It's a unique combination
of talent and personality that critics have repeatedly celebrated
about Erika Simonian:
"Songwriting aside, it's hard to find
words that do justice to Simonian's voice. She can sing in a smoky
lower register, then glide to a graceful falsetto, accentuating
the melody while never failing to imbue the lyrics with her personality.
There's something in that voice, a cat-and-mouse playfulness,
that lets you know that Simonian is in control, even when she
seems most vulnerable" –Jim Testa, JerseyBeat.
Her work has been featured on Spin.com,
The Village Voice and CMJ, to
name a few. She spent the summer/fall of 2002 celebrating the release
of her solo debut, 29 1/2 (March 2002).
August found her touring the entire US west-coast solo-acoustic,
where she was amazingly well-received by fans and critics alike.
Erika is also a guitar/mandolin/bass slingin’ singer in the
Sprinkle
Genies,
with whom she recorded the LP Fuzzy. The Genies
worked with Glenn Morrow of Bar-None Records
and Ray Ketchem of Elk City/The Womb
in January of 2001. Her musical history also includes her work as
a founding member of the Manhattan based project, The Erics,
who released the LP Chaos Made Pretty (Childlike Records, March
2000). Prior to that, she fronted the Hoboken based band, Jabber.
The band was a standout performer at 1998's Lilith Fair,
during which Erika had the privilege to take the stage with Sarah
McLachlan and the Indigo Girls.
Having returned from her Summer 2002 west-coast tour and Summer
2003 European tours, Erika continues to perform around the NYC tri-state
area solo and with The Sprinkle Genies. She spent early spring and
half of the summer in the studio recording her second solo CD, All
The Plastic Animals with engineer/producer
Mark Ephraim. As evidence of her continual evolution,
this evocative album reveals a hearty and timeless collection of
songs. Following that release, she toured the west coast during
the summer of 2004 and is currently working on a new release due
by late fall 2005. |