Erin McDougald

Early life

Born March 16, 1977 in Columbus, Ohio's Mount Carmel Hospital, Erin was raised in Delaware, Ohio by her parents, Colleen McDougald and Harold James McDougald. She and her younger sister Leah attended and graduated from St. Mary's Catholic Grade School in Delaware and Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus. When Erin was ten years old, her paternal grandfather, James Gordon McDougald, moved into their large home with the family and lived with them through the girls' formative years; he is credited with inspiring McDougald to go into jazz in college years, attending Columbia College Chicago. McDougald was enrolled in ballet, tap and "jazz" dance studies at The Shirley Jennings Academy of Dance in downtown Delaware from pre-school through her sophomore year of high school, when she transferred to the prestigious Mary Rose Dance Reach Company in Powell, Ohio. She struggled with eating disorders from age ten through 22, respectively, and spent a short time in Harding Hospital (through an out-patient program) when she was 16 years old for anorexia. At age ten, she began formal voice training with Celtic songstress Sue Mogan-Mattison in Delaware Ohio; Erin was reared in vocal technique and Folk and Irish music through her freshman year of high school when Mogan suggested she move onto a more established vocal coach, Columbus' Michelle Horsefield. Under Horsefield's coaching, McDougald progressed into musical theater and Operatic studies, preparing for various school shows and college auditions. Erin was offered scholarships to multiple colleges for her musical, dance and writing skills, including Capitol University, University of Syracuse and Santa Fe New Mexico Music School. McDougald chose to go to University of Cincinnati, who declined to accept her into the conservatory's theater department; she continued studying dance and re-auditioned after her first year. When she was rejected again, McDougald transferred to Columbia College Chicago; within the first month in Chicago, she landed a principle part (as Petra) in Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" directed by Susan Osborne-Mott. Her lauded role as the omnisciently vixenous maid, singing the musical's powerful 11 O'Clock number, "The Miller's Son", opened doors for Erin to perform in various other prestigious shows through the school and professional organizations, such as The Spirit of Chicago Cruiseline and as a featured singer at the newly opened "Pazzo's" in the financial district of Chicago. During this time, McDougald was still actively dancing through Columbia's apprenticeship with Modine and Company but eventually lessened her dance load due to her disenchantment with the modern technique heavily infused with the school's style and her interest in pursuing a career singing jazz.

Career beginnings

McDougald was a protege of William Russo, founder of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and head of jazz studies. Although McDougald was committed to her classical music training with vocal coach Carol LoVerde at Columbia, she dually studied jazz voicing through Russo's esteemed colleague and vocal headliner of the CJE, Bobbi Wilsyn. During this time, McDougald started sitting in clubs such as Bill Allen's Sardine Bar, (where he eventually gave her a weekly set), as well as Pops for Champagne, where she debuted with pianist Fred Simon and his trio. McDougald received showcases at The Hot House and the Cultural Center which granted production money through Sheldon Patinkin of Columbia's Theater School to write, direct, choreograph and produce a two-hour jazz-cabaret show (with 10 ensemble members, including the vied after drummer Frank Parker Jr of Kurt Elling's group and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble) "Round Midnight" which ran two nights in December 1998 to a full house both nights. The recordings of the show was the springboard for McDougald's swift transition in the Chicago Cabaret scene where she was the contracted resident headliner for Yvette's, Toulouse on the Park, The Plaza Tavern SupperClub, The Metropolitan Room and bi-monthly appearances at Davenport's Cabaret. By spring of 2000, McDougald was named an "Emerging Artist in Chicago" by a concert series of bright new musicians at the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center and was soon on the inside cover of The Chicago Tribune, as a featured interview in the popular INK Column with Terry Armour. The article posted a racy photo of McDougald as a dancer in a Bob Fosse-style costume which created an image not necessarily in-line with her musical aspirations, but, the article led to her multiple appearances on the controversial but wildly popular radio show Steve Dahl with Terry Armour and Stan Lawrence; her off-the-cuff wit and coquettish style disarmed Dahl and enchanted his mostly-male audience listeners. By October 2000, McDougald was solicited to perform the show's unofficial theme song "Stever", Erin's sarcastic pun on the Peggy Lee-song "Fever", poking fun of Steve Dahl's misogynistic persona on-air. The song stayed in rotation, and Erin remained on his "Best of Steve Dahl" each year until the show's demise.

By 2001, McDougald was moving away from the theatrical cabaret style of performance and more seriously into jazz interpretation. Her torchy but jazz-standard debut recording, Blue Prelude was a duo recorded at Yates Studio by Jim Massoth with German pianist and then-collaborator Thomas Gunther. The album received positive reviews in the Midwest and garnered several radio interviews, including an hour spotlight on the nationally syndicated Rick Kogan show on WGN, where she continues to be a featured, favorite guest of Kogan's. In the following years, McDougald was featured in numerous news articles, magazine covers and radio shows with the release of The Auburn Collection (Blujazz records, 2004) and later Meeting Place (FGP, 2006). "Meeting Place" was initially an elegy written for her grandfather in 2001, shortly after his death which left McDougald in a state of severe depression. She transformed the words in a composed jazz tune and recorded it as the title track with her other original being "Sing Me the Blues". Meeting Place features Dan Cray, Clark Sommers, Greg Wyser-Pratte and Geof Bradfield, and was recorded at Chicago Recording Company.

From 2002-2004, McDougald was the sole headliner of the prestigious 6 Continents Room of the Intercontinental, replacing Judy Roberts, five nights a week, which in turn helped Erin become a feature of Mike Harden's "Route 66: People To Know Along the Mother Road" televised special for NBC. McDougald also became the youngest contracted jazz headliner of the famed Pump Room's history; the introduction to General Manager Bill Borden was made by Rick Kogan live on the radio where Erin was offered a residency on the spot. Her residency lasted until 2005. McDougald had a string of residencies in Chicago clubs over the next few years, including monthly contracts at Andy's Jazz Club and sold out performances at The Jazz Showcase. She was the Thursday night resident jazz group at the popular Green Dolphin Street from late 2004 through 2008.

Collaborations and achievements in Jazz

McDougald recorded with jazz legends and luminaries Dave Liebman, Tom Harrell, Mark Sherman, Rodney Green, Chembo Corniel and others), at Bennett Studios in Englewood, NJ in October 2010 for her fourth album, Outside the Soiree; the title track being her composition. From 2010-2014, McDougald began appearing regularly in clubs on the east coast, including Smalls Jazz Club in the Village and the Metropolitan Room as well as concert events and arts festival on the upper west side of NYC. Over the years she has performed in Paris and Cologne as well as west coast cities such as Anthology in San Diego and in San Francisco's illustrious Enrico's and Savanna Jazz Club in 2015. She has headlined the Chicago Jazz Festival on the Heritage stage with 7-time Grammy winner Paul Wertico, Larry Gray and Rob Block, and been touted as "one of the best voices in jazz today" by Downbeat's Howard Mandel and Jazz Improv Magazine has attested "McDougald's voice is a rare instrument to be savored-- sweet and spicy in equal measure... positively mercurial". Chicago Music Guide has done multiple glowing interviews and reviews, naming her Chicago Musician of the Month twice between 2012-2013. Sacramento's Dick Crockeet of "Still Another Jazz Show" insists McDougald's rhythmic savvy beckons the days of Oscar Peterson's Trio in the 60's, exclaiming, "Erin's phrasing is exceptional, the music is overwhelming with her ability to reach the aerated heights of Ella Fitzgerald... what you hear is a transformative voice that will captivate you". McDougald has performed with Chicago's jazz royalty: Ira Sullivan, Johnny Frigo, Von Freeman, Paul Wertico and Larry Gray. She had headlined the famous Green Mill Jazz Lounge multiple times to standing room only crowds each time and has served, lectured and performed as an advisor on Columbia College Chicago's Portfolio Advisory Board for graduating seniors in music leading several radio-produced discussion panels over the years. City Talk Magazine named Erin a "rising star in the world on jazz" as their cover feature in 2002 and Who's Who in the World has named Erin McDougald an outstanding jazz vocalist in their directory (2013, 2014). Erin's original composition "The Arrival" was commissioned by Veuve Clicquot for a documentary in 2010 on The Mackinac Race; the song was recorded with Rob Block, Brian Ritter and Jack Zara at CRC by sound engineer Mat LeJeune and went on to be the title of the film which won several independent film awards in 2011 (Fig Media). Another film including McDougald's singing is a docu-drama by Rujanee Mahakanjana about the psyche of male architects, entitled "Man and His Erections", which premiered at The Gene Siskel Theater in Chicago in 2009. A short documentary film about Erin's career in a male-dominated industry, entitled "The Jazz Artist" by director Bradley Taylor was shot over the course of 13 months and is yet to be released. In 2015, visual artist Lewis Achenbach collaborated with Erin McDougald at Sayat Nova, where he painted her during her live performances for two weeks in December.

Personal

In March 2006, McDougald was struck by a car in Chicago's Gold Coast, as a pedestrian on Clark and Maple Street. The accident happened two weeks after her highly successful CD release concert at the famous Jazz Showcase and left her with neurological injuries, contusions, a concussion and bleeding of the brain. She was hospitalized 3 times in the following months and suffered short term amnesia for the next 8 months; this heavily impeded her career, traveling and ability to promote her new CD.

Associated musicians

Recordings