Erika Jo Vastola (née Heriges, born November 2, 1986, in

Angleton, Texas Angleton is a city in and the county seat of Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Angleton lies at the intersection of State Highway 288, State Highway 35, and the Union Pacifi ...

), known simply by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Erika Jo, is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

recording artist who was declared winner of the 2005 season of the ''

Nashville Star ''Nashville Star'' is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the l ...

'' television program. Eighteen years old at the time, Erika Jo is both the youngest person to win the competition and the first female winner. She was signed to

Universal South Records Show Dog Nashville is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was founded in 2005 by singer Toby Keith. It was later merged with Universal South Records into Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009 until ...

in 2005 and released her self-titled debut album, which produced a chart single in "I Break Things", a No. 53 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts. A second single from the album, a cover of the

Jessi Colter Mirriam Johnson (born May 25, 1943), known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit " I' ...

hit, " I'm Not Lisa", failed to chart, and she was dropped from Universal South in 2007.

Early life

Erika Jo is the daughter of Bo and Paige Heriges. Erika Jo grew up in

Mount Juliet, Tennessee Mt. Juliet (also referred to as Mount Juliet) is a city located in western Wilson County, Tennessee. A suburb of Nashville, it is approximately east of downtown Nashville. Mt. Juliet is located mostly between two major national east-west routes, ...

, 15 miles east of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, and is a 2005 graduate of Wilson Central High School in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

Career

Erika Jo was also a national finalist in the 1999 True Value Country Showdown (now called the Colgate Country Showdown), a talent competition consisting of regional winners from across the United States. She also competed on the singing competition ''

'' in 2005 and won first plce. Her first single, "I Break Things", was released immediately upon her ''Nashville Star'' victory. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

received heavy rotation on CMT and

GAC GAC or Gac may refer to: Companies and organisations * GAC Group, a Chinese automotive company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong * GAC Ireland, an Irish bus manufacturer established with Bombardier (1980–1986) * Games Administration Committee, ...

, but the song peaked at No. 53. One subsequent single (" I'm Not Lisa") was released; it failed to reach the charts. Her only professional album, '' Erika Jo'', was released by

on June 14, 2005 and debuted at No. 5 on

's country album chart, but the album, like its first single, enjoyed very limited success after its initial launch, selling just 118,829 copies through its first 11 months in release.
''Tennessean.com'' Retrieved on 06-07-07 She was later dropped from Universal South.

Personal life

Erika Jo married Stephen Vastola in 2013. They reside in suburban Nashville.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erika Jo 1986 births American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Musicians from Houston People from Angleton, Texas Living people Nashville Star contestants Nashville Star winners Show Dog-Universal Music artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from Texas