Erin Jordan

About the Artist

Ms. Jordan started writing songs while living in a small Central Illinois college town. While she had gone to school to study classical voice, she found that she was more interested in writing poetry and attending poetry slams. Wishing to combine her singing and writing, she bought an acoustic guitar at a local pawn shop and learned to play it. In 1999 Erin returned to Chicago, her hometown, to pursue music. Living there she recorded her 2003 folk rock album, Land of Milk and Honey, fronted the folk rock band, Erin Jordan and the Sweet Nothings, and hosted the weekly open mic at the Inner Town Pub. Feeling a need for a change of scenery and a fresh writing perspective, Erin relocated to Seattle in 2005. It was there that she began seriously playing piano, and rediscovered her love of show tunes, and various types of ethnic music, such as Klezmer, Gypsy, and Flamenco. After being a hermit and writing new material for almost a year, she started forming her new band, The Whiskey Romance. The Whiskey Romance combines American roots music with Cabaret and traditional Eastern European folk music. The first member was oboist Jeremy Butkovich. After a few coffee shop gigs as a duo they expanded to include drummer Steven Baz, upright bassist Sean Mack, and several guest musicians who have played trumpet, violin, and melodica with the band. The Whiskey Romance released their debut album, Gateway to Temptation in the Fall of 2008. Exploring the theme of temptation, the songs range from the humorous 'Jane', warning young boys of the dangers of loose women, to the sultry Klezmer tinged love song, 'Unrequited', to the Mariachi style murder ballad, 'Corpus Christi'. In 2008 Erin also joined the Old Timey Americana band, Bakelite 78, playing piano and accordion. The next fall Erin and Robert Rial of Bakelite 78, her fiance and musical partner, set off on an East Coast tour to promote their solo acts. With the success of their musical collaboration as a duo, they decided to form a new two piece group, The Cabarailers. Erin can currently be seen playing solo shows, as well as shows with Bakelite 78 and The Cabarailers.