Erika Van Pelt

Erika Van Pelt
Erika Van Pelt at the Warwick Mall in Warwick, Rhode Island for Cancer Awareness Day.
Background information
Birth name	Erika Lynn Van Pelt
Born	(1985-12-12) December 12, 1985 (age 31) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Origin	South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, wedding singer,disc jockey
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	2005–present
Website	Official website

Erika Lynn Van Pelt (born December 12, 1985) is an American singer from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, who placed in tenth place on the eleventh season of American Idol.

Van Pelt was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2002, she moved to South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Van Pelt sang at church in the children's choir and at the age of seven was singing solos with the adult choir.

Van Pelt went to South Kingstown High School and joined the vocal jazz music ensemble and chorus and was involved in musical theatre. She was in groups that received first places at the Rhode Island All State Jazz Choir, Rhode Island All-State Chorus, All New England Chorus and All-Eastern Chorus competitions. She was a founding member of a cappella group called SoundCheck.

Van Pelt attended Community College of Rhode Island and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and studied jazz, rock, pop and soul along with production and engineering. After college, in 2005, she launched her own company, VP Entertainment, a full-service mobile DJ company, and became an independent contractor with Kaleidoscope Kabaret, performing throughout New England at major venues including Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun. She performs part-time with The Sultans of Swing, and is a performing partner of Fairhaven Entertainment and Boston Swing.

Her major live performances include the national production "If You're Irish" and the annual "Chance to Dance" shows at the Providence Performing Arts Center, as well Boston Swing with Mark Maher at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston, Massachusetts. In February and March 2010, she starred alongside Matthew Royalty-Lindman in The Contemporary Theater Company's production of The Last 5 Years. She has been a member of the company since 2010, also caroling with the company's holiday singers each year since 2009.