By Ryan Gueningsman

Taking things one day at a time, Winstock performer Emily West has definitely learned how to walk with “Rocks in her Shoes” as she heads to Winstock 2008.

West moved from Waterloo, Iowa to Nashville at the age of 18 to become a singer/songwriter, and she has never looked back – in fact, she never even had a “plan B.”

“I didn’t even have an option,” West said. “I probably should have, but I think that kinda helped me, in the long run.”

West was inspired by a quote from Jewel about not having a back-up plan for when she dove into the music industry herself.

“I kept it on my little headboard in my room when I was in high school,” West said. “She said she didn’t have a plan B, and I remember thinking that was really smart. I think if I was 30 years old and moving to Nashville, and I had a family and somebody to support, I’d have a plan B, but being 18, you don’t plan. You just kinda go with the flow.”

West admitted she didn’t care much for school, and had her sights set on Nashville well before her high school graduation.

“I wanted to move to Nashville so bad,” she said, having made numerous trips to Music City from a young age. On one of those trips, she met a girl who befriended her, took West under her wing, and introduced her to the music business. After West made the move southeast from Iowa, it didn’t take long before things began to happen for her.

The friend she had met introduced her to others in the area, and about a month after her move, she landed a songwriting deal with Warner-Chappell.

“That usually doesn’t really happen – especially nowadays,” West said. “Everything, if you look back to where I’ve come from, the odds of moving from Iowa to Nashville are kinda ridiculous when you think about it.”

Thinking about it – a lot – was something West did plenty after landing her songwriting deal. Now 26, it has taken her eight years to finally realize her dream of having an album out. She was signed to Capitol Nashville in 2004, and now four years later, her time has come.

“I’m so blessed that it took so long, although I was cursing and so upset,” West said. “And, honestly, I didn’t really know the process. All my friends were getting signed, and they had albums in six months.”

West realized that, in the end, things came down to her.

“Ultimately, it was my responsibility to write the single. It was my responsibility to write the record. It was all-in-all me holding it up,” she explained. “I’m such a live singer – I love singing live, and making a record is a lot different from that. I’ve always loved it when people would stop by the studio because I wanted to perform.”

Pressure also faced West in selecting songs for the album, knowing full well that first impressions are the deal maker – or breaker.

“It’s a lot of pressure to know you have 10 songs to say exactly what you want to say; this is who you are,” West said. “I think I really was intimidated by that pressure, and I also was intimidated by the fact that I could sing a lot of different types of things, so finding my own sweet spot, as producers say, my own voice – that was a little difficult.”

In her early 20s at the time, West was also growing up as a woman, and going through life experiences, as well.

“I always tell people, you know, my life started to suck. Boyfriends I thought were going to work out, they didn’t, and that’s when the record came,” she said.

“Rocks In Your Shoes,” is a song that actually came from people continually asking West when her album was going to be released. Frustrated with the roadblock she seemed to be at, she called her mother.

“She didn’t have any compassion for me,” West said. “She goes, ‘Well, you better put your big girl panties on and deal with it, because this business is tough.’ My mom is not a stage mom at all. She knows that I’ve been wanting this for a long time, and she knows that it is difficult, and if I’m going to cry about something, that’s OK, but, you know, you have to deal with it, and that’s what ‘Rocks in Your Shoes’ is about.

“You can feel sorry for yourself for so long, but then you’re going to have to put your big girl panties on and deal with it,” West said with a laugh.

The response she’s received so far from “Rocks In Your Shoes” has been amazing to West.

“I get the best notes over Myspace,” she said. “People coming up to me after shows, they come up to me and, I think it’s about one thing, but then listener’s reaction is so different, which is great, because they have their own experiences that speak to them.”

Her upcoming album, slated for a September 2008 release, is full of experiences from West’s life, and she said the record is an open book of her life.

“This record is pretty much the nuts and bolts of my life,” she said. Ranging from insecurities in today’s culture, to break-ups, and songs perfect for a girl’s night out, West pours her heart into her music.

“I’m really excited to see what people who haven’t heard it say,” West said. “I just can’t wait to see what people’s reactions are. All the songs on the record – it’s really, really an honest record, and I’m so excited for the reaction. It’s like giving somebody a gift.”

It’s a gift she’s happy to give to those who have supported her from the very beginning.

“I had my family’s support,” she said, adding they have been with her from singing at the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, to taking part in competitions, and pursuing her dream.

“Ultimately, it was the encouragement of my hometown,” she said. “It was the encouragement of my friends. I was little, but I was old enough to see the people’s reactions.”

West will be seeing a lot more reactions in the near future, as she heads out on tour this summer, with Winstock being one of her first major tour stops. Up until this time, she’s mainly been playing radio stations and smaller venues.

“I can’t wait for my live shows,” West said. “I think, there’s one thing where you can sit down and listen to a record and say, ‘Wow, that’s a great song, I love that song.’ And then go out and hear it live – being a live performer, I love to entertain. I can’t wait to play it live and I’m so excited for it.”

She debuted at the Grand Ole Opry the weekend before this interview, and said that was an unforgettable experience.

“I had a guy ask me, ‘If you could pick hearing yourself on the radio for the first time, or being at the Opry, which would you have?

“That’s like choosing, ‘Would you rather see the pearled gates’ or listen to the angels singing.’ Just the fact that it’s all happening is crazy, but I’ve worked my ass off, and I’m really, really happy to see that things are finally starting to possibly happen.”

West said she always tells herself if she had waited a year to move to Nashville, she doesn’t think she would have had the courage to do it.

“I really had that fear on my side in, like, a really good, good way by not pursuing my dream,” she said. “I had my goals set. There was nothing ever going to stop me. I knew what I wanted to do.”

Emily West will perform twice on the Emerging Artists Stage at Winstock 2008 in Winsted Saturday, June 14 – at 2 p.m. and again at 6:10 p.m.

West called for a phone interview in support of her appearance at Winstock.

For more information on Winstock, visit www.winstockfestival.com, or call 888-946-7865.

For more information on Emily West, visit www.emilywestmusic.com.

Ryan Gueningsman is at ryan@heraldjournal.com.