Erica Mantone embraces the spotlight on debut EP ‘I May Have Asked For This’
The powerhouse Boston vocalist, songwriter, and producer unveils her Noir Americana record on Tuesday, May 10
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EP release party set for Saturday, May 14 at The Burren in Somerville
Listen to Erica Mantone on Spotify
Photo Credit: The Secret Bureau of Art & Design
BOSTON, MA [May 10, 2022] -- Once, twice, three times a nominee. After three straight years of being nominated for Session Musician of the Year in the annual Boston Music Awards, Erica Mantone is ready for the spotlight. But the powerhouse vocalist, songwriter, and producer knows she’s not out here on her own – her debut EP, I May Have Asked For This, set for streaming release May 10 with the release party May 14 at The Burren in Somerville, is a collaborative affair that brings the longtime and trusted stage and studio performer’s own songwriting and storytelling to the forefront.
And that storytelling unfolds across an arc of six tracks on I May Have Asked For This. Led by new single “Miss Me Too” and a pair of previously released songs, 2020 lounge seducer “Maybe It’s Me” and last year’s enchanting “Undone,” Mantone and her three-octave vocal range is weaving her own musical tales through a personally crafted brand of noir Americana alongside her Henley Row studio collaborators, producer Dan Nicklin and guitarist Nate Leavitt.
The EP is partly inspired by the music vibes of Twin Peaks, partly inspired by blues and jazz, and partly a bucket list effort. It’s fully fueled by a drive to ensure the songs were songs, full of big hooks and choruses and melodies that grab hold and never let go.
“I don’t have kids,” Mantone says with a laugh, “but I would liken the release of this EP to childbirth – messy, panic-inducing, followed by oxytocin levels of relief. As the songs were being written, I kept joking that each one was really about my addiction to emotional BDSM. In other words, I seem to put myself into emotionally tortuous positions over and over again. However, actually calling an EP Emotional BDSM seemed to have a whole litany of insinuation and assumptions… probably of the gothic variety?”
Instead, the EP’s title came about much like Mantone’s sound – organically, off-the-cuff, and summoned within one of those anonymous nights that defines the scene that Mantone calls home. “One night at a bar, Dan Nicklin and I were talking about the EP and I think someone called me up to the stage and I kind of rolled my eyes because I just wasn’t feeling it. Dan looked at me and said ‘You love this.’ And I smiled sheepishly and said ‘I may have asked for this.’ Then I laughed and said ‘That’s what I am calling the album…”
With the title locked in, the songs suggest a deeper understanding of Mantone’s creative outbursts, whether solicited or not. Appropriately, the songs of I May Have Asked For This were written both over a lifetime and all at once, with the Boston Rock Opera and Bust Out Boston producer building on simple riffs or chorus ideas with Nicklin and Leavitt, as well as sessions with renowned Boston musician Susan Cattaneo. Some tracks kept that original, stripped-down vibe, while others evolved; “Undone,” for example, began as a syrupy ballad, but on the EP it blossoms into a powerful roots-driven anthem about the excitements of a new relationship, with Mantone’s captivating voice sending it to the arena rafters.
“I realized when I was starting to create the EP track order and set list for the release that the whole thing is an unintentional arc for a crap relationship,” Mantone admits. “Or rather, my journey through a crap relationship. ‘Undone’ is the early stage of being excited but unsure of a new thing. ‘Maybe It’s Me’ is frustration and fear of vulnerability. ‘Come Around’ is knowing it’s not a good fit and the communication isn’t there but you keep trying. ‘Way In the Dark’ is wanting to break free of things you allow to hold you back but shouldn’t and aren’t actually real. ‘Again’ is about resilience but also the old adage about how ‘insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting the same result,’ but you still start over and try again.”
The EP’s closer, a duet with Leavitt called “Miss Me Too,” which plays on the title of the veteran musician’s 2019’s album, is a spectral Americana ballad that has a deep personal meaning to Mantone. With Kevin Barry on pedal steel, it also represents a sort of microcosm of the creative process of the entire EP.
“As Dan, Nate and I were working on writing music, Nate released his last album I Miss Me Too,” says Mantone. “Except, there is no actual song on that album by that name. He was referring to his sort of fall out with music and trying to find his way back to it. I thought this was hilarious because ‘I miss me too’ is a great phrase – and also an accessible and poignant idea. Simultaneously, I really wanted to do a duet with Nate. Dan came up with the first line of the song and the melody, and then it just became one of our sprint songwriting sessions that was written in like two hours. Nate and I each independently wrote lyrics to the parts we each sing. I really wrote as if I were music and he needed to come back to it. So now a song exists called ‘Miss Me Too’ as a hat tip to Nate’s album. Someone needs to write a song called ‘I May Have Asked For This’.”
She prefers the art of collaborating over the idea of operating as a solo performer, with this weathered, lived-in record, Mantone is ready to stand center-stage and present these songs to the world. Each represents a piece of her, but they also reflect a wider focus of collaboration and companionship, small morsels of song origins and ideas that became fully fleshed out with a trusted team around her. I May Have Asked For This is her solo EP, but there’s a true scene behind it, entrenched in its DNA, just like when she’s on stage singing someone else’s songs.
But now, these are hers. And theirs, too.
“I think each song has a thing about it that I love,” Mantone concludes. “I think when we were nearly done and I was listening to all the songs together, I realized there is actually a ‘sound’... We made an actual thing.”
Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to Erica Mantone at ericamantone@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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‘I May Have Asked For This’ EP artwork:
Credit: The Secret Bureau of Art & Design
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Erica Mantone short bio:
Boston Music Award nominee for “Session Musician of the Year” in 2019, 2020, and 2021, Erica Mantone has made her mark in the New England music scene, lending her vocals both in the studio and on stage to such local favorites as Buffalo Tom, Will Dailey, Parlour Bells, and Magen Tracy & The Missed Connections. Mantone’s ability to adapt to a wide variety of genres has garnered her comparisons to the powerful voices of Merry Clayton, Brandi Carlile, and Chaka Khan as well as the softer, sweeter tones of Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.
Through her role as an executive producer (and performer) for both the Boston Rock Opera and Bust Out Boston: A Celebration of Womxn in the Boston Music Scene, she also embraces her other passion: Promoting diversity and community through music.
Mantone is currently working with producers Dan Nicklin (Old Jack) and Nate Leavitt (Nate Leavitt & The Elevation) of Henley Row Studios to produce an EP of her own original music to be released in Spring 2022.
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‘I May Have Asked For This’ production credits:
All songs ©2020 and 2021 written by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, and Nate Leavitt.
“Come Around” and “Again” ©2020 with Susan Cattaneo
Produced by Dan Nicklin and Nate Leavitt at Henley Row Studios in Stoneham, MA
All tracks recorded and produced by Henley Row Studios, and mixed by Pat DiCenso, except “Come Around”, mixed by Sean McLaughlin at 37 Ft. Productions.
Mastered by Brian Charles, Zippah Recording in Brighton, MA
Co-produced by Nicole Tammaro, Ann and Motley Zumwalt, Chelsea Litalien, Brittany Bradley, and Michael Loria
All photography, design, and moral support by Jenny Bergman at The Secret Bureau of Art and Design
Special thanks to Mary, Bill, Robin, Didder, Adam, Tilly, Flora, countless friends, Jenny, Dan, Nate, and Susan for getting me through this journey
‘Undone’
Erica Mantone: Vocals and backing vocals. Nate Leavitt: Guitars and backing vocals. Magen Tracy: Keys. Matthew Odabashian: Organ. Eric Donohue: Bass. Ned Gallagher: Drums. Dan Nicklin: Percussion.
Written and composed by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, and Nate Leavitt. Lyric editing by Susan Cattaneo and Mayte Antelo Ovando.
‘Maybe It’s Me’
Erica Mantone: Vocals. Nate Leavitt: Guitars. Magen Tracy: Keys. Matthew Odabashian: Organ. Eric Donohue: Bass. Ned Gallagher: Drums. Russ Gershon, Eric Ortiz, Brian Paulding: Horns. Dan Nicklin: Percussion.
Written and composed by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, and Nate Leavitt.
‘Come Around’
Erica Mantone: Vocals. Nate Leavitt: Guitars. Eric Donohue: Bass. Ned Gallagher: Drums. Russ Gershon: Saxophone. Rachel Barringer: Cello. Dan Nicklin: Percussion. Abbie Barrett, Emily Grogan, Mike Oram, Nate Leavitt, and Susan Cattaneo: backing vocals.
Written by Erica Mantone and Susan Cattaneo.
Composed by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, and Nate Leavitt.
‘Way In The Dark’
Erica Mantone: Vocals. Nate Leavitt: Guitar and Bass. Matthew Odabashian: Organ. Dan Nicklin: Percussion. Abbie Barrett, Cris Driscoll, Emily Grogan, Jeffrey Nicolai, Magen Tracy, Nate Leavitt, and Susan Cattaneo: Backing vocals.
Written and composed by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, and Nate Leavitt.
‘Again’
Erica Mantone: Vocals. Nate Leavitt: Guitar and Bass. Matthew Odabashian: Organ. Dan Nicklin: Percussion. Dan Cederholm: Drums. Paul Gallo: Percussion. Abbie Barrett, Dan Nicklin, Emily Grogan, Erica Mantone, Magen Tracy, Nate Leavitt, and Susan Cattaneo: Backing vocals.
Written by Erica Mantone and Susan Cattaneo.
Composed by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, and Nate Leavitt.
‘Miss Me Too’
Erica Mantone and Nathaniel Leavitt: Vocals. Nate Leavitt: Guitar. Eric Donohue: Bass. Ned Gallagher: Drums. Kevin Barry: Pedal Steel. Dan Nicklin: Percussion.
Written and composed by Erica Mantone, Dan Nicklin, Nate Leavitt.
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The music of Erica Mantone can be heard on:
Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood, Rising with Skybar on WMFO Tufts, BumbleBee Radio, The Worst Talk Show with DJ Angie C, Boston Herald, Vanyaland, Original Music Showcase and Heatseekers on Mark Skin Radio, Boston Groupie News, and other fine stations, shows, outlets, and publications…
"Together the three talents [Mantone and collaborators Nate Leavitt and Dan Nicklin] crafted a gem that’s completely comfortable moving among acid-fried soul, Motown homages, spooky noir turns and high-and-lonesome ballads." – Jed Gottlieb in the Boston Herald
"There isn't a bad track on this sparkling debut EP from Erica Mantone. The longtime brilliant Boston session-vocalist has confidently claimed her rightful place in the spotlight as a songwriter and performer with this new release!" – Kristen Eck of BumbleBee Radio
“A slow burn waltz, ‘Maybe It’s Me’ turns up the drama of breakups with brassy blues and an unhasty melody that lends Mantone’s vocals ample time to simmer.” – Victoria Wasylak in Vanyaland
“Another Henley Row jam, ‘Undone’ features delightful organ swells, twang guitar and keys sprinkled with fairy dust. But, best of all, the dreamy Americana tune does what it should: It puts Mantone’s towering and nuanced and dynamic voice right up front where it belongs.” – Jed Gottlieb in the Boston Herald
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Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to Erica Mantone at ericamantone@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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