Erin Costelo

A soulful Canadian singer/songwriter, Erin Costelo first gained attention in the mid-2000s for her emotive R&B- and folk-inflected pop. She came to wider recognition with her third album, 2016's Down Below the Status Quo, which picked up several awards in her native Nova Scotia, including the ECMA award for R&B/Soul Recording of the year. Born in Nova Scotia, Costelo first started taking piano lessons at age four. As her family moved several times while she was growing up, she often found herself alone. Subsequently, she spent hours on piano, playing a wide breadth of music including favorite pieces by Bach, Mozart, the Beatles, Elton John, and others. She also developed an interest in jazz, a passion that led her to turn down a classic scholarship, and instead enroll for study at Nova Scotia's St. Francis Xavier University. Upon graduating, she moved to Winnipeg where she paid her dues playing gigs and working as a sideman and accompanist. Looking to further hone her skills, she enrolled in composition study at the University of North Texas. Over the next four years, she continued to expand her musical palette, experimenting with electronic music, and composing classical chamber works and multimedia pieces. She also led a jazz trio, played in country bands, and began writing her own songs. A job as a music production coordinator brought her back to Canada, landing her in Toronto where she continued to perform and write her own music. She eventually returned home to Halifax, where in 2007 she released her debut EP, The Trouble and the Truth. Tours followed, including stints with artists like Catherine MacLellan, Rose Cousins, and the Great Lake Swimmers, among others. In 2009, she released her full-length debut, Fire & Fuss, followed by We Can Get Over in 2012. Costelo gained further acclaim in 2016 with her third full-length, Down Below the Status Quo. It won Solo Recording of the Year at the Music Nova Scotia awards, and took home the East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. The album was also shortlisted for the Folk Music Ontario ACTRA RACS Recording of the Year Award. She returned in 2018 with her fifth solo album Sweet Marie.
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