My Imaginary Friends profile picture

My Imaginary Friends

hello, my name's erin kelly Benjamin

About Me


“[Armstrong] sings with a voice that is sincere...expect to be stunned...expect to be awed.”
--Post and Courier
Some days, she might prefer to find herself drenched in sunshine. On other days, she has dirt on her cheeks and a whiskey in her hand.Pretty and punk, sweet and seductive, Erin Armstrong—the heart and guts of My Imaginary Friends—has been coaxing melodies out of her keys and subconscious since toddlerhood. At her first piano lesson with a legendary instructor, she informed her teacher that the piano was out of tune. When “Chopsticks” wasn’t enough, she tackled the Lennon and McCartney songbook...at the age of seven. The girl sure didn’t mess around.
Like a runaway train, derailed only occasionally by the delicious adolescent rites of unlicensed driving, back-talking preachers, and kissing boys in the cloakroom, Erin soon moved to the guitar and then on to a bigger city with better opportunities for exploring her obsession with notes and chords and tunes (well...and boys).
Beginning in adolescence—and in no particular order, Erin fronted an all-girl punk band called Leave It To Beaver, recorded on Ben Folds' piano, performed with a successful jazz trio, shared the stage with Ray Charles, and formed My Imaginary Friends.With a couple of Franklins, her guitar, and a sweet dog named Linus, she left Charleston, SC in 2005 to meet up with friends Whitt and Ben. Inspired by a chance encounter and some rather encouraging words (something along the lines of “Grab life by the horns and just fucking ride it”) from Ryan Adams, Erin just simply had somewhere to be.And that brings us to the here and now. She creates a lavish spread of folk-tinged piano pop inspired by the heartbreak and hijinks that have so far defined her being. Her voice is crystalline, yet still bears the scrapes and scars of a girl who grew up mighty quick.
With Ben and Kelly, Erin is preparing to release her 2nd album and will embark on her inaugural West Coast tour in spring 2008 with friends, Olin and the Moon.
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/19/2004
Band Website: myspace.com/myimaginaryfriends
Band Members: erin and ben and kelly
Influences: Miss Debra, my second mama growing up.

The Beatles. jazz. Ryan Adams. Gillian Welch. Nina Simone. Wilco. Fiona Apple. the Arcade Fire. The Association. The Avett Brothers. Sebadoh. Cole Porter. Pavement. Patsy Cline. stephane grapelli. The Afghan Whigs. Ben Folds Five. Big Mama Thorton. Big Star. Billie Holiday. Bjork. The Black Crowes. Bob Dylan. Bonnie Raitt. The Byrds. Built to Spill. Devendra Banhart. Django Reinhardt. Johnny Cash. Elton John. Emmylou Harris. Erykah Badu. Elliott Smith. Fugazi. Gram Parsons. Hayden. Herman's Hermits. Jerry Lee Lewis. Jesse Jackson. Joni Mitchell. Kim Deal. The Kinks. Mary Chapin Carpenter. Modest Mouse. Natalie Maines. Neko Case. Neil Young. Le Tigre. leonard Cohen. Liz Phair. Loretta Lynn. the Lovin' Spoonful. Lucinda Williams. Nico. Otis Redding. Pernice Brothers. The Pixies Rachmaninoff. Radiohead. Ray Charles. Richard Buckner. Ricki Lee Jones. the Rolling Stones. Sarah Vaughan. Sly and the Family Stone. Son Volt. Sonic Youth. Squirrel Nut Zippers Sufjan Stevens. Tears for Fears. Tori Amos. Tom Waits. Tom Petty. Traveling Wilburys. Tracy Chapman. Van Morrison. Vince Guaraldi.

Uncle Tupelo. Wanda Jackson. Will Oldham. Willie Nelson. Whitt Algar.
Sounds Like: if John and Johnny had a baby
Record Label: DIY
Type of Label: None

My Blog

L.A. Times caught us getting coffee for band practice

Sisters Erin Armstrong, left, and Beth Armstrong with buddy Linus.It takes a well-practiced sense of cool to dress like a rocker at 11 in the morning.By Emili Vesilind, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer ...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:02:00 PST

mr. moonshine

The title of a bulletin today read, "the female ryan adams," and the body below..."I think you all NEED... you all MUST listen to this...www.myspace.com/myimaginaryfriends ( erin armstrong)do yoursel...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 07:40:00 PST

the wind took them down the pretty avenue

    ...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Thu, 17 May 2007 02:18:00 PST

Music and Lyrics by Erin Armstrong

I never realized it was a question, but apparently it is.Recently, I have been sent letters asking if Bumpy Rideis a cover, the same with Fire. There are a few thingsyou can say to completely floor a...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Thu, 10 May 2007 06:25:00 PST

Flyers

 ...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:24:00 PST

That was fun (Rhythm)

It was a Saturday night this past September in Silverlake, Los Angeles, where merged a group of rad friends, percussive toys, and some microphones.  The song is "that was fun" posted on the ...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 02:12:00 PST

2 NEW SONGS and a boot

I have time this morning. only because my car got booted by the City of Los Angeles for unpaid parking tickets and I am stuck for the time being.I just don't get them. my illegitimate grandkids will i...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Tue, 07 Nov 2006 10:19:00 PST

like the monkees said, "listen to the band!"

yes, I know, just hold your horses and soon the songs will be up that have everybody.  no, but seriously, thanks for the emails requesting to hear the full band.  just a littl...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Wed, 01 Nov 2006 02:51:00 PST

where the drink special and the waitress share the same name

did the hermit thing for a while.  then eventually made my way back out to the bar.  a group of us met up at Barragan's on Sunset in Echo Park for "maragarita night"-2 bucks each!  deli...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:23:00 PST

Linus-1, Cars-0

got home from work, showed apartment to "Sam," Sam got freaked.As I opened the door to call a dog back from the road, Linus got out. FUCK. and I mean fucking fuck, fuck. The dog crossing the street ...
Posted by My Imaginary Friends on Tue, 23 May 2006 02:03:00 PST