Album Notes

On first listening to Eric's full-length debut CD, Present and Accounted For, one hears Eric's love of AAA greats Tori Amos and Neal Finn. But diverse genres such as 70's east coast, Brazilian MPB, and The Beatles all seem to embed themselves in Eric's musical subconscious.

Eric started playing piano at the age of 7. Later in his small town high school, Eric joined every school group, community ensemble, and rock band he could find. Inspired by Yes and Rush, he fronted Cataclysm, pioneering a new genre labeled "Speed Manilow" by his friends.

Eric then attended Western Washington University, where he quickly discovered that playing Eddie Van Halen's synth solo in Jump was not going to impress the faculty. However, with the help of a good musical ear and a couple thousand hours of practice, he persevered, receiving a BA in music, performing in top University choirs and jazz bands, completing his education with a solo piano recital.

Moving to Seattle, Eric formed several bands: a tongue-in-cheek 80's cover band Radio80, prog-metal, In Re, and the over-the-top 13/8 jam band Six Ways From Sunday. Fed up with the bombastic nature of prog rock, Eric and long-time collaborator Peter Schatz formed a group called Lumberg, focusing on strong songwriting and tight arrangements. Together, with drummer Colin Richey, they brought their funky goodness to crowds as big as 1000 people.

When Schatz and Richey left to form Edisyn, Eric decided to go solo, accompanying his songs with his Fender Rhodes at coffee houses. Eric discovered Brazilian artists Lenine and Zeca Baleiro and started exploring all the world music he could get his hands on. He also picked up the accordion. Armed with new ideas, Eric rounded up his former band-mates Schatz and Richey, along with world music artists Tom Armstrong (Quasi Nada), Hans York (Jamie Laval), and Jon Hamar (Jamie Laval), and recorded Present and Accounted For in Mell Dettmer's studio in West Seattle.

Eric is currently playing around the Northwest at festivals, radio stations and clubs in support of this release. Once successful locally, Eric hopes to expand outward with regional radio promotion and a west-coast tour.