December 17th, 2015
Queen Esther, Rodeo Bar, NYC 1/15/14 Photos must be credited: © Tanya Braganti
This series of features highlights the 2015 NewSong Music finalists. Each artist is invited to Lincoln Center on January 7th for the opportunity to win the #NSM Grand Prize. We sat down with each finalist to learn more about their music and background. Hope you enjoy!
BIO
Steeped in Southern gospel music traditions from a very early age while surrounded by a soundscape of freeform radio, countrypolitan music and show tunes, Queen Esther grew up in the Deep South – Atlanta, GA and Charleston, SC respectively – as the middle child and the only daughter, with six brothers and a four-octave range. She began her gifted education in English and creative writing as a five-year-old.
Her work in New York City as a vocalist, lyricist, songwriter, actor/solo performer and playwright/librettist led to creative collaborations in neo-vaudeville, alt-theater, various alt-rock configurations, (neo) swing bands, trip hop DJs, spoken word performances, jazz combos, jam bands, various blues configurations, original Off Broadway plays and musicals, experimental music/art noise and performance art. Serious operatic training as a kid led to hard time in Austin, Texas — in theater as well as the live music scene — opening for artists as varied as Larry Carlton, The Neville Brothers, Crowded House and Chuck Berry.
A 2008 Grand Prize winner of the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, Queen Esther has performed with guitar icon James “Blood” Ulmer internationally in various blues, rock and jazz configurations, including Blues Experience Raw, The Black Rock Experience and most recently with his seminal collective, Odyssey. She and her jazz quintet The Hot Five perform in New York City regularly, including New Year’s Eve Eve, The Jazz Age Lawn Party and the iconic Minton’s in Harlem. Accompanied by her Black Americana band The Blue Crowns, Queen Esther premiered her fall European tour at Porgy & Bess, Vienna’s esteemed concert hall. Her latest release, The Other Side — described as “the most exciting Afro-Americana release of the year” by Paste magazine — is garnering airplay and stellar reviews worldwide.
Q: What is your songwriting process?
A: As a multidisciplinary artist, I am a conduit. When inspiration comes in the form of music, I find myself listening to songs on a radio somewhere in the recesses of my imagination that only I can hear. My hardest job is getting those songs out of my head and into the world, sounding as fresh and immediate and pristine as they do when only I can hear them — by any means necessary.
Influences? I admire Dolly Parton a great deal. She’s a muscian, she is a consummate performer, and she’s always owned her songs. I love Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Memphis Minnie for the same reasons — all of them, bandleaders, songwriters, musicians and powerful trailblazers.
Q:What does it mean to you to be selected as a NewSong finalist, and what do you hope to get out of the experience?
A: I actually got a little choked up. I called my husband. I sent a tweet about it. And then I stepped out into the hallway of my building and did a cartwheel. The wonderfully miraculous golden goodness of being a finalist in a competition of this stature — one that embraces original songs from performing songwriters — can hardly be overstated, especially when you’ve been going at it alone, as I have, and in a place as harrowing and unforgiving as New York City. To put it in another way — it means everything. It means validation. It means exposure. It means the world.
Q: How did you hear about New Song Music?
A: I was sifting through the Internet for songwriting opportunities. When I found the NewSong Contest, it sounded too good to be true. (Frankly, it still does.)
Q: What is currently happening with your music?
A: My 2015 Black Americana self release — “The Other Side” — is still garnering reviews and airplay internationally. Learn More!
