Erin Harkes is an American singer-songwriter and comedian.

Music career

Harkes is known in the Albany area, having been named among the

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

's best musicians by both the ''

Albany Times-Union The ''Times Union'', or ''Times-Union'', is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Tr ...

'' and '' Metroland''. She also regularly teams up with the Albany-based band Sirsy. In 2004, Harkes teamed up with

Albany, NY Albany ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldest city in New York, and the county seat of and most popu ...

-based band Folding Sky to enter the 2004 Colossal Contender Blues Competition, which they won giving them a shot to compete in Memphis. In addition, she has opened for acts such as the

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs are an American alternative rock band founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four albums that c ...

and Company of Thieves. On April 7, 2010, Harkes was chosen from the audience to participate in a "Battle of the Instant Bands" on

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

. Erin spent twenty minutes with her impromptu band, the "Fallon Angels," and put together a winning song they called "Free Jimmy." Since 2017 she has also been performing standup comedy. In 2021, she released he first comedy album ''Zoloft and Probation.'' In March 2023, she recorded her first comedy film special at Albany Funny Bone. In June 2023, she was to perform and headline comedy series at Universal Preservation Hall in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...

Personal life

Harkes grew up in

Middleburgh, New York Middleburgh is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Schoharie County, New York, Schoharie County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 3,112 at the 2000 census. The Town of Middleburgh contains a village ...

. When she was young, her parents formed a

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

. She started playing the bass drum in it when she was 13, and later she was recruited to play in the pipe band at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in

Laurinburg, North Carolina Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Fayetteville and is home t ...

, where she recorded her first CD during her senior year. Upon graduating in 2000, Harkes moved to Albany. Her first job was driving an ice-cream truck. As of June 2011, in addition to her music career, she maintains a full-time day job as a

data entry clerk A data entry clerk, also known as data preparation and control operator, data registration and control operator, and data preparation and registration operator, is a member of staff employed to enter or update data into a computer system. Data is ...

for Albany County Child Protective Services. Erin is first cousin to

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American Association football, soccer coach and former professional player who last coached Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American to pla ...

. On June 14, 2008, Harkes' older sister was killed in a wreck caused by a drunk driver. The death of her sister led Harkes to begin drinking heavily. In a 2011 interview, Harkes says, "I was always definitely fond of the drink... y sister's deathjust gave me an excuse." She eventually sought help and stopped drinking in late 2010.

Discography

* ''Bar Napkins and Magic Markers'' * ''Live at the Elbow Room, NYC'' (2002) * ''Rough'' (2003) with The Rebound * ''Special I Am'' (2006) * ''Overit Sessions'' - EP (2018) * ''Zoloft and Probation'' (2021)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harkes, Erin 1977 births American women singer-songwriters Living people Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters People from Kearny, New Jersey American women comedians Comedians from Hudson County, New Jersey