(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – New York City-born singer/songwriter and instrumental arranger Emily Mure performs at Mission Bar + Tapas on Friday, February 24, 2012, at 9 p.m., as part of the 10×10 on North Festival in downtown Pittsfield. Mure’s original songs in the Americana style are strongly influenced by Irish fiddle tunes, bluegrass, and country music, and her organic, twangy vocals recall Emmylou Harris, Natalia Zukerman and Lucy Kaplansky.

Mure’s first musical performance was playing backup cowbell at age 8 on a float with Dr. Ruth while her father played drums. Emily wanted to learn about life outside the cowbell and took up oboe at age 11. She studied classical oboe at LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in Manhattan and later at Ithaca College. Feeling limited by the classical world of music, Mure got her first guitar at Ithaca and immediately started writing folk and bluegrass songs.

During the summer before her junior year of college, Mure studied Irish Celtic music at the University of Limerick in Ireland. She learned traditional Irish fiddle tunes on oboe and studied Celtic voice and guitar. Mure fell in love with Ireland and moved there after she graduated. For six months, she challenged her fear of performance and earned her living by playing music on the streets of Galway. After a time, her longing for home brought her back to New York City. In December 2009, she recorded her first album, Where I Began.

Emily Mure performs solo, with a trio (including oboe and cello), and with a full band. In New York City, she plays venues including Rockwood Music Hall, the Living Room, Bar 4, and Café Vivaldi. She has also developed a love for the Berkshires and has started to perform frequently around the area. She was an emerging artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in 2008. She has also played at the Lion’s Den in Stockbridge as well as at the Gypsy Joynt and Club Helsinki in Great Barrington.  She has opened for well-known bluegrass groups and singer/songwriters including the Duhks at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton and Kris Delmhorst in Brattleboro, Vt.

Songs from Where I Began have received radio airplay on stations including Women of Substance Radio and WMNF 88.5FM in Tampa. In 2011, Mure won Best Vocalist of the month on Singer Universe Magazine. Four of her songs were featured in a PBS Thanksgiving special in November 2011.

Where I Began features songs Emily wrote in college and while living in Ireland. This collection of stories about travel and lost love incorporate classical instruments into a folk-songwriter style.