Although her first public performance was more than two years ago, the anxiety that singer Erika Slikker felt that night remains fresh in her mind.
“I went out there and did something scary that I was nervous about, but I just felt the calling to share my art,” said the Lompoc local, who ventured south to Santa Barbara for her inaugural open mic at Whiskey Richards on State Street during the summer of 2019.
From then on, Slikker began bouncing between open mics at Whiskey Richards and the Uptown Lounge, also in Santa Barbara, until the COVID-19 crisis put a halt to in-person performances.
“I just barely caught my last opportunity before the pandemic,” said Slikker, who returned to the live music scene once local venues warmed back up to it.
Throughout 2021 and into 2022, Slikker found herself performing her original songs at spots in Lompoc—including Eye on I, Southside Coffee, and Tap & Cork—and Solvang, where her next live gig takes place on Friday, Feb. 4., at the High Roller Tiki Lounge.
This show marks Slikker’s second time performing at the lounge, which she described as a unique destination, based on her perception of nightlife in downtown Solvang.
“It seems like Solvang pretty much closes down pretty early,” said Slikker, who joked that residents must be surprised to hear live music coming from anywhere in town after 6 p.m.
From Slikker’s experiences so far, local venues have been extremely generous to her and usually offer perks like complimentary food or drinks.
“They kind of get lucky with me because I don’t drink. So they’ll usually ask me if I want a drink and I’m like, ‘Do you have hot water? I brought a tea bag,’” Slikker said. “I drink a lot of hot liquids, which really helps with singing too.”
If Slikker were ever to lose her voice right before a gig, she has an emergency backup plan in place.
“I danced flamenco for five years, so I might be able to pull off a little bit of a show,” said the singer, who enjoyed dancing and writing poetry at an early age. The latter was her gateway to becoming a lyricist.
“I wrote poems and I started to sing them,” Slikker said. “I actually have a diary from—I think it starts in first grade and goes to third grade—where I started writing my first song.”
Slikker said it’s fun to look back at her early poems and songs from childhood. Many of them were about matters of the heart, which she still writes about.
“They were always about love, one of them was about birds being in love,” recalled Slikker, who was born and raised in Lompoc.
Around kindergarten, Slikker’s family moved to Texas, but they returned to Lompoc before her teen years, making the 29-year-old nearly a lifelong resident.
In September of 2021, Slikker released her first recorded single, “My Kinda Place,” which she wrote to express her love of the ocean.
“We live on Earth, what is in space?/ Possibilities, what is my place?/ These are the questions that go through my head/ This I am thinking while I am in bed,” Slikker’s lyrics read. “And, here you are. Limitless, raw, and pure/ All that I strive to be, as I lay upon the shore.”
When Slikker isn’t rehearsing for a gig, learning guitar, or taking care of her plants, you’ll probably find her at Surf Beach with her three dogs. Upon the release of “My Kinda Place,” Slikker partly used the single to promote 2021’s California Coastal Cleanup Day—held every third Saturday of September—which she participated in.
“Out there to explore, out there to explore/ You’re my kinda place, the kind where I go to clear my mind/ And hear the moon speak as it shines,” Slikker sings at the end of her oceanic tribute. “You’re my kinda place, the kind where I go to be free.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wants to know where you go to be free. Send your favorite escape routes to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 3-10, 2022.