“I wanted to try everything. But my chorus teacher told me, ‘You can either be a cheerleader or you can be a vocalist, but you can’t be both.’ I asked, ‘Why not?’”
While Erin Boyd didn’t become a cheerleader, she did become a vocalist. And a songwriter. And a director of her music videos, an actor, a bar owner, and an activist. Over the course of her career, Boyd proved she can wear and pull-off all kinds of hats, truly becoming a jack-of-all trades. At one point, Boyd almost added the hat of a gymnast to her collection. But after breaking her heel for eight summers in a row, Boyd decided to not invest in the gymnast hat. Instead, she took her mother’s advice and invested in a musical career.
As a child, Boyd was surrounded by various genres of music. Her mother was a piano player with a love for jazz, R&B, and soul; while her father loved the blues. The pillars of these genres – Oleta Adams, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, and Donny Hathaway to name a few – echoed off the walls of Boyd’s childhood home. At night, Yanni’s 1994 album Live at the Acropolis or Whitney Houston’s “Miracle” could be heard on repeat coming from Boyd’s room. Her ears were open to listening and learning all that she could.
Boyd’s mother fostered her musical passion and encouraged her to audition for Tampa’s all-girl song and dance ensemble. Boyd auditioned and made the group. It was the moment music became the focus of Boyd’s life. But performing was much different from listening to music at home. “I was so green. I’ve never done anything except sing in the choir at my elementary and middle school,” Boyd recalled. “So to all of a sudden be singing for Bill Clinton and performing for the Orlando Magic, it was a really great starting point for me to learn about music.”
Boyd quickly learned the musical ropes and continued to grow, heading off to college, studying abroad, and finally landing in New York City, where she completed her studies and continued performing.
While in NYC, Boyd joined Lifted Crew. This ten-piece ensemble was a hip hop fusion group that shared the stage with the likes of Slick Rick, Kid Cudi, and Eddie Vedder. The group also acted as the permanent band for the legendary Big Daddy Kane in his project Las Supper. Through multiple collaborations with music icons, Lifted Crew acted as the training grounds for Boyd’s songwriting and performance skills.
Then in 2016, Boyd went solo. Even though she was going solo, she wasn’t alone. She worked on her solo album with a number of friends, some of whose friendships spanned over 18 years. Her friends included the late James Casey, Dmitry Gorodetsky, Nigel Hall, Elenna Canlas, Weedie Braima, and Nick Cassarino among others. To honor the collaborations with her friends, Boyd chose to title the project Phantom Vanity. “There’s a vanity that I would need to have to say it’s just me, because it wasn’t,” said Boyd.
The result was a genre-bending album that included elements of the songs Boyd listened to as a child. Elements of funk, folk, soul, jazz, and R&B are woven through each song, creating a musical quilt that wraps around you, keeping you warm on a mid-spring day after the rain has settled, quite literally. The track “Wet” is a minute of pure rainfall.
“Wet” enhanced the narrative Boyd seeks to tell. At her core, Boyd is a storyteller. Some tracks on Boyd’s debut album, Vintage Slacker, tell stories with a transcendental and spiritual message. The opening track “Perish” starts with echoes of “Hallowed be thy name.” The verse in and of itself holds religious connotations. “Hallowed be thy name talks about things on earth being as it is in heaven,” Boyd said. “I do believe there’s pieces here on earth that transcend wherever our spirits go.” Boyd said these heavenly pieces can be found within ourselves. Each person contains a light and energy that can sway them to be the best they can be.
Boyd said, “Especially now, everything is so turbulent. It’s so easy to be filled with rage and confusion. I think it’s really important that we try to find a space for light, love, forgiveness, compassion, and empathy, so that we can stop the genocide that’s currently going on. We can really make a change in people’s daily lives. Little actions make big ripples.”
Boyd hopes her music can be a space for love and empathy. This mission is seen not only in her solo work but also in her work with the Resistance Revival Chorus. The RRC is a collective of women and non-binary singers, who breathe joy and song into the resistance and who uplift and center women’s voices. The chorus shows that the resistance comes in different forms, like that of powerful and inspiring music. With the RRC, Boyd sang with Fleet Foxes on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and for Harry Belafonte at his 95th birthday celebration.
In addition to her music and activism work, Boyd owns her own bar. She established Filthy Diamond, located at 679 Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick. The bar just celebrated its first birthday this past March and hosts a number of weekly events. Every Monday, you can play chess while enjoying live jazz music. On Wednesdays, get trapped in a singular year of music, listening to all the top hits and hidden gems of that year. Then on Sundays, unwind with coloring books and cocktails.
Expect to take a step back in time when entering Filthy Diamond. The bar hosts a wide collection of vinyl, allowing its patrons to relish in the full arch of an album. And don’t expect to be watching the latest Rangers game either. “There’s no TVs,” Boyd stated. “When you’re there, you talk to strangers. It’s important to talk to people that aren’t your friends, that aren’t from where you’re from, because that’s how you learn more about the world and more about yourself. The closer we can get to as many people as possible, the better, safer, and more filled with love this world is going to be.”
Boyd will continue to fill the world with even more love with her upcoming sophomore album. The album will center around the message of self-belief. It’s a message found within Boyd’s favorite lyric she’s ever written. The lyric is in her debut album’s opening track “Perish” and is as follows: “Beauty like your talent won’t make you who you are. This much I’m sure. If you walk like you’re broken, no light will shine, I’ve learned with time.” Boyd explains the lyric, “Everyone has gifts, and the ego can drive people to believe that that’s all they have to offer. I think it’s really important to realize if you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t see yourself, then there’s no space for light and love and resilience. You have to find the space within yourself.”
Beauty like your talent won’t make you who you are.
This much I’m sure.
If you walk like you’re broken, no light will shine,
I’ve learned with time.
Lyrics from “Perish”
Boyd has clearly found that space for self-love within herself as she continues to expand her ever growing career. Last year, she co-wrote Jennifer Hartswick’s album Something In The Water, and just last month on March 29, Boyd joined Disco Biscuits on stage in Webster Hall for the release party of their album Revolution in Motion. With an album nearly 13 years in the making, the night was surely unforgettable. “Webster Hall sold out with such an established band is what you come to NYC to do,” Boyd said. Boyd has known the band for years and became acquainted with their bassist Marc Brownstein through New York’s jam band scene. Boyd joined her friends on stage for the release of their ninth studio album, adding her vocals on the tracks “Twisted in the Road” and “Why We Dance.”
Credit: Tara Gracer Photo
We’ve just seen Boyd at Webster Hall with Disco Biscuits, and we’ll be waiting to see her next adventure. While Boyd’s sophomore album isn’t expected to be released until later this year, one can expect to see more of Boyd within the coming months. “I want to do more projects. I want to work with more talent,” Boyd said. “This is only the beginning.”
Watch a short clip of Erin Boyd performing with Disco Biscuits on March 29, 2024 at Webster Hall.
The post Erin Boyd: Singer, Songwriter, Activist, Entrepreneur appeared first on NYS Music.
