Baker Artist Portfolios

"All hail Outcalls, the reigning queens of the Baltimore City music scene." (Baltimore Magazine)

Award-winning operatic pop duo Outcalls creates genre-defying music and is one of the most in-demand musical acts in Baltimore. Led by graduates of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Britt Olsen-Ecker and Melissa Wimbish have released three studio albums, including their most recent, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (2022). The duo has composed music for multiple film projects, notably the major motion picture Crisis (2021) starring Evangeline Lilly, Gary Oldman, and Lily-Rose Depp.

Their interdisciplinary stage show, Release the Gowns, premiered at Baltimore’s Voxel Theater in 2022 and employed an entirely woman-led production team. With music composed by Outcalls and an original script by playwright and comedian Jessica Garrett, the production was hailed in Bmore Art as "a brilliant departure from the typical album release show formula."

Olsen-Ecker and Wimbish are dedicated to building a stronger, more sustainable future for women in the music industry. These bandleaders are creative risk-takers seeking greater independence as composers, tour managers, sound designers, video producers, and directors. They will return to the Peabody Conservatory Graduate Recording Studio in 2024 to collaborate for a second time with David Rosenthal, Billy Joel's music director, on a new track for their upcoming album.

Outcalls has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Camden Yards, and most recently at the brand new M&T Bank Exchange Stage as guest performers for Governor Wes Moore’s 45th birthday. Outcalls has toured throughout the United States and Canada. Their latest tour, SCORPIO TOUR, presented a series of intimate, acoustic parlor concerts. Learn more at outcallsband.com.

Press & Reviews
The Open Voice: An Interview with Outcalls, Baltimore's Electronic Opera Queens (Bmore Art, January 2023)
Music Review: Outcalls' Compliation Album Showcases the Wonders of the Human Voice (Baltimore Magazine, April 2022)
Outcalls Is Right On Schedule (Disrupt Magazine, August 2021)
Here's what six of Baltimore's most unique musical artists have prepared for fall 2020 (Baltimore Sun, September 2020)
The Big Baltimore Playlist, COVID edition (Baltimore Magazine, March 2020)
A Live Version of "Frozen" Will Come to D.C. This Month. It's Not Just for Kids (Washingtonian, February 2020)
Outcalls Asks Us to "Stay" and We Can't Say No (Buzz Music LA, February 2019)
Outcalls Captivate the Audience at Metro Gallery (These Subtle Sounds, March 2019)
Outcalls featured on Corridor Cast (Episode #72, July 2019)

Notable Appearances and Accolades

• Sold-out performance of Saturday Morning Tunes at Carver Center for the Arts; the highest-selling ticketed event in WTMD/WYPR history (2024)
• Invitation to present an encore performance of Release the Gowns at ChamberQUEER Festival in NYC (2024)
• Opening act for LL Cool J, MC Lyte, and D-Nice for Governor Wes Moore's 45th birthday party at the Hippodrome Theater (2023)
• Residency at Camden Yards at Oriole Park (2023)
• Commissioned by UrbanArias to compose and record an original holiday song, "Holiday Ex-Lover" (2022)
• Sold-out performances of Release the Gowns: An Album Release Show written by Outcalls and playwright Jessica Garrett, directed by Genevieve de Mahy (2022)
• Released third studio album, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, with brand new songs "Love To Fight," "Everything," "Thots & Prayers," "Call Sometime," "Vitamin D" featuring Kotic Couture, and "Gatekeeper" (2022)
• Invitation to Colorado Mesa College in Grand Junction, CO to present a master class to CMU students and a public recital for CMU Music Recital Series  (2021)
• "Get To You," written and recorded by Outcalls featured in CRISIS, a film starring Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, and Lily-Rose Depp (2021)
• "No King" (acoustic) featured on No Stagediving, a digital compilation album to benefit the Ottobar (2020)
• Stage debut at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore (2020)
• Stage debut at Miracle Theater DC (2020)
• Single "Mother" reviewed in Baltimore Magazine (2020)
• Performed in "Stop Making Sense" to benefit the Baltimore Harm Reduction Coaltion (2019)
• "Keep Falling Over" voted #1 on WTMD's Top 89 Songs of 2018 by station listeners (2018)
• For WTMD's Saturday Morning Tunes series, Outcalls wrote an abridged script and performed music from Disney's Frozen at Baltimore School for the Arts to two sold-out audiences. Their encore performances at Towson University in 2018 and 2019 also sold out. (2018)
• "No King" listed in The Baltimore Sun's "30 songs that defined 2017" and landed on Baltimore Magazine's "Best Music of 2017" (2017)

Touring
Outcalls has maintained a dynamic performance calendar. They have provided opening support for several major touring acts such as Kimbra, Esperanza Spalding, Khruangbin, Dessa, Wolf Parade, Chicano Batman, and San Fermin. Their self-produced tours (SCORPIO TOUR, Expand the Fam Tour, The Breakfast Tour, Goin' Down South Tour, and Nothing Will Go Wrong Tour) reached 21 cities in the Northeast, Southeast, and West Coast U.S. regions. Other festival highlights include Brilliant Baltimore, WTMD's 20th Anniversary Bash, Artscape, Baltimore Book Festival, Federal Hill Block Party, Baltimore Magazine Music Festival, and the Ladybug Festival.

2024 Performances
01.27.24 at Carver Center for the Arts, WTMD presents Saturday Morning Tunes with Outcalls
02.08.24 at Stoop Storytelling Series
03.09.24 at The Creative Alliance
06.15.24 at ChamberQUEER Festival (NYC)

2023 Performances
01.15.23 at St. David's Roland Park, Recital & Evensong for the Feast of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
01.18.23 at The Woodshed at Nate's Place
03.04.23 at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, WTMD presents Saturday Morning Tunes with Outcalls
03.25.23 at Power Plant Live! presented by Transcendent Events
06.10.23 at the B&O Railroad Museum for WTMD’s 20th Anniversary Bash
09.15.23 & 10.07.23 Residency at Oriole Park at Camden Yards
10.12.23 at the M&T Bank Exchange for Governor Wes Moore’s 45th Birthday Celebration

2022 Performances
12.09.22 at Holiday Spectacular in Center Plaza (Downtown Partnership of Baltimore)
12.2.22 World-premiere of "Holiday Ex-Lover" for DOC the Halls, a digital holiday songbook by Decameron Opera Coalition
11.17.22 at Ottobar with Dessa
05.13.22-05.14.22 World-premiere of Release the Gowns: A Theatrical Album Release by Outcalls and playwright Jessica Garrett at The Voxel

2021 Performances
06.18.21 at Ottobar
07.2.21 at Center Plaza (Downtown Partnership of Baltimore)
09.2.21 at Summer in the Squares (Mount Vernon, Baltimore)
09.27.21 at Baltimore CenterStage Butterfly Sessions
10.15.21 at The Magic Rat (Fort Collins, CO)
10.12.21-10.14.21 at Colorado Mesa College - Artist Residency & Performance (Grand Junction, CO)

2020 Performances
11.06.20 at The Creative Alliance, It's Pandemonium! Virtual Gala
10.24.20 at Music at 4500
09.03.20 at Canton Waterfront Park, WTMD Radio 89.7's Virtual First Thursday
02.21.20 debut at Ram's Head Live!
02.22.20 at the Miracle Theater, WTMD presents Saturday Morning Tunes with Outcalls