acknowledged. She has been rewarded
with a steady stream of gigs in and
around New Orleans – including all of
the major festivals – and elsewhere in the
U.S. and abroad. She has backed up and/
or recorded with such greats as Sting, Joe
Sample, John Fogerty, Jennifer Hudson,
No Doubt, and fellow New Orleanians
Irma Thomas, Dr. John and Allen
Toussaint. Her latest CD, HomeGrown,
was released in 2017 to glowing reviews.
A product of New Orleans’ Upper
Ninth Ward, Erica, like many others
before and after her, cut her musical
teeth singing in church as a child, in
this case, the Greater Liberty Baptist
Church on Desire Street. But Erica had
an added advantage working in her favor.
Her 86-year-old mother, Annie Falls, was
(and still is) a gifted singer, pianist, and
organist, as well as an educator.
“She was my first influence musically,”
Erica said. “My first piano teacher and
my first teacher as a singer. I would listen
to her when she sang at the piano and
watch her expressions. I observed that
aspect of her singing and actually feeling
something; telling a story. I learned that
at home.”
In her home environment, Erica was
further blessed. The youngest of eight
children, most of her brothers and sisters
also sang, as did her late father, Henry P.
Falls Sr., who was in the church men’s
choir.
“My dad was my biggest supporter,”
Erica said, adding that it was his passing
in 2001 that solidified her determination
to pursue music full time. “I know that’s
what he would have wanted me to do.
To step outside of my comfort zone
and make this happen. I was always
comfortable singing in a group, but I
needed to get out front. I stepped out on
faith and told myself, ‘I’ve got to make
this happen.’”
In her early years, Erica learned how
to play the piano and violin and sight
read from musical scores. But her voice
outshone all of her other musical gifts
and, with the encouragement of others,
she made the conscious choice to focus
on her singing. Among those from whom
she received encouragement were two
teachers she had in school, Patricia
Seals at McDonough 35 High School
and Ernest Wilson Paul at Francis T.
Nicholls High.
“Ms. Seals saw my gift and she
picked the students who she saw had
something,” Erica recalled. “It was
always in a group, which was great
because, for me, harmonies and
parts – along with playing the piano
and violin – really helped to develop
my ear.”
Continuing, Erica said, “Mr. Paul
would take me individually and he
and I would sit at the piano and work
on things and he would enter me into
competitions. I was always the lead
vocalist when we did performances
in different places. So he was the one
who really took the time to nurture the
gift. What he taught me and what I
learned by playing instruments are the
foundations of what I do today.”
In the years before making the big
jump into a full-time singing career, Erica
worked a number of day jobs including
being a receptionist at the regional Girl
Scout office and as a hostess and server
at several restaurants. “I’ve done quite a
few things besides singing,” she said. “I
was a single mom so I had to raise my
baby.”
(Today her daughter, Kalie Falls, now
25, is also a singer and songwriter. “A
better songwriter than me,” Erica laughs.)
But the singing drive within Erica
would always come to the forefront. “I
went to SUNO and Delgado but music
always came and took me out of it,” she
said, laughs. “It was like, ‘You’re not
supposed to be here. Come over here.’
Every time I made a decision to do
something else, music always came and
got me.”
The Bourbon Street scene gave Erica
some of her first real experiences singing
before an older clientele. Performing
with a backup band at The Old Opera
House and Fat Catz, she learned how to
interact with her audiences, in addition
to singing.
“It was my introduction to being on a
stage with a band and engaging with an
audience,” she recalled. “You can easily
become the jukebox in that arena if you
don’t know how to interact. It helped me
sharpen my entertainment skills. Getting
the crowd involved in what I was doing.”
In the years to come, Erica would go
on to perform at four JazzFests leading
her own group, in addition to fronting
there with Galactica and singing backup
for others. She also performed at French
Quarter Festival and others, both locally
and in other cities. She made her first
recording – an extended play of four
songs – in 2011 and in 2017 she released
a full collection, HomeGrown, consisting
of ten songs, eight of which feature her
original lyrics.
Her next release will be a reissue
of HomeGrown with some new tracks
added and it will be on an established
label, Louisiana Red Hot Records.
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J U LY / AU G U S T 2 0 1 8 breakthrumediamagazine.com | BREAKTHRU MEDIA | 17
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GUS BENNETT
“That lady is
fantastic.
You ought
to go see her.”
—SHARON MARTIN
COVER STORY
/breakthrumediamagazine.com
