At Music at the Intersection earlier this month, St. Louis musician Dominique Eldraco Price commanded the stage. He performed in a flashy gold ensemble — a cropped metallic jacket, fishnet top, high-waisted gold shorts and shiny boots.
With soaring vocals, entertaining dance breaks and a full backing from his band FreeNation, Eldraco performed original music from his latest album, “Glitter.” His path to the stage, however, wasn’t always certain.
Eldraco has been singing since he was a child. His first performance took place in the church his father pastored, but it didn’t go as planned.
“[There] was a blizzard, and it was a church service that only my father — the pastor — the music director and one other person was in attendance. There were three people in the room and I bawled. I couldn’t even sing the song,” he told St. Louis on the Air. “I used to have extreme performance anxiety, to the point I would break out in hives even if I had to just walk in front of a group of people and say my name.”
He credits the demands of being a “preacher’s kid” and his love for theater with helping him build confidence onstage.
“That was the catalyst. … I received a response from people that was positive affirmation,” he said. “On top of the fact that I just like the feeling of creating, of singing, of dancing [and] putting out creativity into the world. I just knew that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life, that [performing] was my calling because I saw what I can do on stage affects people.”
Eldraco’s latest album, “Glitter,” reflects his wide-ranging musical inspirations and demonstrates how he challenged himself in songwriting.
“My inclination as a songwriter and a composer, the first things that come to mind are more like positive messaging or speaking about unity or love,” he said. “I’ve written a few protest songs in my time. So I gave myself an assignment. I said, 'Well, the kids like something that they can shake their butts to. Let me force myself to write a sexually liberating song, but with a nice little innuendo.’”
Eldraco, along with his band, share an appreciation for jazz. He graduated from Webster University with a degree in jazz vocal performance and says the genre plays a major role in how FreeNation improvises during live performances. In addition to jazz, the band draws inspiration from a wide array of musicians and eras.
He points to disco icon Sylvester, as well as Prince, Michael Jackson, Nina Simone, Tina Turner and Earth, Wind & Fire. “In terms of what’s informing the music though, it’s usually just a music motif and then I’m writing from there. I don’t know where the inspiration necessarily comes from, and I don’t try to analyze it. I just let the music take me where it may.”
The music took Eldraco from performing onstage during the day to an impromptu performance with MATI headliner Patti Labelle. To learn about how he ended up singing and dancing with the music icon, plus a behind-the-scenes look at songs from Eldraco+ FreeNation’s album “Glitter,” listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Artica Festival
When: Oct. 4-5
Where: South 2nd Street and Cedar Street 63102
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
