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December 31, 2009
Hey folks, Man, what a crazy year. As I sit here on the last day of the last year of this bizarre decade, I feel excited to leave this worn out year in the dust and embrace the new! If there was ever a time for a positive change, this is it! |
Christmas with the Family |
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| Not that 2009 was without its high points. I had a chance to travel and meet some of you, as well as release more new music. We kicked it off with the Solna album, featuring Pamela Moore (Queensryche), Alex De Rosso (Dokken) & some other great players! |
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| I performed acoustically at NAMM with my friend Graham Bonnet (who I toured Europe with the previous year), where Mario Parga, Tim Luce & I performed classic tracks from Graham’s career. For the first time I got to perform my favorite Alcatrazz track, Will You Be Home tonight: | ||||
| Soon after, the folks at Melodic Rock.com were kind enough to name me their Keyboard Player of the Year for the second year running!. The site also included an unreleased China Blue track, “Selena”, on their annual compilation. Thanks guys! |
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| Danny Vaughn was kind enough to include two of the songs we wrote with Fabrizio Grossi for his live acoustic CD. Ted Poley also included some of our work together on his Greatest Hits CD – another real honor. |
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| There were other live dates in 2009, but my highlight was performing at Firefest in the UK with the amazing White Sister. I can’t say enough good things about the rock fans at Firefest! There was some great video posted from that show, including a performance of “Can’t Say No” where the sold-out crowd out-sang the band during the choruses! What an amazing band – what an amazing night! And you guys, well you clearly stole the show! :) | ||||
| December saw the release of two new CD’s I was worked on - the On the Rise CD “Dream Zone”, and the Los Angeles CD “Neverland”. I am very proud of both releases. Frontiers Records created a great video promo for their December releases which highlights both albums: | ||||
| Winding up the year, I reunited with my friend Dre Allen for three videos to support his upcoming album “Recovery”. The quality is amazing, as each video in this trilogy tells a part of the story. We may need to do a fourth chapter! These have already gotten a pretty great buzz. Check them out for yourself: |
Part 1 - Wannabe |
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I'm really proud of the end result, and that I'm working again with my old friend. Melodic rock fans will recognize the players here - Staffan Österlind (MIL.IL.ION), Jason Montgomery (White Sister), & Peter Lobo (From the Inside). We filmed them over Thanksgiving weekend and had a blast! |
Part 2 - I'm Over It |
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With that, we bring 2009 to a close. There are many exciting things still ongoing for 2010 – new albums with Liberty N Justice, Joshua Perahia, Dre Allen, Rivera/Bomma, American Swagger…anybody else want a piece of me? LOL My thanks to all of you who continue to support me on this wild journey of mine. I love you all dearly. Now let’s jump into this new decade with both feet and push for a better New Year! After today, everything changes! Thanks, God bless & Rock on, Eric |
Part 3 - The Ledge |
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November 18, 2009
Hi. I know it's been a long time since my last update. In all fairness, I tried twice to update this page over the last few months (spending several hours on it) when my computer crashed. Twice! I've kept SUPER busy in the meantime, and I continue to update my Facebook Music page pretty frequently. You don't have to be a member to view it, although you have to join to interact. So if you'd like to keep up with the latest news, audio, video, etc. as it happens, check it all out here. |
Crossing the legendary Abbey Road with White Sister |
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New releases coming in December!
(click for larger images) I'm thrilled to be featured on not one but two new releases next month! Both are follow-up records for popular projects that come from Frontiers Records. Be on the lookout for the Los Angeles CD Neverland, as well as the latest from On the Rise, titled Dream Zone. Los Angeles reunited me with my good friend & uber-producer Fabrizio Grossi, for some classic West Coast AOR. I wrote for this album as well as working with the keyboards & arrangements. On the Rise introduced me to the incredibly talented Terje Eide. I came in at the tail end of recording, and I'm very proud of the results! There are links to sound clips on my Sounds page. Be sure to look for both releases, due in just a few weeks... |
Video promo for the new Los Angeles CD, Neverland |
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And in January... I'm also one of many guests on the latest release from Liberty N Justice. Other guests include Ted Poley (Danger Danger), Phil Collen (Def Leppard), C.J. Snare & Bill Leverty (Firehouse), Pete Loran & Steve Brown (Trixter), Chris Holmes (WASP), Oz Fox (Stryper)...man the list truly does go on. My friend Vic Rivera did considerable work on this disc, but the track I appear on is with Shawn Pelata (Line of Fire), and Stephen Chesney. Titled For Better or Worse, this Journey sounding ballad closes out this strong rock record. This disc is due in January 2010, but the reviews are already out there and it's pretty amazing! Sadly I am being credited as Eric RANGO! But I'm excited to be a part of it. Check out their site for ordering info, sound clips & all the latest reviews! |
(click for larger images) |
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Now let's backtrack... With all the self-promotion out of the way, let's roll back. I wanted very badly to announce here that I would be going to England to perform with White Sister at Firefest this year! Sadly the computer fought me constantly, and I lost - so all my updates were deleted! But I did promote this heavily on Facebook, My Space and in the media. (Check out some fun radio interview clips on my My Space page.) And I had a pretty great time. The European crowds are always amazing, and the band made me feel VERY welcome. The rehearsals were intense, and Gary Brandon gave me a lot of intensive keyboard lessons to prepare for the gig. I really learned a lot, and I'd like to thank the guys again for this opportunity, and their patience. There are a LOT of pictures out there, and I posted a few live shots here for you to enjoy. |
Performing Can't Say No at Firefest with White Sister. The crowd reaction was amazing. |
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| As for the rest...well, it's been a rough year. Our household has gone through a lot of drama & changes, but at least we're all in the trenches together. Going to England helped me see how much work needs to be done yet. So I'm working on 3-4 new records from home, to catch up with being a dad. |
Out yard sailing with the kids, & the lovely Mia Tyler' |
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| And I'm having Joshua Perahia back over to finish tracking of his new album, also featuring vocalist Jeff Fenholt (Black Sabbath, Jesus Christ Superstar). I'm also looking at how I can help my friend Andrew put on Melodic Rock Fest 2 in Chicago next year. More to follow.. |
MR Fest in Chicago for 2010? |
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