Local singer-songwriter Erica Falls released her single “Let’s Get Down Tonight” today, featuring rapper Lyrics Born. Fans can expect even more from the hometown chanteause on May 6, when she will release her single “One Stop Shop” with Chali2na (of Jurassic 5 fame) at her New Orleans Jazz Fest show at Congo Square Stage.
“Those songs were written in 2019 when I was in a really good, happy, funky place, Falls says. “We’re actually just kind of like getting back around to it, due to this pandemic thing. And it’s sort of just kind of rolled into 2022. But I think it’s rolled right into the perfect place. By the perfect time.”
In a good year for R&B with fellow New Orleans musician Jon Batiste’s Grammy win, Falls has been an R&B lover from the start. “My initial foundation is in the church, but my love and my foundation and the house that I live in musically is R&B,” Falls says. “R&B encompasses so many things, soft music to balance the dance songs. That’s the common thread of what’s to come. When I put out the full album at the end of the year, it’s the world I was living, loving in, during the pandemic. Relationships, then dealing with the residuals, as well as all the protests and things that we had going on. And the other aspect of it was just – let’s just forget about all that. Let’s have some fun.”
After being a vocalist for legends like Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and Sting, Falls says, “They were the most humble people that I had ever met. You’d have never known how revered they were in the business. I also learned the importance of professionalism, and how to express yourself musically. From Allen, I learned that writing is just a conversation. I was the young one, but they always just gently guided me in their own way, both knowingly and unknowingly. I’ve been really fortunate, when I was in the company of these people, that I learned so much from them. They were just really humble, sweet, good people.”
Falls toured with New Orleans funk band Galactic before going solo. “I always had my own thing going before I got with Galactic but, it was just here locally, and so I had to a make a decision. Some people are okay with being the big fish in small pond. But I thought my gift was more for the ocean. So I took that leap of faith to tour with these guys, and it really worked out in my favor, because they ended up being a band of brothers. I went in not knowing any of them, and they didn’t know me, so they didn’t know if I was gonna come in as some grand diva. But they just ended up being a great bunch of great guys who love food. (Falls is a foodie, as evidenced by her Instagram page.) “They brought me to other cities and got my name in other places, and just helped me to grow my fan base. And we ended up forming a really great friendship.”
Of bringing her sound back to fans, “That’s what’s exciting to get to do, and it’s also a healer for us as well. So, it’s a win / win for us as musicians.” She has a busy tour ahead including San Jose Jazz Fest and Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest. On the international agenda are Estonia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tahiti and more. “We’re slowly opening up, I’m just so excited because it feels like for us musicians, we really took a hard hit. But to have some sort of normalcy in the future, like we can see light at the end of the tunnel, it’s a good thing. I’m back in the studio recording, working on a new project. After, you know, that nice little glitch we had for a minute.”
The single “Let’s Get Down Tonight” out on Louisiana Red Hot Records features Nick Mercardel on drums, Chris Adkins on guitar, Mike Bass on bass, Jason Hodge on keys, and Kendrick Marshall on Hammond B3 organ.
