Who Am I?
Hey everyone! My name is Emily Groff, and if you know me you know I love music. By the time I was ten years old, I was already writing songs on wide-ruled school paper about the crazy world of a fourth grader using the few chords I knew. As I grew up, my music grew up with me. It became the way I processed the world around me and the more I learned about it the more I wanted to dive in head first.
I grew up in Miami Beach, FL, playing saxophone in my school bands and songleading in Jewish youth group. I attended URJ Camp Coleman and URJ Kutz Camp as a camper and was heavily involved in my youth group and NFTY-STR. Through my band experience, I found a love of ensemble playing and teaching music. Through my experiences in the Jewish community, I found a deeper connection to Judaism and a passion for creating community. This led to Vanderbilt University where I studied music education and led services at Hillel. I have spent amazing summers songleading at URJ Camp Coleman, URJ Six Points Sports Academy, and Gordon JCC Camp Davis. Today, I am an elementary music teacher, songleader, and songwriter based in Nashville, TN. Between working as a music teacher and working in the Jewish community here, I feel so lucky to be in a place where I get to do what I love everyday.
This EP- Breathe
Music is not just the way I process my world, but also the way I process and connect to Judaism. The four Jewish songs on Breathe are inspired by how I have related common experiences and emotions to Judaism through music.
Hashkiveinu- A desire for not just physical but also mental and emotional protection.
Shiru- Celebration. Music is how I celebrate.
Lo Yisa Goy- An outcry for unity.
Ahavat Olam- Having someone by your side, through good and bad times.
The namesake of the EP, Breathe, is about my struggles with performance anxiety. This song is included because without the events that inspired this song, this EP could not have happened. My performance anxiety began in college, and while it started in my solo saxophone performance, it bled into things like songleading and public speaking. My love of performing and being in front of a group gradually diminished and I started to dread doing it. My senior year, I had a professor tell me “you play the tenor saxophone like you love it” and I remember thinking “man, why can’t I just play it and feel that love”? I had a songwriting final due the next day, that line went into the first line of the chorus, and with the writing of that song I finally decided to work towards dealing with my performance anxiety and getting back out there. Life can be unexpected, scary, and have many twists and turns. It can feel so much easier to turn around than continue, even if you’re so close to where you want to go. Always remember to breathe, and keep going.
