Artist Detail

Erinn Bates

Musician - Singer - Songwriter

About the artist:

Lead singer/mandolin player, Erinn Bates, was born and raised in Nashville and graduated from Belmont University with a degree in Music. While at Belmont, she met Judd’s producer, Brent Maher and began singing demos and finding songs for her own project at his studio. Just after graduation, she signed a development deal with Sony Nashville and worked with Grammy winning producer, Mark Wright, and hit songwriters, Mark Selby and Tia Sillers. After Sony merged with BMG, Erinn did not go forward in signing a record contract. That year she packed up and moved to Las Vegas where she sang as part of a group in a country show band. After a year in Sin City, she returned home to Nashville to pursue a songwriting and artist deal again. Guitar player and harmony singer, Jude Toy, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and moved to LA after high school graduation. She began playing electric guitar in various rock bands and then later started the duo, The Darlins, with former lead singer, Suzanne Sherwin. After they parted ways, Jude made the move to Nashville and began collaborating with a variety of hit writers, including Kostas and Tony Mullins. While working as a manager for the internationally renowned cosmetic company, Sephora, in Nashville, Jude met Erinn who was a makeup artist. In September of 2008, Jude Toy asked if she wanted to collaborate. The duo began performing at local and out of town venues and started networking with publishers in town. In August of 2009, The Darlins won the King or Queen of the Palace competition at the Nashville Palace sponsored by WSM and opened for Darryl Worley at the Wilson County Fair. Legendary DJ, Bill Cody, interviewed the girls live on WSM and was surprised to find out that Erinn is the singer of the Honest Abe Log Home jingle. Last fall, they were interviewed in Strum Magazine and were invited to play a weekly showcase at The Blue Bar with the musician’s networking group, Alabama Line. It’s only a matter of time before these two makeup artists/country artists are creating their own brand.