Emma Mae comes home

Emma Mae Jacob has found a little bit of Colfax in Nashville. "It's really beautiful," she said. "Some of the landscape is like Colfax."While Jacob, 16, has been pursuing her dream of a singing career in Nashville for the past two years, she considers Colfax her hometown. In fact, she owns a small piece of the town. When she was 13, her grandfather, Wendell Jacob, named Emma Mae (then known as Paris) part-owner of the Colfax Theater.The teenager, who has been singing since she was 3, started giving shows at the theater. Growing up in Southern California, Jacob had been studying voice with Seth Riggs, who had coached the legendary Ray Charles, and had also earned a spot as first soprano in the Pacific Symphony Children's Choir.She had even won a trip to New York to appear on the nationally broadcast TV show, "Showtime At The Apollo." Then 11, Jacob's performance of Aretha Franklin's "You're All I Need To Get By" resulted in a standing ovation.Apparently that was the defining moment for the aspiring singer. "It was one of my most memorable moments," she said. "Really cool. That was pretty much when I thought, 'I really want to do this. I really want to be a singer.'"Even though she loved gospel and R&B, Jacob found herself drawn to country music. "Country tells a story and it can make you laugh or cry. It's pretty much like a show in a three-minute song."Her country music career got a big boost when a major music producer, who attended one of her Colfax performances, urged her to move to Nashville.Her family agreed and now Jacob is "breaking all the rules. I'm 16 years old and I'm getting to jump into this dream career," she writes on her soon-to-be-released CD, "Breaking all the Rules."Jacob said her days are filled with workouts at the gym, voice lessons with Renee Grant-Williams and plenty of time for homework. "At night I'll practice with the band," she said. "I'm also in a community chorus in Nashville." While she does miss the small town atmosphere, Jacob finds Nashville "really exciting. It's the first time I've lived any place other than California. I miss being able to walk downtown and say 'hi' to everybody."She'll be able to do just that over the next couple of weeks. Jacob and her parents returned to Colfax last week to spend the holidays with the rest of the family.While here, Jacob will perform three free concerts featuring her debut single, "What If We Fly." Joining her will be her Nashville band and Karen Staley. The single was released Nov. 19 to radio stations around the U.S. As of Monday, it had already risen to No. 60 on the Country Music Billboard.Robert K. Oermann gave Jacob his "DisCovery" award in his review written for Music Row, a national music industry trade magazine. She's also scheduled to be on KNCI (105.1) and The Wolf (99.5) Country Radio stations.With all the attention, how does Jacob stay centered?"I try to be humble about it," she said, adding there are many people working on her behalf. Still, it's her family that keeps her grounded. "My sister is solely responsible for that," she laughed.In the end, Jacob knows where her dreams were launched. "I want to thank everybody in Colfax for supporting me," she concluded.