is up-and-coming would be an understatement. She’s no stranger to singing with the gusto that made Janis Joplin a legend, nor is she afraid to hold back while dynamically articulating each message. Hurd’s arrangements are punchy and fresh, and reminiscent of classic jazz, blues and folk. The 13 songs that make up the new album were chosen well, creating a true, well-thought tapestry, containing no throwaways or space-fillers." -Jim Hagerty, The Rock River Times
"I heard you're making a new record, Em. So what is this, your seventeenth album?" -Steve Doyle (The Hoyle Brothers)