Biography
Erin Costelo blends rich layered piano driven compositions with lyrics as often searing as they are sweet on her first full length album Fire and Fuss. Recorded at CBC’s radio H, this album has taken it’s place in a long line of remarkable debut albums from Halifax’s singer-songwriter community.
Nominated for a Music Nova Scotia Award and an ECMA, Costelo has captured the strength and fragility of her distinctively low, smokey voice in moody, unique arrangements that blend barrelhouse blues, boogie woogie and 60’s soul with her truthful melody driven ballads to create a sound that is all her own.
Although born in Nova Scotia, Erin spent a lot of time moving from place to place. At the same time she was beginning to read, she started taking piano lessons. Eventually, Erin became diverse in piano playing everything from Bach and Mozart to the Beatles and Elton John. Upon graduation, she decided to turn down a scholarship to study classical music and attend St. Francis Xavier to study jazz piano.
After completing her degree, Erin traveled to Winnipeg where she performed her first gigs as a side musician and began honing her skills as an accompanist. From there she resided in Texas where she pursued studies in 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 8 years away from Nova Scotia, Erin decided to move to the highlands of Cape Breton Island where she lived in a cabin writing songs. After four months, she 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 Skydiggers, 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 was released in May 2009 to critical acclaim.
“…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