Don Emerson Appears At Valley Hastings

Sun., Nov. 16, 1997

By Winda Benedetti windab@spokesman.com

His songs have hung out at the top of the country charts in places like Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

Now his tunes are making their way onto the airwaves in Japan.

But Spokane is the place Don Emerson calls home.

Emerson will bring his Washington-made country music to the new Valley Hastings music store next Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. The business is located at 15321 E. Sprague.

Emerson was raised in Fruitland, Wash., and attended Columbia (Hunters, Wash.) High School. He first began performing when he was 9 years old.

Emerson went on to play everything from Top 40 music to jazz and country at lounges here in Spokane. He and his wife, Nancy, became the house act for The Showboat and the Vegas Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Back in Spokane, he and his family created an independent record label and studio called Malta Records.

Emerson says he has found success in Europe easier to come by than in the United States because the music industry there is not so strongly controlled by the major labels.

“The European people play what they like, they don’t play what they’re dictated to play,” he says.

His latest album, “Whatever It Takes,” just released on the family record label, is full of poppy country tunes that don’t explore any innovative territory but are pleasant enough for folks who like the hooky modern country sound.

The European Country Music Association listed the single “You Got Your Way” at the top of their charts last month ahead of the likes of Brooks & Dunn, Dwight Yoakam and Trisha Yearwood.

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