FROM the very first moment she heard her voice professionally recorded singer-songwriter Emma-Lee knew she wanted to have a career in music.
"I can remember really clearly," she says. "Even though I was playing guitar and making music, I was just a teenager living in the suburbs. I didn't have any access to recording studios and I had never heard myself taped, I only knew what I sounded like in person."
"That first excitement of hearing that and just wanting to hear that again and continue that my whole life," she adds.
The Toronto-based singer, currently on the back end of her spring tour with 2012 Juno-nominee Peter
Katz, performed earlier this week in Vancouver at the Media Club.
"The last time I played in Vancouver I was on the road with Jesse Cook and we got to play at the Orpheum Theatre," Lee says. "I got some new fans after that night and I am hoping there are some repeat customers that come back and see us."
In April, Lee and Katz released a new duet titled "What's On Your Mind" through iTunes.
"Even though it's come out as Emma-Lee and Peter Katz it's part of the start of a new project that we have started, we just haven't figured out a name yet," she says. "We are hoping to put out some more new music in the next year."
Although she was born in Toronto, Emma-Lee grew up in Markham, Ont. She began learning the guitar when she was 14 years old and started writing songs and singing a few years later.
In 2005 she was nominated for Best Female Artist at the Toronto Independent Music Awards and inn 2010 her song "Until We Meet Again" was selected as the Best Love Song at the Independent Music Awards.
Her music has also been featured in Degrassi: The Next Generation, 18 to Life, The Border, Bomb Girls, Teen Wolf, and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Lee grew up listening to a wide range of music including Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald and Bob Marley.
"When I got into my teens I started listening to Fiona Apple and singer songwriter type women who played their instruments, wrote their own songs and had powerful voices," she says. "That's sort of what inspired me to go beyond just singing and write my own material."
In 2008 she released her first album Never Just A Dream, where it received praise from a wide range of publications including the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail.
Last year she released her second album, Backseat Heroine with eOne Music Canada. The album has been nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album at the 12th Annual Independent Music Awards.
Lee is no stranger to personal setbacks. In 2007, doctors found a growth on her thyroid gland. Lee was told she would need surgery and that if anything went wrong during the procedure it could result in vocal-chord paralysis.
"It was absolutely terrifying. I really had to assess my life and what my life would be if I couldn't do what I do, but I had to go through with it," Lee says.
The following year she developed a polyp on her vocal cords and had to undergo surgery. Other singers who have experienced the same kind of problem include Adele and Steven Tyler.
"That was another really scary thing," she says. "I told myself at the time that if at any point I am not able to sing again I will become the world's greatest guitar player or piano player and I'd focus all my energy into that. I would never quit music because it's burned into my soul."
In 2012 Lee accompanied Juno Award-winning flamenco guitarist, Jesse Cook on his Blue Guitar Tour. After discovering her online Cook asked her to sing the vocals in his songs, "I Put A Spell On You" and "Ne Me Quitte Pas."
"It was an absolute dream come true," she says. "It was a scale of a tour that I had previously never been a part of. We were on a tour bus and every night we were playing in sold out beautiful theatres. It was a really fantastic sneak peek into the life of a very established artist.
"Jesse is an absolute pleasure to work with and he is really generous in spreading the word of other artists' music. He also allowed me to sing a couple of my own songs to open up the night every night. He was just so supportive of me. I've had a lot of people come out from those shows on this tour. It was just a really positive experience," she adds.
Emma-Lee is also a professional photographer who takes photos of musicians, so when Cook called she assumed it was simply to hire her as a photographer.
"It was funny he called me and left me voice mail saying call me back. . . . . and I thought he was calling because he was interested in having me photograph him," she says.
"Then it turned out that he had heard me sing this one particular song, 'Magical Flying Bathtub Machine.' He just thought my voice would really work for what he was going for this time around and the rest is history."
