Eryn Michel

About the Artist

Eryn Michel [EH-rin Mih-SHEL] www.erynmichel.com Maryland songwriter Eryn Michel has been writing folk, Americana, and country songs since the late nineteen hundreds, when she was raised in Los Angeles against her will. She shocked everyone who knew her when she enlisted in the Army not long after 9/11. Everywhere the Army sent her, a cheap guitar came too, so she could leave it with whoever was inspired to learn. After serving as a Civil Affairs sergeant and convoy gunner in Iraq, Eryn earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA, and then worked in the Obama White House. She finally soured on war and politics, and turned to music and motherhood to restore her soul. She can occasionally be cajoled into performing (usually by frequent performing buddy Susan Rowe), as she didn't muster the courage to try her first open mic until age 32. She has since opened for folk legend David Buskin and performed at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN as well as stages in her local Washington, D.C. area including Strathmore Music Center, Takoma Park Folk Festival, and Washington Folk Festival. She is an alum of the Acoustic Guitar Project. Eryn only recently started releasing her own music, as she considers herself foremost a songwriter who likes to help others through the collaborative process of co-writing. She is writing a book on making friends with stage fright, and hopes to encourage others to find their voice and brave their fears of performing. She now makes her living entirely with her voice: voice acting, session singing and songwriting, while concurrently studying vocal habilitation and music therapy, with a special interest in palliative care, justice-affected populations, and veterans. Eryn invites you to check out two musical causes dear to her heart: FREER Records, the first nonprofit record label for prison-impacted musicians in the U.S., and the Warrior Music Foundation, where Eryn helps other veterans find healing through music as a songwriting mentor. She is a consulting songwriter/producer for Hear Me Roar Studio, a female-owned and operated boutique sync and production company in Silver Spring, MD. She serves on the board of the Songwriters' Association of Washington and she is a member of the Nashville Songwriters' Association International. She also serves on the program committee and as the chair of Community Tables for the Takoma Park Folk Festival, which takes place annually the second Sunday in September. Eryn composed the music for the podcast Is that a fact? and has music featured on Timeless Spirituality. Her accolades include: Strathmore's 2024 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Award Grand Prize American Songwriter Magazine's September/October 2023 Lyric Contest Winner for "Wine Well Spent" (co-written with Kimberly Shires) Surviving a global pandemic and keeping a small human alive for eight years NSAI Top 40 for Q1 2018 TAXI A&R Top 10 for January 2018 Music City SongStar 2017 Gold Level  American Songwriter Magazine's November/December 2017 Lyric Contest Winner for "Old Habits."