Emily Gimble

Emily Gimble grew up with music in her blood, singing and playing on-stage since she was seven years old. Maybe it couldn’t be helped: when your dad is Dick Gimble, beloved guitarist and upright bass player, and your grandfather is Johnny Gimble, one of the most beloved fiddle players of all time (and the 2005 Texas State Musician), there’s really no choice but to play, is there?

Piano beckoned Emily early on—in fact, the Austin Music Awards named her “Best Keyboards” of the city four times (2013, 2014, 2018, & 2019)—as did another instrument, full of natural range and feeling: her voice. “A Case of the Gimbles,” the 2005 album she recorded with her father and grandfather, showcased her vocals and launched Emily on a national family tour, playing folk festivals and charming audiences across the country.

“The time I got to spend traveling around the country playing music with my Dad and Grandpa are the most cherished musical memories of my life,” says Emily. “It was then that I really started learning how to communicate through music, speaking with my dad and grandpa through solos and spaces on stage.”

It wasn’t long before other musicians started to take notice of Emily, including the Marshall Ford Band, where she romped on some western swing, and Warren Hood and the Goods, where she explored jazz, country, folk and pop. In 2012, that band started touring nationally, then went on the road the next year with Hayes Carll as his backing band. 2013 would also see the release of a record, “The Warren Hood Band,” produced by Charlie Sexton, and in 2014, Emily joined the iconic, GRAMMY Award-winning country band, Asleep at the Wheel. It was an opportunity that put Emily in touch with a lot of her heroes: nothing beats playing on “Austin City Limits” (twice), except maybe for recording a duet with one of her idols, Merle Haggard.

A storied musical history, to be sure. But in many ways, Emily’s story was just beginning. In 2017 she released “Certain Kinda,” her debut solo album, produced by Andrew Trube of Greyhounds. Since then, she has continued to tour on her own; with her family band, the Gimbles; and with artists like Amy Helm, Floyd Domino, and Hayes Carll. And she is, of course, working on her next record, which will once again be the result of a musician who’s spent decades learning her craft, and a lifetime building her musical family.