Stetson Rose

FIREFLY COFFEE HOUSE SPOTLIGHT: SINGER/SONGWRITER STETSON ROSE EYES THE SIMPLE, PERFECT LOVE SONG
By Jonah Freedman • Jun 15, 2015


When the Firefly Music Festival opens its gates on Thursday, StubHub Music will be there. More than 20 artists are set to perform over four days on the Coffee House stage beginning Thursday, giving some of the festival’s rising stars the chance to perform intimate sets inside the frenzy of one of the nation’s biggest music festivals. In anticipation of the shows, StubHub Music offers fans a look at the artists set to take the stage.

Artist: Stetson Rose

Musical Map: Pottstown, Pa.

Listen If You Like: Ed Sheeran, Joni Mitchell, Jewel

The Basics: To Emily Rose (she borrows the “Stetson” from her husband’s last name), there’s nothing wrong with filling the world with silly love songs. The well-traveled 24-year-old has been penning them since she was a teenager and has won several songwriting awards in the process. Her intimate, honest approach is stripped down: lighthearted lyrics about crushes and relationships, all told through her impressive soprano and the strumming of her acoustic guitar. And who needs the complexity? Rose is also busy putting herself through nursing school and raising her 2-year-old daughter.

Where You’ve Heard Her: You haven’t yet. But you will. Rose earned her spot at Firefly thanks to being a finalist in the 2015 Philadelphia Songwriters Project competition, which also landed her a three-city Pennsylvania tour. This is, she admits, her big break, and she’s aiming to take advantage, performing most of tracks she’s recording for a debut record to be released this fall. She plans to bring a backing band to Firefly and might even plug in for the occasion.

Signature Song: “Safe and Strong” is her big award-winner – it’s as moving as any Sam Smith number (watch her perform it below). But Rose is down to cover almost anything. She routinely solicits her Facebook followers for requests, and has delivered on a handful: everything from Joni Mitchell, John Legend, Ed Sheeran, Sia, even The Cranberries (watch them all here). Just don’t ask her to do 4 Non Blondes’ iconic “What’s Up” – “I had to draw the line somewhere,” she laughs.

She Said It: “I definitely like a straightforward, fun, sweet love song. Some of that is that I just sit down and whatever words come out is what I make. Maybe [my songs] are simple. That’s fine with me.”

Stetson Rose will perform on the Coffee House stage at the Firefly Music Festival on Friday at 1:15 p.m. - StubHub

Mixtape Music Tea/ Stetson Rose

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Andrew Johns
A few weeks ago, Philly Mixtape sat down in a much well deserved air conditioned room at the Firefly Music Festival to spill some music tea with local singer/songwriter, Stetson Rose.

Having already won the hearts of many at Philly Songwriters Project, Ms. Rose was offered an opportunity to play the annual festival, where she was quite gracious in spilling all of the local music dish for us. Take a sip below…



PM- How did you get your start as a musician?
SR- I just always have (been a musician). I started on ukulele then my parents got me a guitar when I found a broken one in the garage.

PM- Hey, that was like me! I found one in my mom’s attic after being enamored by my cousins. She got it fixed up for me and I started just riffing on it. So, Firefly is a pretty amazing opportunity. How was the experience for you?

Stetson2
SR- It was phenomenal. I was so scared before going on but it was so much fun while I was up there. I just wanted to keep going.
PM- You did have a good crowd going. I could hear your voice half a mile away when walking up to the tent.
SR- Aw thanks ! People came up afterwards telling me they were headed to another stage and that I had stopped them in their tracks.

PM- That’s an awesome thing. So you have traveled a bit before I’m told?
SR- I was born in the Bay area on the west coast. I have traveled to New York and Florida, was a part of California’s West Coast Songwriters. I’m well traveled I guess you could say. For a long while I took a on music to focus on family. It definitely feels good to be back and this is probably the first time I’m professionally promoting it.



PM- It looks like it’s working quite well for you. What inspires you as an artist?
SR- Making someone cry (laughs). It’s being so touched within that moment that I try to evoke.

PM- Any artists?
SR- My parents lived in San Francisco in the 60s…so The Band, Paul Simon, Sam Smith. I’m a sucker for a vocal. First and foremost I’m a singer. But the feeling…I don’t know how to describe it. Oh and Ray la Montagne. His album, Trouble, so good.



PM- So you do have a day job and a child at home as well as being a performer. How do you juggle all the responsibilities?
SR- I cry a lot (laughs).
PM – So do I. Trust me haha.
SR- I have a lot of support though from friends and family. No one becomes successful alone. For me it’s about how to get the energy and then keep the energy.

PM- Any act that inspired you here at the festival?
SR- Paul McCartney of course. I’m also excited to see Max Frost.

Listen to her single “Silver Lining” and check out her TOUR below:



Tour Schedule:

Jul 11Rose Tree Summer FestivalMedia, PA FreeRSVP

Jul 15Penn Museum Summer Nights Music SeriesPhiladelphia, PA TicketsRSVP

Jul 18The Oval StagePhiladelphia, PA FreeRSVP

Aug 16Bethlehem Musik FestivalBethlehem, PA FreeRSVP - Philly Mixtape

Local singer Stetson Rose to perform at Muskifest

Local singer-songwriter Emily “Stetson” Rose will be lending her talents to the Musikfest scene when she performs for the Bethlehem festival on August 16.

“Stetson Rose is the musical moniker of 25-year-old indie/folk artist Emily Rose,” reads the first line of Rose’s bio on her website. Her sound has been described as “kinda like Joni Mitchell, yet stylistically similar to Ed Sheeran or Colbie Caillat.” As the sole writer of all of her songs, however, the music is all her own.

The indie-folk songstress moved to the Pottstown area – where husband Henry Hood is originally from – two years ago from her native California. Though she’s only beginning to make waves in the Philly circuit, performing is nothing new for Rose.

“I picked up guitar when I was 15, and wrote my first song at 16,” said Rose who continues to rise as a star eight years later. “I still play it at shows, and it’s still everyone’s favorite. People will come up to me and ask where they can get “The Little Song”.


Musikfest will be the final stop on Rose’s regional summer tour that includes venues such as the Firefly Music Festival, the Penn Museum and the Oval Stage on Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. This travel comes after a recent unexpected break from the performing scene.

“My Mother passed away, and everything was shaken up. It was one of those life happens things, and right then I just needed to focus on my family.”

Like many artists, Rose soon found her way back to music after tragedy. The experience inspired her newest song, “It’s California” set to debut at MusikFest.

“It’s exactly where I am in my life. I kind of woke up and found that I had made a lot of safe choices. I haven’t been taking the risks for music, and it’s about getting back to that.”

Naturally, songwriting has been a key element in her return to the stage.

“Sometimes it’ll feel like I just need to get home and get a guitar in my hands, and other times I really have to take the time to sit down and write it out,” said Rose. “What matters to me is that there’s feeling in every song I write, and that I connect with people on that level.”

As Rose continues to grow in her career, she plans on “building a team, little by little” by enlisting friends like guitarist Dan Almond and percussionist husband Henry Hood to enhance her live performances.

The two will play alongside Stetson Rose on the Martin Guitar Stage at 5 p.m. on the final day of Musikfest.

Rose hopes to keep the momentum going post-tour by releasing her very first album in the fall of this year. Visit http://www.stetsonrose.com/ to hear the singer’s original content and http://www.musikfest.org/ for more information on the week’s festivities. - The Pottstown Mercury