Top-class roots music at Monroe’s with Erisa Rei

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie

American roots and country singer Erisa Rei will make her Galway debut when she comes to Monroe’s Live on Saturday, February 6.  Based in Lincoln, Illinois, Erisa is looking forward to her trip across the Atlantic.

“I always wanted to travel over to Europe, Ireland and Scotland specifically because I have a lot of family that came from that area,” she says. “Secondly, my music seemed to be at a place where there were people that liked in those areas. And it’s also because my husband and I need a second honeymoon!”

Erisa, who sings a mix of blues, soul, and roots rock has recently been working on her album, which she plans to release in May or June.

“I went to an analogue studio, so everything was done the old-fashioned way on tape machines, with everyone in the same room playing altogether,” she says. “So very old school, really very cool.”

Her record was made in Nashville, where some of America’s best session players are based, and are used by artists who are recording albums. Erisa took this approach.

“One person was someone I grew up with, he’s played guitar on a couple of my projects before. I like his ear, he’s very creative and I thought he’d be good on it,” she says. “The rest of them are Nashville musicians.”

Erisa lived in Nashville for seven years. Singer and songwriters flock to the Tennessee city – for Erisa, it’s where you test your mettle.

“I think if you’re a serious musician, at some point you have to go to a place that has industry people,” she says. “There’s a certain point you can get to as a small-town musician, but I really believe to make it bigger, you usually have to be in a bigger area or sell so many records they can’t ignore you.”

At home in Lincoln, Erisa and her husband are kept busy raising their five children. She webcasts concerts from home and though not able to live on a tour bus, she gigs regularly.

“Just like everything in life, you have to find a balance,” Erisa says. “My family is very utmost at the top of my list, but at the same time I have to have an outlet for creativity or I feel caged in. I home-school my kids, and I don’t go touring as much as other artists – I can’t do that.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.