artist Erin Costelo

Erin Costelo blends rich, layered piano driven compositions with lyrics as often searing as they are sweet on her first full length album, “Fire & Fuss”. Recorded at CBC's Studio H, “Fire & Fuss” will take its place in a long line of remarkable debut albums from Halifax’s singer-songwriter community. Produced by Karl Falkenham with Executive Producer Glenn Meisner, Costelo has captured the strength and fragility of her distinctively low, smoky voice in moody, unique arrangements that blend barrelhouse blues, boogie woogie and 60s soul with her truthful melody driven ballads to create a sound that is all her own.

Joining Erin on her sophomore album are esteemed Halifax musicians Phil Sedore (guitar), Lukas Pearse (bass), Alex Porter (drums) and Benn Ross (percussion). The individual voices of these seasoned musicians can be heard throughout, bringing depth and weaving a musical narrative that guides the listener through the complexity of Costelo’s arrangements while never betraying the strength of her piano composition nor overshadowing her vocal proficiency. Although born in Nova Scotia, Erin spent a lot of time moving from place to place. She started taking piano lessons at age four learning to read music at the same time as learning to read. She says, “Since then the two have seemed to be linked in my mind; words and music.” Because of all the new places growing up, she spent a lot of time alone at the piano playing everything from Bach and Mozart to the Beatles and Elton John. “When I graduated from high school I knew I wanted to play music but really wanted to play my own music. Instead of accepting a scholarship to study classical piano I chose to go to St. Francis Xavier to study jazz piano. Armed with my degree I left Nova Scotia searching for my own voice. St. FX had given me so many tools but my heart wasn't in playing jazz piano. I was still searching for a way to express myself.”

Erin’s search led her to Winnipeg where she played her first gigs as a side musician and began honing her skills as an accompanist. From there she went to Texas to study composition. Erin states “It was my experience in Texas that really allowed me to explore every extreme piece of my personality in composition. I wrote classical chamber music, performance art pieces, electronic music and multimedia pieces, played in a jazz trio, worked as a pianist in a drive-thru wedding chapel, played country music and began writing songs.”

After 4 years in Texas she moved to Toronto and worked as a production coordinator for a new music organization and played keyboards in a pop band and piano in a country band, all the while secretly writing songs on the side. After 8 years away from Nova Scotia Erin began to really crave the security of home, having not returned once in all those years. She packed her suitcase, her keyboard and her dog and moved to the highlands of Cape Breton Island. After living in a cabin for four months and writing several songs Erin decided it was time to share them and moved to Halifax to record her first EP "The Trouble and the Truth".

Erin burst onto the rich Halifax music scene in 2007 with that self-released EP. Since that introduction, Erin has performed across the maritimes and has become a highly sought after composer, pianist, and vocalist amongst her peers. She has shared the stage with a long list of the Canada’s new stars including the Great Lake Swimmers, David Myles, Rose Cousins, Amelia Curran, Al Tuck, Catherine MacLellan, Thom Swift, Bob Wiseman and Duane Andrews. Erin currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her first full length CD “Fire & Fuss” will be released in May 2009. “…the melody-driven mood-maker is in a league of her own. Her baritone vocals move through shades of loneliness, deep-sea dives through oceanic sounds of isolation and inspiration, only to bubble to the surface of piano-pop passivity.” - The Coast

You can hear a live concert performance on CBC 2's Concerts on Demand. This performance was taped at the In the Dead of Winter Festival in January of 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080329erinc

Publicity: Wendy Phillips and Erin McGuire, Sonic Entertainment Group (902).492.0960 / wendy {at} sonicentertainmentgroup.com / erin {at} sonicentertainmentgroup.com