“A true artist and entertainer, Rhea’s singular, soulful, powerful voice can bring you to tears, but her effervescent personality, radiant energy, and witty lyrics can just as easily make you laugh.” – Jenn Grinels
Rhea Makiaris is at your service.
Having already served the American deaf community as a San Diego-based interpreter for over two decades, while simultaneously performing in innumerable bars, backyards, rooftops, restaurants, beaches, and barns as a bicoastally entertaining singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and avid collaborator, Makiaris is an inspirational sensation on the cusp of parlaying that desire to inspire into a career as a keynote speaker and elite performer.
With a set of golden pipes that place her somewhere between Bonnie Raitt, Janice Joplin, Etta James, and Aretha Franklin on the bona fide vocal diva spectrum, Makiaris is a wry-smiling chanteuse who doesn’t take herself as seriously as one might expect of someone in possession of such a rare gift, easily deflating that potential ego balloon with a contagious, ebullient, engaging joie de vivre and a riotous sense of humor. And she’s just as willing and able to harmonize with others as they shine, as evidenced by her many collaborations through the years, including the Music Mondays series she curated via Facebook Live during quarantine which featured a different guest every week, and her latest “supergroup” with her long-time friends: the former members of SCRATCH Acoustic Soul Trio.
Makiaris’ original material has begun transitioning from a heartbreak-channeling medium to something more universally uplifting during these troubled times. Her hopes for the future include continuing her ASL work (many of her live performances have featured a fellow interpreter signing the lyrics), spreading her latest series "House Concerts for a Cause", and harnessing and developing all her gifts in continuing service to any and everyone coming within orbiting range of her positive-force-of-nature gravity.
"Rhea's voice is one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard. I enjoy her music so much that when I was thinking about who to have sing the theme song for my show, Rhea Makiaris was the only name came to mind. Well, Celine Dion's name did too, but clearly we know the better of the two and I couldn't be prouder of all that Rhea is doing in her continually amazing musical endeavors."
~John Massé
THE JOHN MASSÉ SHOW
"If anything, Makiaris is versatile. She can put the shine and polish on a Broadway show tune or heft a boatload of soul into a Motown number. Her voice can be sweet, light, and agile as she caresses a sweet love song or earns comparisons to Bonnie Raitt when she raises the rafters with a barrelhouse blues."
~Paul Hormick
THE SAN DIEGO TROUBADOUR
"Rhea insists that everyone has a 'power animal' they physically resemble, hers being a camel. However, if our power animals reflected musical ability rather than an oftentimes embarrassing bestial resemblance, Rhea would be a colorful tropical bird singing an elegant song with one of those dynamic, captivating voices that stop you in your tracks. She's been plying her soulful, bluesy, extroverted, Greek-talian R & B wares all over Manhattan, so look for Rheezy performing soon; you can't miss her, really, she's easy to find--she's a camel who sings like a bird."
~Simeon Flick
SINGER/SONGWRITER
“Her combination of raw talent, powerful vocals and genuine emotion gives me chills every time I hear her perform."
~Jenn Grinels
SINGER/SONGWRITER