Queen Esther

Described as “...a Black Lucinda Williams…” (Vanity Fair) with lingering comparisons to Sly Stone, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, Harlem-based performance artist, vocalist, songwriter, musician, and producer Queen Esther was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and rooted in Charleston, South Carolina’s culturally rich and enigmatic Lowcountry, a region with African traditions and Black folkways that span centuries and continue to inform her work.

As her fourth release on her imprint EL Recordings, her 2021 self-produced Black Americana album Gild The Black Lily – “...a minor masterpiece…” - LIRA (Sweden) – continues to garner acclaim, so do her writings about American music history, and her TED Talk "The True Origins of Country Music".