Swimming with Dolphins was written with Alan Roy Scott on the beautiful Irish island, Inisheer, where a wild dolphin loves to swim freely with people. This song is about being free, from our conceptions about ourselves, our conceptions of others, and our attachments to suffering. It is about following the wild dolphins who show us how to laugh and love and sing in our power. This acoustic version was recorded live at Ojalá in Havana with Alejandro Falcón, and will appear on Erika’s upcoming record, Stand Together, for peace and empowerment. A fully produced pop version will follow. 
Seeking investors.
Stand Together is a collection of songs focused on love, standing together across borders and ideological differences, healing, and transforming suffering into joy. Stand Together was recorded at Ojalá by Olimpia Calderon Arias, at EGREM by Merlin Lorenzo, and at Signature Sounds in Connecticut by Mark Thayer. Ojalá is the studio of Erika’s songwriting idol, Silvio Rodriguez, and EGREM is Cuba’s national music production company. Both are in La Habana, Cuba. Signature Sounds is Erika’s long term studio, where she recorded her last album: Rise Up: https://open.spotify.com/
and previous albums.
Stand Together includes Spanish songs, Fantasma (Ghost), a co-write with Jeniffer Dalía Morales Rodriguez, and Alcanzando La Rosa (Reaching for the Rose), a co-write with Gareth Dunlop in Belfast, translated into Spanish in Santa Clara. It also includes a love song co-written at Folk Alliance International with Lilli Lewis called Montreal, and Black Swan, about healing from domestic abuse in Ireland. The Spanish songs feature an all-star Cuban band.
The first single, My Choice supports Whole Woman’s Health, fighting for reproductive justice in the USA. The second single and title track, Stand Together, is a song started in Cuba and finished in Germany, about ending the torture, internment and subjugation of refugees and creating a culture that recognizes our common humanity over national borders. The third single, Sirena En la Playa, is a song for peace, followed by Other Side of the World, a love song exploring internalised homophobia and freeing ourselves. Listen to recent singles: https://open.spotify.com/
