GILPIN/NEDERLAND — Emma Sky Quarterman is, in many ways, a woman of the mountains. Not only is the country, pop, and R&B-inspired artist one of many in the lineup of the 2026 Women of the Mountain Festival, she is also a lifelong Colorado resident—born in Leadville, growing up in Nederland, and moving to Boulder in 2010.
She grew up interested in being a musician, ultimately performing in the school choir at Nederland Middle-Senior High and helping to host an open mic at TEENS, Inc. In her college years, she attended Naropa University to study music.
“That was a very alternative music education, kinda hippy-dippy,” Quarterman recalls of her time there. “I didn’t really have a primary instrument. I just got the full spread of touching on composing, arranging, improvising, some music theory, stuff like that.”
After college, Quarterman started considering next steps, specifically with music. She’d played instruments and written songs, performing some on the banjo in the TEENS, Inc. open mics, but hadn’t fully jumped into the performing world.
“I wasn’t really good at music then at all,” says Quarterman. “I could not do open mics, I was terrified to perform, and was just overwhelmed with being 22 and needing to pay rent, basically.”
Eventually, venturing into real estate as a career to manage both work and music, she started reading James Clear’s advice book Atomic Habits for business. Quarterman realized she could apply that same advice to her music. She started tracking her habits and practicing guitar every day, leading her from self-teaching to lessons to performing at an open mic every month for a year.
Songwriting became her ultimate hook. Attending The Song School, a songwriting retreat in Lyons hosted by Planet Bluegrass, she connected quickly to the environment and the focus of the other attendees.
“I was like, ‘Holy moly, everyone here is obsessed with songwriting,’” Quarterman remembers, “and that was my heart-of-hearts passion, coming up with my own stuff and hearing beautiful melody ideas on chords that I loved.”
She considers songwriting a way for her to process her emotions and express her thoughts from her constantly active mind. Currently teaching private guitar and songwriting lessons in Boulder’s Harmony Music House, Quarterman is still working to find her center and overall sound as a performer. She leans more towards practicing at home and teaching than performing for crowds.
“Even if I’m mentally prepared, my body still goes into a fight-or-flight,” Quarterman says. “I want my audience to have a great time, and also, I wanna be up there just totally content. I don’t want to be stressed. I want to be filled with joy sharing my art.”
Emma Sky Quarterman will be performing at Very Nice Brewing Company, located at 180 Jankowski Drive in Black Hawk, on Saturday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day), 2026, starting at 5 p.m.
The day after, on Sunday, February 15, she will perform as part of the lineup for the 2026 Women of the Mountain Festival, hosted at Ned General at 112 East Second Street in Nederland from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
