Erin Reese: More to the Story

Taylor Harrington 5/24/2021 8:37am EST

Erin Reese is a 17-year-old country star on the rise and with the anticipated release of her new single, “Little Bit of Blue”, she is already making waves in the music world. The young singer-songwriter is able to transform the typically “gloomy” color into something beautiful, such as the tides hitting the ocean shore.
Erin started in the entertainment industry modeling for Ford Models at the age of five, and from there went on to do commercial work. As someone Erin has always admired, she was thrilled to be able to work alongside Dolly Parton in the film Coat of Many Colors, and its sequel, Christmas of Many Colors.
Erin’s positive outlook and passion for her work is seen through everything she does, and we can’t wait to be hit by her wave and a “Little Bit of Blue”.


Erin is a very talented model, actor, singer, and dancer. She is a jack of all trades and everything she does, she does it really well, and she’s only seventeen years old. How did you get your start in the entertainment industry?

I started modeling with Ford Models at five I believe, and just started doing basic magazines and some commercials here and there. I got into dancing when I opened up and got out of my shell a bit because I was a very shy kid. I was super shy, but then when I was seven, I got into acting. I did CGTV, with Adrian R’Mante and he brought me out to LA and I met a few agents and managers, so I got really involved with the whole acting thing, and I loved it. When I was around 10, I believe, I got into my local college and I started doing musical theater. I love singing, I love being on the stage, and I’m like, wow, I will do this. I started singing a lot more, took some vocal lessons and have an amazing vocal teacher, Griffith Frank, who is phenomenal. I started recording and making my own music, and now here we are.

Here we are, and you’re about to release another new single very soon. Can you tell us what this new song is called and a little bit about it?

My single is called “Little Bit of Blue”. When I went to the studio, we were trying to figure out what to write. Cody Longo, he’s my music manager, he just sat down with me and he was like, “What is your favorite color?” and I said, “Well blue”, and he was like, “No, get deeper into it. Tell me exactly why it’s your favorite color.” I’m like, “I don’t really know”, so he told me, “Well, my favorite color is turquoise”, and he went into this whole explanation of how he sees turquoise in Italy when the sun hits certain buildings. I’m like, “Oh, all right. Well, my favorite color blue is kind of like when the waves rush over the beach. It’s that color blue. It’s super clear and super vibrant and it’s appealing to the eye. That is my favorite color.” He was like, “we’re gonna write about that.” I’m thinking, ‘Write about blue? Blue is typically a sad color.’ I was interested in how we were gonna turn “blue” into being such a bright and positive light color. We sat down, talked all about it, and it turned into such a positive song. It’s like, when you’re sad looking up into the bright blue sky and just knowing that you’re living another beautiful day. You should be thankful for the life that you’re given and you should be thankful for everything you have, even the color blue. It’s a beautiful color and, you know, can be a positive thing.

The ocean is so deep and scary, but it’s also beautiful. Being at the ocean and the beach brings so much peace to people and it really does make you think deeper.

I was born and raised in Florida, so I’ve always been surrounded by the water and the ocean. The ocean means a lot to me and my family.

That’s very cool. How can people find and listen to “Little Bit of Blue?

It will be on all musical platforms. Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, everything.

What have you done in your acting career as well?

The first couple of things were basic commercials and then a couple of years ago, maybe 2015, I booked a Dolly Parton movie, which was on NBC called Coat of Many Colors. I was super blessed and super thankful to be on that. I love Dolly so much. She is an icon.

What was that experience like, working alongside Dolly?

Alright, so I never really got to meet her because every time she was on set, they closed the set down, but I got to shoot with her sister Stella Parton. Stella actually called Dolly on the phone and I got to talk to her. I was fangirling, it was so crazy. I think I blanked out, like, I’m really talking to THE Dolly Parton right now.

That’s incredible, and what an inspiration because you’re there on her movie set, talking to Dolly Parton on the phone. So from there, what were some of your next projects?

After Coat of Many Colors, a year later we did the sequel, which was Christmas of Many Colors. It was a great experience, and I got to hang out with all my friends and we all lived in a hotel together. So every day and every night after shooting, we would go swimming and we’d run around the hotel. All the employees at the hotel knew who we were. We were the “actor kids”.

That had to have been so much fun. That’s a kids dream, right?

It was like Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Kids running around the hotel causing a rampage. It was so much fun. It was a great experience shooting both movies, and I can’t wait to shoot more.

How do you find and prepare for your auditions?

I have managers and agents that will send me out for roles, and then the casting directors will send me the audition. I’ll prepare for it by getting my head and everything in the zone. I try to actually figure out who this character is that I’m auditioning for and get deeper into who they really are. I have taken a lot of classes over the years that focus on trying to find out who each character is that I audition for, and it’s hard at first, trying to figure out who this person is, especially if they are completely opposite of who I am. Once I get in the zone, I just love auditioning. It’s so much fun because I get to play different roles and be all these other characters that people come up with. It’s amazing.

Yeah, that sounds like so much fun. So where do you see yourself in five years, Erin? What are some of your goals?

I want to sing on the Grand Ole Opry stage. I went on a trip with my parents a couple of years ago to Nashville, and I went there and I looked at that stage, and I’m like, “I want to sing on that stage”. It’s always been a dream of mine, and I also want to film a couple more movies.

As a teenager doing so much work in this industry, how do you keep up with school?

Well, I was in public school, until fifth grade and then I started homeschooling. In fifth grade, I was traveling so much to California and Nashville and all that. It was difficult, trying to keep up with school and trying to keep up with acting and singing and all that. It’s just it’s so much. So I told my mom, I’m like, “Let’s go back to Florida. Let’s spend a couple of months at home so I can focus on school and get it done.” So I finished school in five or six months, and I graduated at 15.

Wow! That’s incredible. You are such an inspiration for other kids that are younger than you that might be wanting to go into this industry. You have shown that if you have the drive, the heart, a good support system around you, you can make it happen. This is only the beginning for you, too, which is the even crazier part.

I’m so blessed to have people backing me up on everything. Having my parents there has been incredible. They’ve been supporting me, and they have sacrificed so much for me. I’m just super blessed to have them.