Interested in learning with Eric?
Contact us to schedule your first lesson!
Contact us to schedule your first lesson!
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Eric’s love for the guitar started when he saw Kurt Kobain of Nirvana play “Heart-Shaped Box” live on MTV. Grunge was all the rage and he immersed himself in the music of Nirvana. The death of Nirvana’s frontman left a void in his musical soul that was replaced by an unlikely candidate, that person was Muddy Waters. His grandfather played a cassette tape of the legendary bluesman playing “Sad Letter” and it shook Eric to his core. At that point Eric knew he had to get his hands on a guitar and learn to play the blues as quickly as possible. Upon entering 10th grade, he took a guitar class at school and played until his fingers hurt trying to express these new emotions he felt. It was during this time a new faction in the world of professional wrestling was taking the County by storm. Their name was the New World Order (N.W.O.) and their leader Hulk Hogan had a new theme song to go along with his new bad guy persona. |
That song would cause another seismic shift in Eric’s life and change his guitar world forever. Hulk Hogan’s new theme song was “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” by Jimi Hendrix. Eric consumed everything Jimi Hendrix to try and sound like his newest guitar hero. This led him to the jazz band at school since this was the only place for him to play the guitar in an ensemble setting.
After high school Eric attended South Carolina State University as a music performance major and again joined the Jazz Band because that was the only outlet for him to play the guitar. His guitar teacher, seeing his passion, drive and determination but frustration with not being able to play the music he loved told him to check out Miles Davis and gave him the CD “Kind of Blue”. The sophisticated sounds of that album opened a musical pandora’s box for Eric and not only gave him a more appropriate sound to use in Jazz Band but also opened his mind to a higher level of musical expression and freedom. Following Miles Davis’s musical journey Eric saw he could fuse his blues-rock roots with the open harmonic landscape and “stretch out” but also started to hear the sounds of Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and George Benson and fell in love with Jazz Guitar.
Eric had matured musically and now Jazz with its many roads and avenues was his new home. With a new perspective on music and a still growing thirst for knowledge Eric applied to and was accepted to Berklee College of Music where he studied with Ritchie Hart (student of George Benson) as well as many other professors who help to shape and hone Eric’s sound, style and abilities. Upon graduation Eric moved back to South Carolina and is constantly working on his sound and style to evolve it and pursuing his dream of being a professional musician.
Listen to Eric's music on our sister company's website: www.lowcountrypianist.com/eric
After high school Eric attended South Carolina State University as a music performance major and again joined the Jazz Band because that was the only outlet for him to play the guitar. His guitar teacher, seeing his passion, drive and determination but frustration with not being able to play the music he loved told him to check out Miles Davis and gave him the CD “Kind of Blue”. The sophisticated sounds of that album opened a musical pandora’s box for Eric and not only gave him a more appropriate sound to use in Jazz Band but also opened his mind to a higher level of musical expression and freedom. Following Miles Davis’s musical journey Eric saw he could fuse his blues-rock roots with the open harmonic landscape and “stretch out” but also started to hear the sounds of Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and George Benson and fell in love with Jazz Guitar.
Eric had matured musically and now Jazz with its many roads and avenues was his new home. With a new perspective on music and a still growing thirst for knowledge Eric applied to and was accepted to Berklee College of Music where he studied with Ritchie Hart (student of George Benson) as well as many other professors who help to shape and hone Eric’s sound, style and abilities. Upon graduation Eric moved back to South Carolina and is constantly working on his sound and style to evolve it and pursuing his dream of being a professional musician.
Listen to Eric's music on our sister company's website: www.lowcountrypianist.com/eric
Eric's Teaching Style:
"My teaching style is based on learning music and not traditional exercises. I will find out what you like to play, and we will learn how to play it. We will go over theory so I can show you how the song is constructed so you can learn to imitate, assimilate, and then eventually innovate as countless musicians have done before you. My goal is to give you the tools to create music and solve your problems so you can teach yourself. As the analogy says, I’m teaching you how to fish so you can feed yourself instead of giving you a fish so you won’t be dependent on me forever."
"My teaching style is based on learning music and not traditional exercises. I will find out what you like to play, and we will learn how to play it. We will go over theory so I can show you how the song is constructed so you can learn to imitate, assimilate, and then eventually innovate as countless musicians have done before you. My goal is to give you the tools to create music and solve your problems so you can teach yourself. As the analogy says, I’m teaching you how to fish so you can feed yourself instead of giving you a fish so you won’t be dependent on me forever."