Cindy Emch of Secret Emchy Society has long been celebrated as the First Lady of Country Music. She’s got a dry approach to her honky-tonk that makes it feel like she’s been on the road for a million years. That’s why this live version of “End of Pretty” feels fitting — you can hear how tight Secret Emchy Society is as a band, surefooted and locked in as they deliver a diatribe against toxic beauty culture. Emch checked in with us about what the song means and the strange cosmic wavelength she shares with Orville Peck.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Well my musical influences have changed throughout my life and they’re really pretty diverse when it comes down to it. I started off just loving musical theater, which I still do and my family can attest to how many times they had to hear the Annie soundtrack played on repeat when I was a five-year-old lol. That plus all cabaret songs from the 20s that my mom would practice on accordion gave me a real love of old timey sounding music.
When I got a bit older my taste ran towards Willie Dixon, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Billy Bragg, and musical theater (still) but veering more towards shows like Chicago, Cabaret, and the Marilyn Monroe catalog. I was also an artsy dance student, so The Cure, Love & Rockets, The Pixies, Paul Lekakis, Erasure – if it sounded goth / new wave adjacent or like it might be queer or from NYC – I was in. As I got into college, my love of music like Johnny Cash, John Zorn, Kurt Weill, Dinah Washington, Louis Jordan, Angelo Badalamenti, and Billie Holiday really took off. These days I’m on a steady diet of Lucinda Williams, Waylon Jennings, Nikki Lane, Devil Makes Three, Neko Case, and Willie Nelson.
What does “End of Pretty” mean?
So our single is called “End of Pretty” and it is a it’s a live take on a song that we were released on our first record back in 2017. I remember when I first had the idea for it – it was inspired by some actually pretty uncomfortable feelings. I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a friend of mine post the most gorgeous picture of herself and I felt really jealous. It’s not my normal type of reaction – I am usually a “YAY GO YOU GORGEOUS FRIEND” type of person – but I was already low about some art stuff not going well and it just the envy just snuck up on me.
My second thought was – whoa that is not the person I wanna be – and it led me to thinking about the competitiveness between women that our culture encourages. Then I started thinking also about how much the music industry is based on looks and not actual art sometimes and how frustrating that can be. I continued down this rabbit hole of thinking about how the art / music matters so much more than the aesthetic and – thus was born “End of Pretty” which ironically – is a super pretty song.
Who would you love to collaborate with and why?
I’ve been pretty lucky so far in my career that I’ve been able to collaborate with songwriting giants like Carolyn Mark and Tolan McNeil, plus I’m in a songwriting group with queer country icons Mya Byrne and Paisley Fields, so I feel very grateful and honored in that way.
That said, if I had to pick a new person to collaborate with, it’s actually really easy for me to say I would collaborate with Orville Peck. The reason is, because somehow and I don’t know why, but every time I have something in mind that I am working on, an album I’m writing or a photo shoot idea, a music video, etc, he comes out with something that is like exactly in the same wheelhouse.
When Secret Emchy Society was working on putting together my album The Chaser, I was getting a dress made by Jukebox Mama and I had all these cool ideas for snakes, stars, and non-black colors to use for a really cool like David Lynch inspired photoshoot and suddenly I opened this Vogue spread and the shoot / fashion basically matched my storyboards exactly. So I was like – OK not gonna do that!
I had to shift which is fine, cause his thing was awesome, and you know it’s just what it is, but I feel like that sort of thing keeps happening. I released a cover of “Cowboys are Frequently Secretly…” on my album Gold Country / Country Gold in 2022, and then in early 2024 he came out with his version with Willie Nelson and I was all DAMN – kudos to you for getting Willie Nelson! I just feel like we are frequently on the same page with things even though we have never met, tho… we do have some friends in common.
I would love to see what would happen if we were to get in a room together – I suspect we would either just look at each other and have nothing to say or else we’re gonna talk for like 12 hours before either of us take a breath and make some really cool art.
Have you ever been starstruck when playing with other musicians?
Absolutely! We’ve opened for Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Vandoliers, Jason Hawk Harris, and have absolutely been starstruck by their talent and their kindness and generosity but the main person that I am starstruck when I play with is actually my good friend Carolyn Mark. I’ve toured with her a number of times we’ve done a lot of shows together. But when she gets on stage? I’m just a nerdy starstruck fan. She transforms from this great friend of mine who I’ve shared a million secrets, highs and lows with, to absolute musical royalty. I know every word to every song and I am just constantly blown away by her as soon as she starts to sing I mean, I’m blown away by her as a friend too cause she’s amazing but also as as a starstruck fan every time I see her starts to sing a song.
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