ICYMI: #WomanCrushWednesday IG Live featuring Erin Reese

BY LAURA HARPER/WWR Staff Writer

From modeling to acting to music, few artists have managed to dabble in a little bit of everything in their careers quite as much as Erin Reese.

Reese started modeling at the age of five, started acting at the age of seven, and got involved in musical theater at the age of ten. While in musical theater, she discovered her love for singing, which then led her to take vocal lessons and record a few songs. From there, her career started to take off.

While her original music style fits within the country genre, Reese says it was a bit of a challenge to transition from musical theater vocal styles to country vocal styles. With musical theater, she was taught to pronounce more, while country vocals required that she pronounce less.

Reese eventually moved from her hometown in Florida to Los Angeles, California, but then travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to record music. Reese says she soon fell in love with the famous country music town.

“When I set food in Tennessee, knowing all the creators that live there, it really inspires you,” Reese said.

In Nashville, Reese had the opportunity to work alongside Grammy-nominated songwriter Jamie Floyd, who played an instrumental role in helping Reese develop her original music.

“She understood my struggles and knew that I was nervous,” Reese said.

While in Nashville, Reese recorded multiple songs, including her single “Hometown Heart,” which song was recorded in just two days. It was later featured in a music video filmed in Reese’s hometown alongside her friends and family.

“It was a long day but it was a lot of fun,” Reese said of the music video filming.

While there are a lot of challenges that present themselves particularly to young women in the music industry, Reese does her best to drown out the negativity and stick to her own circle of close friends and family.

“I just focus on myself and what I’m doing,” Reese said. “I just stay to myself.”

This does not apply to her fans, however. Reese says she loves interacting with her fans through DMs and comments on social media, and often finds encouragement when her fans tell her that they are inspired by her and her music.

Despite already having a successful music career and having starred in two of Dolly Parton’s movies and the web series Chicken Girls, Reese says she still has more big dreams that she wants to accomplish. Namely, she would love to sing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and star in a Marvel movie.

Although the world may feel as though it is overtaken by negativity at times, Reese expresses the importance of maintaining a positive attitude.

“Keep believing in yourself,” Reese said. “Just don’t give up.”

For more on Erin Reese, you can check out the entire interview on the @OfficialWomenWhoRock IGTV channel on Instagram.