by Boston is adored by Emi McSwain. Many of her peers from Berklee College of Music moved to Nashville, New York City, or Los Angeles to launch their careers, but the musician and content producer chose to stay.
McSwain, 25, stated, “I think this is the coolest freaking city, so I was so tired of people complaining about Boston.”
Since September, McSwain has shared videos of herself volunteering at food banks, going to underappreciated cafés, attending pottery courses, and discussing her life as an Allston musician and grocery store employee on Instagram.
She became an unofficial mentor to young Bostonians, and after suffering injuries in a terrible bike accident in April, she opened out about her recuperation and got unexpected support.
How she got to Boston
When her family was assigned to Hanscom Air Force Base in 2009, McSwain relocated to Massachusetts. She had previously resided in Japan, Virginia, and New Mexico.
She claimed that while growing up and traveling the world, she was drawn to music because it was the quickest and easiest way to meet new people. She played the keytar in high school and sung solos in the elementary school choir.
It wasn’t until her jazz band instructor, who earned a master’s degree from Berklee, urged her to apply to the music school that she decided to pursue music in college.
I thought that was a somewhat absurd justification for attending college. She advised me to simply become an engineer or pursue a more conventional career path as my family has.
In 2022, McSwain earned a songwriting degree at Berklee. She worked as a resident assistant there and reserved spaces for her friends to perform. She claimed that all of this helped her get a feel for the city and some of its best-kept secrets.
Three years later, it served as the impetus for her web material.
I’ve already done the study. The city is already familiar to me. She answered, “I can just post it online.”
A mission to build up Boston
I’m Emi McSwain, and I’m determined to experience every enjoyable activity Boston has to offer.
McSwain began the majority of her Instagram reels in this manner, showcasing the enjoyable things she engaged in, such as promoting small businesses, attending college hockey games, sharing music from local musicians, and visiting museums and bargain eateries.
She claimed to have posted something every day since September in order to increase her social media following before her bike tragedy. At the moment, McSwain has more than 36,000 followers, and her postings receive tens of thousands of views on average.
“My mom and sister were sending me screenshots when my reel did really well for the first time,” McSwain said. Because Instagram was so thrilling, I believe my mom spent more time on it than I did.
Her most well-liked films include her visit to the Copley Square Farmers Market, her discovery of a hidden lunch spot in the North End, her experience doing laundry in her Allston apartment, and her $1 oysters at the Granary Tavern.
Her job life at a nearby grocery shop has become more intriguing due to her increased following; people recognize her from her content, and she gladly shares enjoyable weekend activities.
According to McSwain, it has undoubtedly made Boston appear more smaller and more like a community than it has ever been.
Music career with Air Traffic Controller
McSwain downloaded an app at the age of sixteen that she referred to as Tinder for artists. David Munro saw her on the app, saw her work at Berklee, and got in touch with her eight years later.
McSwain and Munro grew close because of their shared military experiences; Munro was an air traffic controller in the U.S. Navy before, which is how his band got its name.
It’s been fantastic. McSwain declared, “I adore every member of that band.” There is no way that it could have been a happier accident.
According to the band’s website, Air Traffic Controller is an indie pop band headquartered in Boston that was formed in 2009. Its members include singer/songwriter Munro, drummer Adam Salameh, bassist Joe Campbell, guitarist Bobby Borenstein, and multi-instrumentalist Steve Scott. McSwain became a vocalist and keytarist for the band soon after graduating in 2022.
The band’s most successful song, “This Is Love,” has received 45 million streams, and they have over 300,000 monthly listeners. Their 2016 album Black Box garnered them multiple accolades, and Boston Magazine and Billboard Hot 100 Fest featured them.
According to McSwain, the band has finished 11 of the 12 tracks on their sixth studio album, which she believes will be out before the end of the year.
McSwain s bike accident
Following a period of decline, McSwain claimed to have felt indestructible on Monday, April 28. She had a grocery bag full of fruit for smoothies and was riding her electric bike home from two yoga classes.
Three days later, she said, she found out she had wrecked her bike and suffered two brain bleeds, two skull fractures, a shattered sphenoid bone, and hearing loss in her left ear. That was the next thing she remembered. Later, the left side of her face became paralyzed due to Bell’s palsy.
The collision occurred at the intersection of Cambridge Street and Highgate Street, one block from her residence. Her house and car keys were gone, along with her phone, AirPods, and bike, which she had purchased two weeks before to the tragedy.
After spending days at Boston Medical Center, McSwain spent two weeks in Bedford with her mother.
Because she couldn’t spend too much time staring at screens, McSwain said her mother read out a lot of private comments from her Instagram followers. Some of them were from nurses who consoled her, some had Bell’s palsy and gave guidance, and one person sent money for a bike helmet.
According to McSwain, the entire group of strangers took the time to compose these incredibly lengthy comments and well wishes. The diversity and consideration of strangers toward one another was just astounding.
Her hearing has nearly returned to normal, she is currently undergoing physical therapy, and she has been assisting the air traffic controller in the studio with singing. Despite having to take a hiatus from social media posting, she claimed that after getting so much love, she felt obligated to provide her followers with information.
McSwain stated, “I had an expectation for myself, even though I knew people weren’t expecting things from me. I just didn’t feel like I looked like myself, and I didn’t know how to get back in touch with the me who posted online.”
Midway through June, McSwain returned to her apartment and resumed blogging often. She stated that her solo album, which she was working on prior to the accident, will be released in early 2026. Additionally, she will appear on a song on the upcoming album by Boston-based hip-hop duo STL GLD.
She stated that going ahead, she wanted to draw attention to the variety of summertime activities Boston has to offer.
McSwain stated, “I just want to experience it and show all the free, fun stuff.” Though I’m going to try to include a little bit more of myself and my life with it, there is undoubtedly no lack of ideas in that area.
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