Angela Easterling
Folk ballads are a great way to tell a story and Angela Easterling takes this craft to a new level with her angelic voice. Bluegrass and country were all around, but Angela didn’t listen to it while growing up because she preferred story telling musical theatre. It wasn’t until she was older that Angela started listening to other types of musicians such as folk singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris. The Grammy winning vocalist inspired Angela to follow and appreciate other great singers like Neil Young, The Byrds, Pete Seeger, and Joni Mitchell.
Angela was raised in the South Carolina foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Much of her childhood was spent on a farm that has been in her family for seven generations since 1791. She embraces her heritage in a big way as a writer and an artist on her debut album, “Earning Her Wings.”
The title song for her second album, BlackTop Road, tells of her family’s struggle to hold onto their farmland in the face of development and represents a new step in her singer-songwriter career. Angela’s music has been featured in commercials for Southwestern Bell and several of her songs were used in the series “Horsepower” on Animal Planet.
Mon Secret was a fully French album released in 2012 wherein Angela combined songwriting, musical talents, and love of the French language. She says it was a fantastic challenge to rhyme, be musical, and poetic in a different language. Easterling says she did it for fun, but it turned out to be a good head-clearing project between albums, and something that people really love.
The sweet story of surprise-falling-in-love with her duet partner and the addition of a sweet baby boy to their family inspired the title of her newest album, Common Law Wife. It seems this mutual love for the musical arts is a common theme in the love story of many music artists.
“If you have musical chemistry, you might be bound to have other types of chemistry as well.” – Angela Easterling
Easterling was a Wildflower! Performing Singer/Songwriter Contest Finalist in 2012 and excited to come back this year to enjoy the weekend with the singer-songwriter community.
Website: www.angelaeasterling.com
Songs: Arkansas Murder Ballad and Isaac Woodard’s Eyes
Follow @AngelaEasterling on Twitter www.twitter.com/AngelEasterling
Follow Angela Easterling on Facebook www.facebook.com/AngelaEasterlingMusic
The award-winning Wildflower! Performing Songwriter contest encourages the growth of the art of independent performing singer-songwriters. The genres include Acoustic, Americana, Bluegrass, Blues, Celtic, Country and Folk. The Singer Songwriter Stage is located in the Bank of America Theatre within the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts. The Top Ten Finalists will compete for cash prizes on Saturday, May 16, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. www.wildflowerfestival.com
“Angela Easterling – A Lifesong Journey” blog by guest contributor, Erica Mueller