New Orleans neo-soul singer Erica Falls has sung backup for the stars onstage and in the studio. But this month, she makes her Capital City debut as a solo performer at the Baton Rouge Blues Festival.
Falls calls her music “vintage soul.” The many styles she incorporates into her sound, however, make her an artist who defies categorization. Rhythm-and-blues, funk and groove all play into the mix. At the Blues Festival, she’ll mostly be singing her original songs. That material will also appear on her new album set for release May 2.
Fans of Galactic, the widely touring New Orleans funk and jam band, certainly know Falls. She’s in her third year as the group’s principal guest vocalist. Her résumé also includes years of annual appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with the late songwriter, producer and pianist Allen Toussaint.
Falls’ 2016 performance with Galactic at the all-star “Yes We Can Can: An Allen Toussaint Salute” at the Hollywood Bowl inspired high praise from The Los Angeles Times.
“She displayed unearthly purity of tone and a haunting bird-like vocalese ability,” Times critic Randy Lewis wrote.
Dr. John, Sting, Jennifer Hudson, John Fogerty, Irma Thomas, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and jazz pianist Joe Sample are among the many others Falls has accompanied.
“I am so fortunate,” she says. “Some people ask, ‘Did you network with this person? Did you meet this person?’ I tell them, ‘No. My phone rang! I answered, and a blessing was on the other end.’ I have been truly blessed to work with amazing people.”
Falls grew up in New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward in a house full of music. The youngest of eight children, she was exposed to all kinds of music there, everything from Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan to Mahalia Jackson, Bob Marley, Roberta Flack, the Sugarhill Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire.
“But my favorite singer of all is my mother,” Falls says. “When my mother played the piano and sang in our house, it was like she was in front of 50,000 people. It was her release. And now, when I’m going through something, the stage is my sanctuary.”
During high school, two of Falls’ music teachers, Patricia Seals and Ernest Wilson Paul, recognized and nurtured her talent.
“They brought me out of my shell,” she says. “At the piano, Mr. Paul taught me hymns and spirituals and classic tunes like the Carpenters’ ‘Close to You.’ I love Karen Carpenter’s voice. It’s like velvet.”
Later, Toussaint helped teach Falls more great lessons. She learned them well.
“I always felt like the student in his presence,” she says. “He had such a subtle way of getting the tone, the inflection that he wanted out of us. Afterwards, we were surprised ourselves. He was the ultimate gentleman and teacher.”
Where to see her:
Erica Falls plays the Soul of Baton Rouge Stage Sunday April 9 at 4:45 p.m.
This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.
