Saliers was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Don and Jane Saliers and grew up in Decatur, Georgia (in metro Atlanta) where her father was a professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Saliers is the second eldest of four children ... all girls. She began her college education at Tulane University but transferred to Emory University, graduating in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in English.

Saliers first met her future Indigo Girls counterpart Amy Ray when they were students at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia. As students at Shamrock High School, they started performing music together at talent shows and local venues under the band names of "Saliers & Ray" and the "B-Band". When Saliers - the elder of the duo - left Georgia to attend Tulane University, Ray frequently visited her and they would play together for tips in New Orleans' famed French Quarter. Saliers and Ray eventually reunited when they transferred from their respective colleges to Emory University. It was at Emory that they settled upon the band name of "Indigo Girls," when Ray came across the word "indigo" in the dictionary and "thought it sounded cool".

In 2004, Saliers composed her first film score for the independent short film, One Weekend a Month. Although she has not released a solo album, she regularly does solo appearances at benefit shows or as a guest with friends' bands.

Saliers has a passion for wine collecting (with a wine cellar that was reported to be at 2000 bottles), and is the co-owner of Watershed restaurant in Decatur, Georgia. Emily was one of the initial investors in the Flying Biscuit Cafe, and was a co-founder of the now-defunct Common Pond environmental gift shop in Atlanta, Georgia.

Saliers has co-written a book with her father, Don Saliers, a retired theology professor at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, called A Song to Sing, a Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice. Emily and her father often conduct book signings and church appearances around the country in support of the book, including the National Cathedral in Washington, DC in May 2005 and October 2007. WNC: Emily and Don Saliers Lecture Video