Soul Horse by Emma Grace Glover

Emma Glover is, at 18, already a star in North Carolina. Last year, she picked up four (!) nominations in the Carolina Country Music Awards. The year before she won their Songwriter of the Year category. Soul Horse reconfirms one of my long-held theories about country music. These boys and girls grow up fast and help explain one of my favourite phrases: she was born twenty!

Soul Horse tells the story of a troubled teenager, listless and without direction. It's a complicated world and in rural America it can be difficult to see a lot of great options. Sure, there's farming, lots of related things you might do. But in such a wide open space, it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees. The horse of the song helps the singer to find meaning, a new project that might keep her on the straight and narrow.

She thought ‘Hey boy what’s your name’, but he was a runner
When he saw her lookin’ at him, he was gone
She kept comin' back to where she saw him over the summer
And if she died tryin’ she would ride him home

I also love the artwork. Did you spot the dream catcher? It turns out the reason our girl is struggling is that her brother died in an accident out on Route 89. It's such a beautiful road, sometimes known as the National Park Highway, passing through seven parks including the Yellowstone, the oldest of them all. Now it will only ever represent the darkness.

Soul Horse builds in a really cool way, starting from steel strings and a subtle fiddle but with a prominent beat. I've been listening all week and I can confidently say you will love it quickly, and it will stay with you. There's a lot to unpack in the lyrics too, which is one of the aspects of Country that I enjoy the most.

Saddle up the wind
She don’t need no rope to rein him in
They’re connected deep enough to understand
You ain’t gotta force a soul horse

The song was co-written by powerhouse writer and producer Trey Bruce. Emma's voice reminds me of a 1990s Natalie Maines, and just writing that name still makes my neck tickle. Let's hear from Emma.

“This song is about the connections that save us. Soul Horse is a reminder that love, loyalty, and understanding can come in unexpected forms, sometimes in the steadfast gaze of a soul that mirrors your own.”
Emma Grace Glover

It turns out that Emma could not choose between music and farming, so she does both. She's studying Agriculture and Livestock at North Carolina State. This song release sequence will lead us to her debut album later in the year, and I plan to watch every step of that journey. You can catch another couple of her songs below, and they're all belters. Man of the Cloth is almost rock 'n' roll so she has a wide frame of reference.

You can read more about Emma's journey on her website. As you would expect, she is active on Instagram and TikTok.