Erin Gipson might have been known as the Beauty half of her Beauty and the Geek pairing with Drew, but it's not really her looks she most wants to capitalize on.

The 26-year-old Illinois native might still depend on modeling for a good part of her income, but music is her first love.

The Beauty and the Geek alum teaches at the Chicago Center School of Music, and she performs as a singer.  She has several upcoming shows in Chicago, and will also soon be putting out an album titled "A Story of Love."

Music is not a recent addition to her life.  Gipson has been singing since she was young.

"When I was little, I used to put on shows in the backyard and invite the whole block and sell tickets," she has said. "Holidays, my family would look forward to listening to me sing and dance around."

She has since moved on from the backyard to bigger venues.  She's performed in Chicago-area clubs like Metro, Schuba's and Buddy Guy's.  Her upcoming performance will be on August 23 and 30, at Davenport's Piano Bar in Chicago's Wicker Park area.  Her set list there will reflect her love of jazz, and will include standards like "Cheek to Cheek," "You Go to My Head," and "Fever." 

Her song selections are arranged to reflect the phases of falling in love.  "It starts really happy, when you just meet someone, and then maybe you break up or hit a rough spot," Gipson said. "And then you recover and you move on. Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of toads until you meet your prince. People are going to interpret it in their own way, if she ends up with the same person or if she met someone new."

And speaking of recovering from a difficult experience, it turns out that for Gipson, participation in Beauty and the Geek "took a lot of recovery time."

She explained, "It was a weird, weird experience...it was very strange to see yourself intelligent and have everyone look at you funny."

Now that she is back focusing on her music, she seems to be back on track with the path she feels compelled to take.  "[Music] chose me," she said. "It would be a lot easier to do something else, but something inside me keeps me pursuing music."


- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: PioneerLocal
(Image courtesy of CW)