aireene espiritu
My latest project, The Sampaguitas, sing Filipino folk songs and inspired originals in three-part harmony. Drawing influences from folk, blues, doo-wop girl groups, and the Filipinx-American diaspora, Jenevieve Francisco, Cristina Ibarra, and Aireene Espiritu share music from their roots and explore what it means to be in a “third culture” between worlds. The sampaguita is the national flower of the Philippines and only fitting to describe the sweet sounds coming from their melded vocal textures, tones, and tight harmonies.
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Aireene Espiritu Plumbs Deep into the Well of American Music Los Angeles Times, Jonny Whiteside
“Folk singer-songwriter Aireene Espiritu works in the elemental substance of vernacular American music with an uncanny ease. Whether blues, hillbilly, soul, folk or R&B...demonstrates masterly command of each. Her original compositions mix deft lyrical construction and classic form just as impressively...An authentic, authoritative vocalist and with distinctly sensitive manner of phrasing... Bay Area-based Espiritu's arrival as California folk's legitimate forces...” continue reading.
PRESS Articles, Quotes
DOWNLOAD Aireene Espiritu One Sheet
Fall 2016 No Depression (pdf file) Print Issue. Little Village Foundation finds music that needs to be heard.
10/3/16 SF Chronicle Little Village artists on list of Best Moments from Sunday's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
9/18/16 KQED's California Report (AUDIO): Three New Releases
by Boundary Bending Bay Area artists.
9/1/16 Living Blues Magazine (pdf file) Aug/Sep Print Issue reviews Back Where I Belong.
What began as a rather wild dream turned out to be a wonderful work of art, with Espiritu applying her strong,
emotion dripping alto pipes to seven songs that had been recorded by DeSanto. —Lee Hildebrand, Living Blues Magazine
8/26/16 SF Chronicle On the road with an Ukulele
6/15/16 No Depression Paying tribute to Sugar Pie DeSanto
6/7/16 All About Jazz Back Where I Belong Review
5/27/16 Huffington Post Aireene Espiritu's Going Back
Where I Belong Exclusive
11/04/15 Los Angeles Times Music Review: Aireene Plumbs Deep Into the Well of American Music
8/27/15 No Depression Aireene Espiritu and the Roots of the Road
7/31/14 Pasadena Weekly TRAX Put Back Charlie album review
7/13/12 Peninsula Spotlight (PDF file) A Musical Journey. Ukulele playing singer brings emotional brand to Port Townsend.
9/6/11 Streetlight Records Q&A
2016 KOIN TV Waterfront Blues Fest. Portland, OR
"This is our jaw dropping act of the season...she gathered some of the best musicians in town around her...She has taken off like a rocket ship and everyone is suddenly in love with the music and show of Aireene Espiritu...You might like to say, "Remember When" a short way up the musical road." - Bob Stane, The Coffee Gallery Backstage
"Espiritu’s vocal range tells the story, eliciting the invincibility of a young Dolly Parton and blue-collar work ethic of Loretta Lynn." - Adam Joseph, Monterey County Weekly
“Espiritu’s penchant for songs that sound like they came off a 78 rpm record, listeners will be swept away.” - Good Times Weekly, Santa Cruz CA
"We love Aireene, and not just because she is a friend of ours. We got to know Aireene through her music and she is the first artist we have invited back a second time. Her music resonates - even more so in a live setting. Aireene interacts with the audience, giving her performances a specialness that lends itself perfectly to house concert settings. The blend of her playing and her singing is exceptional and adds layers to the already beautiful lyrics. Thank you another wonderful evening."
- C. Canup, SYLA Presents
"I love what I heard, It's perfect for my kinda folk show-- bright, melodic,rootsy and with excellent vocals and hot pickin' too. What else can a lifelong Folk DJ ask for." - Gene Shay, aka The Grandfather of Philadelphia Folk Music, WXPN Radio, The Folk Show
"Aireene's songs are mostly originals. They just sound like songs Alan Lomax might have collected during one of his cross country recording jaunts. They carry both historic sweep and personal nuance. The melodies are full of bluesy longing, fingerpicked delicately on her tenor ukulele." - Richard Rice, San Francisco Free Folk Festival
Aireene Espiritu Plumbs Deep into the Well of American Music
Los Angeles Times, Jonny Whiteside
“Folk singer-songwriter Aireene Espiritu works in the elemental substance of vernacular American music with an uncanny ease. Whether blues, hillbilly, soul, folk or R&B...demonstrates masterly command of each. Her original compositions mix deft lyrical construction and classic form just as impressively...An authentic, authoritative vocalist and with distinctly sensitive manner of phrasing... Bay Area-based Espiritu's arrival as California folk's legitimate forces...” continue reading.
Aireene Espiritu and the Roots of the Road NO DEPRESSION Magazine, Terry Roland
In her voice, in the way Aireene Espiritu sings her original songs, she is at once a rare breed of artist, a soul singer, a folk troubadour, a blues artist, a busk show princess, a skiffle tear-stained street singer with a heart as big as the history of the music that drives her. And in the final analysis, she is a storyteller without borders or cultural limitations. continue reading.