'The Walking Dead' actress Emily Kinney steps into singer's role in New Orleans

 

Emily Kinney is at war, and it's not with disease-ridden, blood-thirsty corpses.

The actress, best known as Beth in "The Walking Dead," has stepped into a more public role as a singer in 2015, performing in concert in support of her first full-length album.

Now, she's battling the idea that she's an actress with singing as just a side project.
Being a singer / songwriter isn't a new role for Kinney, and she'll be more than comfortable onstage at The Civic Theatre on Monday (Nov. 16) and during a meet-and-greet earlier in the day at Euclid Records.

"I definitely came to New York and was pursuing being able to support myself, and music was something that I was doing -- club shows when I could and spending money on music," she laughed. "Music is a daily part of my life, but ... I guess (acting) took off in a certain direction and the other has been a slower burn."

Kinney's role on "The Walking Dead" kept her busy during the hit TV show's second season until its fifth. She also held down recurring spots on "Masters of Sex" and "The Knick" and recently starred in a comedic, faux movie trailer about frozen pizzas. But her current focus is touring behind "This is War," released this fall.

"It's a good title because I'm stepping up for myself as a songwriter," she said of the album. "Songwriting is something I do daily, so in that way it's not a side project."

As a child, Kinney first fell in love with singing and writing songs and poetry before she fell into acting, but both became ingrained in the young performer.

"They were both such huge parts of my life," she said. "People ask, which would you pick? But, hey, they fulfill different spaces for me."

At one point during season season five of "The Walking Dead," Kinney's two worlds collided when the show's writers had her character sing.

"It became a thing that Beth really likes singing and likes music, and it was really a smart idea because I feel like she hadn't had a ton of scenes yet, but it was a way for people to connect with that character and identify with who she is and what does she do," Kinney said. "It wasn't really planned, but it was this lucky thing. ... People have a hard time with 'this is an actor, but she's also a singer. People can only be so many things.'"

 

Kinney, who was bubbly and talkative during a Nov. 6 interview, said she uses songwriting as an outlet for some negative emotions when they get in the way of her otherwise optimistic outlook. But on her album, despite its warrior-like title and sometimes harsh subject matter, the songs come across as poppy, sweet and nearly twee. That, she said, is by design.

"I just want to be really honest in a song, but then I go to put it together and sing it and decide what instruments are going to be in the song, and I want it to be freeing and happy, and I start thinking of instruments like a glockenspiel," she said. "Even if the song is kind of sad ... my personality is more of one that wants things to be happy and free and more of a release."

The process, she said, is not unlike therapy.

"Some days, (songs) makes you feel worse talking about bad stuff and sometimes you go and you're like, 'oh, this is nice, someone understood me and I feel lighter,'" she said. "Writing songs is a way to feel understood and, ultimately, I want songs to feel light."