Although Florence Welch from Florence and The Machine is not an emerging artist, her amazing singing ability, musical talent and admirable grace is enough to be featured as this week’s emerging music article.

Growing up in Camberwell, London, one of Florence’s earliest musical memories is standing on top of the trunk where her dad kept his vinyl collection and dancing with him to the Rolling Stones. Two of her main musical inspirations were Nina Simone and Dusty Springfield whom she began by singing along to in her childhood home before expanding her vocal range with arias.

With her soaring, epic vocals, quirky melodies and her own seemingly self-contained musical world, Florence Welch is something increasingly rare and precious in a time when we are beginning to become accustomed to karaoke pop. With an air of humility and grace about her, Florence often chooses her concert outfits from second-hand shops that she visits while on tour – a rare feature that I find so appealing about a singer/songwriter who could probably afford any of the latest runway trends. Quite frankly, Florence is a unique and outstanding artist who is lucky enough to have found her own, authentic voice.

Her songs are always full of gothic imagery and her debut album Lungs, which was released July 6, 2009, is made up of harps, choirs, drums, string quartets and other “self-made” sounds like stamping, fist pounding and wailing. It is these original and quirky bits that caused her to win the Critics Choice Award at the 2009 Brit Awards. The band released their second album, titled Ceremonials, on October 31, 2011, and it is just as mesmerizing as the premier album. As I mentioned, although Florence and The Machine is not new to the emerging music scene, she is one of the most awe-inspiring and talented artists – in my opinion – in the music industry at the moment.

If you were lucky enough to catch the MTV’s Florence and The Machine Unplugged performance last night, I’m sure you can’t help but agree that Florence Welch is a singer with serious vocal ability and raw talent. Even fellow performer Kanye West was there in support of this fabulous singer. And as for The Machine, it can be anywhere from a drum kit or a piano to a seven-piece band including Rob Ackroyd (guitar), Chris Hayden (drums), Isabella Summers (keyboards) and Tom Monger (harp).

Interested in learning more about Florence and The Machine or to listen to her music, watch her videos or find out about upcoming tour dates? Simply visit the personal website www.florenceandthemachine.net, her MySpace page, Facebook page and YouTube channel for more information.