“The Music Room in Halifax was packed to overflowing last Friday night for the amazing Erika Kulnys. Erika and her group of talented musicians wowed us for two and a half hours of music, most of it written by Erika. This Halifax daughter is destined to be our next Sarah McLachlan.” –Terry Paul Choyce, CDKU, Canada

“By possessing the ingenious intellect and activist zeal of Ani DiFranco combined with the poetic skepticism of Leonard Cohen, Kulnys is artfully cementing her place in the history books of artistic heroes of our time.” -Shannon Webb-Campbell, Canadian Music Journalist

“The possessor of a quite extraordinary voice…Rise Up finds the Nova Scotia resident in fine form reflecting on matters worldly as well as closer to home…The aforementioned Roaring For A Revolution, the cream of the crop, bears a healthy relation to Anais Mitchell in style and indeed delivery. Kulnys powerful and soaring vocal is the winner here without doubt, bringing the poignant lyrics and melody to life.” -Lonesome Highway, Ireland

Erika Kulnys opens hearts with her passion and commitment to social change. A native of Nova Scotia, Erika connects deeply to audiences with her powerful voice, authenticity, innovative piano work and infectious joy. Erika’s has toured the world, performing internationally at events like Copenhagen Pride and the World Social Forum in Caracas. Her solo album, Angel on the Road, won Music Nova Scotia’s Inspirational Recording of the Year and her first professionally produced album, Rise Up, garnered awards from Ireland to Florida (First Place Cork Folk Festival’s Songwriting Contest 2016, First Place People’s Music Network Social Justice Songs, Honourable Mention, Posi Awards, Finalist Canada South Songwriting Competition, Finalist Songs for Social Change) and charted Top Ten in North America.

Erika’s writing has been compared to Anais Mitchell and Joni Mitchell, and inspires people to transform personal and socio-political challenges, and be true to ourselves and our planet. She also works with youth, queer folks, and women using songwriting as a tool for healing and empowerment. Erika recently won the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace’s Kim Phuc Youth Award, along with El Jones, for working towards a more peaceful culture through the arts. Erika won a $25,000 Watson Fellowship to study music and social change in seven countries, was a finalist in the UK Songwriting Competition, the International Acoustic Music awards, and has received international airplay including CBC, BBC, and NPR.

Erika’s last album, Rise Up, is a social justice-themed album recorded at Signature Sounds by Mark Thayer (Josh Ritter, James Taylor) and featuring musicians Dave Mattacks (Paul McCartney), Laurie MacAllister (Red Molly) and Jim Henry (Mary Chapin-Carpenter). Rise Up travels through folk-pop, Americana, and rock to explore the depths of human love and suffering, and calls us to unite globally for peace and equality. Throughout, Erika’s songs reflect universal experiences with passion and acute honesty, while the album’s production uses the many colours of strings, dobro, percussion, and harmonies to create a living landscape of sound and story.

Erika’s voice has a striking range of timbres and emotions and her humour and honesty onstage make her music accessible to folks young and old, and across cultures. Erika grew up singing folk songs with her Colombian mother and Hungarian grandmother in the women’s movement and the peace movement from New York to California to Calgary to Guatemala to Nova Scotia. Though her roots are deep in story-telling folk traditions, Erika is also a classically trained pianist, a poet, and composer who pushes the boundaries of genre. Erika’s musical scope ranges from ancient folk songs to rock-pop and she has the gift of writing meaningful songs that remain intimate, tender, and joyful while being political. 

Erika sang in choirs in Canada and went on to study Music Composition for Social Change, piano, and creative writing at the United World College (NM), Oberlin College and Conservatory (OH), and then traveled the world on a Watson fellowship participating in groups working for social change through music in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Jamaica, Brazil and India. She worked with revolutionary bands in Venezuela, recording and touring through small villages in the Andes, and performed with Battakare, an ensemble of youth in Sao Paolo who create and perform samba-influenced hip hop. She studied tabla and volunteered teaching music at a school for disabled children in India, and explored folk music’s influence on the peace movement in Northern Ireland.

Erika has also written classical music and poetry. Erika’s composition, “Salt,” scored for bassoon, oboe, cello and soprano was chosen to represent Oberlin at the Midwest Composers Symposium at the University of Michigan and was featured on Oberlin Conservatory’s promotional CD. Erika’s poetry has been published in literary journals, and her poem, “Las Noticias en Traduccion” was a finalist in Phoebe’s competition judged by Anne Carson.

Erika has performed around the world, playing festivals such as Pride (Halifax, Copenhagen, Akron), Kingsville Folk Music Festival, Copenhagen Songwriters Festival, Geyser Festival, Rhythm of Life Festival, Lunenburg Folk Harbour, Stan Rogers Folk Festival, Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, Oberlin Folk Festival and the closing ceremonies of Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival.

Erika loves working with others and has co-written and recorded with artists such as Emily Keener, Jennifer Dalia Morales Gonzales, Gareth Dunlop, Bruce Guthro, El Pulpo, El Jones, Kala Farnham, Kirsten Maxwell, Paul Jefferson, Kamila, Rose Vaughan, and Scott Macmillan, and opened for artists such as Josh Ritter, and Richard Thompson (Oberlin Folkfests). Her band has included El Pulpo (Eugenio Alberto Gonzales Maderos), Alejandro Falcon, Rose Vaughan, Andrew Sneddon,  Asa Brosius, Sara and Kamila, Daniel Gale, Pam Mason, Guy Mendilow, Stefan Amidon, Jordi Comstock, Adam Fine, Jeff Torbert, Keith Mullins, Duncan Macmillan, Naomi Morse, Scott Macmillan and Elvie Miller. 

2019-2022 found Erika touring the UK, Denmark, Germany, The Czech Republic, Cuba, The USA and Canada. Erika’s forthcoming album, Stand Together, is about love and coming together across borders and ideologies, with songs co-written in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Cuba, Wales, Canada, and the US.  The title track for Stand Together and other songs were recorded in Connecticut at Signature Sounds with Kala Farnham, Ariel Efrat Shapira, and Catherine Bent by Mark Thayer. The majority were recorded live at Silvio Rodriguez’ studio, Ojala in Habana with recording engineer, Olimpia Calderon Arias and Cuban jazz piano great, Alejandro Falcón.  Erika also recorded original songs in Spanish at EGREM with recording engineer, Merlin Lorenzo, and an all-star Cuban band including Alejandro Vaillant Agramonte. The first single from Stand Together is about reproductive freedom and supports Whole Woman’s Health.

Buy My Choice here: https://erikakulnys.bandcamp.com/track/my-choice-2

Erika’s music, rooted in the maritime tradition of storytelling through song, has international influences and speaks to people across cultures. Every performance Erika gives comes straight from the heart with grace and unparalleled passion. In 2016, Erika toured Rise Up (Americana) in Denmark, Ireland and the UK, Canada and the U.S. She toured Angel on the Road and her four releases of 2014: double album, Revolution (alternative-folk-world), WINGS (Americana), Year of the Water Snake (folk) and Angel on the Road (folk) in Cuba, Canada and the US, playing venues such as the Music Room and Al Whittle Theatre (NS). She toured her first release, Hurricane in Ireland, Northern Ireland, South Korea, Spain, Jamaica, Venezuela, and Brazil.

Highlights

• 2022 Finalist for Rise Up in RAWA’s Songs for Social Justice Songwriting Contest
• 2019 Headlined festivals in Europe and played to full houses in Germany
• 2018 Semi-finalist UK Songwriting Competition
• 2017 Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, Northern Ireland 
• 2017 Performed at Wallis Bird concert, Ireland
• 2016 Co-Winner of The National Voice of Women’s Kim Phuc Youth Peace Award with El Jones  
• 2016 Winner, First Place Cork Folk Festival’s Songwriting Contest (national Irish competition) 
• 2016 Winner, First Place People’s Music Network Social Justice Songs Showcase Contest, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance 
• 2016 Honourable Mention Rhode Island Songwriter’s Association Contest 
• 2016 Honourable Mention, Posi Awards 
• 2016 Finalist Canada South Songwriting Competition 
• 2016 Finalist Ottawa Grassroots Festival Sing-a-long Contest 
• 2015 Winner, Music Nova Scotia Inspirational Recording of the Year 
• 2015 Regional Semi-finalist of CBC’s Searchlight Competition 
• 2015 Mainstage Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival
• 2014 International Acoustic Music Award Finalist for Best Female Artist of the Year 
• 2007 Phoebe Poetry Competition finalist judged by Anne Carson 
• 2005 Recipient of $25,000 Watson Fellowship to study, write and perform Folk Music for Social Change in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil and India
• 2004 Lucy Pope Wheeler Prize in Poetry, Oberlin College