Emma Stevens on Chapters, Life's Unexpected Turns and Her Upcoming UK Tour

The MarshyCast

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Monday, 19 October 2026 - 21 minutes

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If you could go back and spend just one day in a previous chapter of your life, which day would you choose?

It's one of the questions I put to singer-songwriter Emma Stevens when she joined me on the latest episode of The MarshyCast.

Emma has a new single called Chapters, and it gave us the perfect opportunity to talk about looking back, moving forward and how life doesn't always follow the story we originally imagined.

When life doesn't go to plan

We've all experienced moments when something didn't work out the way we wanted.

Perhaps an opportunity disappeared, a relationship changed or life simply took us in a completely unexpected direction.

At the time, those moments can feel like setbacks. But when you look back years later, sometimes you realise they led you somewhere better than you'd ever planned.

Emma and I talked about those experiences and how our perspective changes as we move through different stages of life.

It's a theme that connects beautifully with her new song Chapters.

When a personal song becomes somebody else's story

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was about the relationship between an artist and their audience.

Writing a song can be an incredibly personal experience. The lyrics might come from a particular moment, feeling or memory that means something very specific to the songwriter.

But once that song is released, something fascinating happens.

Listeners begin connecting it to their own experiences.

A song written about one situation might remind somebody else of a completely different moment in their life.

So I wanted to know: does the meaning of a song change once other people start making it part of their own story?

We talked about that special connection between Emma and her fans, and how music can bring people together through experiences they might never otherwise have shared.

Emma Stevens heads back out on tour

Emma is also preparing to return to the stage, with her upcoming tour including a visit to Southampton.

We talked about what audiences can expect from the shows and why performing live creates such a personal connection between an artist and the people listening.

For fans who have followed Emma's music over the years, the tour offers another opportunity to share those songs and the stories behind them.

If Emma's life were a film...

Of course, I couldn't let Emma escape without a few more unusual questions.

If somebody decided to make a film of her life, which actor would she choose to play her?

And perhaps more importantly, which of her own songs would she choose to play over the closing credits?

Then there was the chance to revisit the past.

If Emma could spend just one day in any previous chapter of her life, which would she choose?

It's an interesting question because the obvious answer isn't necessarily the right one.

Would you revisit your happiest day, return to a moment you'd forgotten or choose an ordinary day with someone you miss?

Writing the next chapter

We finished by looking forward rather than back.

After talking about Chapters, the experiences that shape us and the moments that don't go according to plan, I asked Emma one final question:

If you could write the opening sentence of your next chapter, what would you want it to say?

It's a question that probably deserves a little thought from all of us.

Because while we can't rewrite the chapters that have already happened, there's still plenty of story left to tell.

🎧 Hear my full conversation with Emma Stevens now on The MarshyCast, available on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Find me on all social media @paulswampymarsh

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