In 2002 I decided to record an album of my songs that had been collecting in my mind for a number of years. That first album titled, Mended Again, which I released in 2003, was not intended to be available to anyone but me. It is a rock oriented group of songs with some folk and a touch of country and blues all mixed together. I was going to put it on a shelf and be able to say, "Well, at least I recorded those songs..." But apparently those songs had other plans.

A friend in the music publishing business suggested I print up a number of CDs and place Mended Again on CDBaby.  I dutifully followed his advice, and within about two weeks a radio station near Hamburg, Germany contacted me and asked if they could play the title track and another song titled, Different When We Kiss, on their New Rock show. Of course I said yes, and a few weeks later there was Mended Again one spot below George Harrison's new song, and from that point on people viewed me as a bonafide musician.  I got airplay in California on KMUD from a great disc jockey named Chris Mayner way up in Redwood country, and in the summer of '04 I did a little tour up there and we had a total blast.  A variety of European radio stations played a number of the songs in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Macedonia, and Bosnia of all places. A woman in Holland used my song, You Are With Me for her wedding. Her email requesting the song was in Dutch which I had to get translated before I could reply...

So now 10 years later the project has come so far that its hard for me to believe. Its fair to say that I found out in the last 10 years that I was someone/something I didn't know I was: a singer/songwriter/bandleader/musician. Its a blessing that cannot be overestimated in its meaningful effect on my life.

In 2005 I recorded my second album titled, Head Over Heels, which was very well received, it is a folkier group of songs, with some classic styled rock tunes that people love. Two songs in particular titled, The Silver Shepherd, and You Can Be, have a story all of their own, and that brings me to the Scotland connection...Friends of mine own and manage The Cairn Mhor Childcare Partnership of Fife, and its non-profit subsidiary The Muirhead Outreach Project, which are both children's aid organizations that saves the lives of children at risk in Fife, Scotland. They are located near Falkland, a medieval burgh that is too beautiful to describe. See the photo page please. During a casual transatlantic phone conversation I laughingly suggested I bring the band over to raise money for the kids. Well they took me seriously, and I have now done tours in Scotland for 7 years in a row each August. So the stories are: 

1. When we arrived in Falkland that first August we played at the Stag Inn pub right near Falkland Palace. During a break in the sets an older man introduced himself to me. His name is Jock Duncan. He said, "I was a shepherd on the Lomond Hills for 40 years. They've been playing your album in the pub for the last few weeks and your song The Silver Shepherd is the story of my life. I just wanted to thank you for it."  Basically I tried to respond but the tears came to my eyes and all we ended up doing was shaking hands, hugging, and then Jock bought me a shot of Famous Grouse to seal the deal. He's come to the shows every year since and he's the first person I look for when we get to Falkland each year. See photo page please.

2. The second year we played at The Stag a young man stood in front of me during the show and kept smiling and taking photos. During a break he introduced himself to me. His name is Gavine Morton. He told me that the year before he had bought Head Over Heels and had developed a connection to You Can Be which he played endlessly for weeks. He finally concluded that the song's message about becoming your true self was intended to be actualized. At the time he was a construction laborer, but he had enrolled in University and was on his way to earning a degree in business management, and he wanted to thank me...We see each other each year and it just really doesn't get any better than that.

And finally two small anecdote from the early days: The youngest son of Mick Jones, the founder of Foreigner, was in my classroom at St. Bernard's where I teach in New York. One day I hesitatingly asked Mick if he would listen to a couple of the rough tracks from Mended Again and he agreed. He told me to absolutely continue with the project and gave me a nice quote for the early website: "Eric's fresh rock attitude will make many new fans far and wide." He was right. And then through other friends I met Fuzzy Samuels the legendary bassist for Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Fuzzy kindly listened to some of the tracks from Mended Again. He asked me what I did for a day job, and I said I was a teacher.  And then he said in that memorable Carribean voice, "Mon, you've been in d'wrong business." That was cool.

So in 2007 I recorded my third album titled, Second Sight, which simultaneously harkened back to the more rock oriented feel of the first album but with an edgier quality throughout the tracks. Then in 2009 I recorded my fourth album titled Above The Sky, Oscar Rodriguez produced and engineered it and I played all the guitar parts except one track on the song Africa On Her Head that Oscar did. My son Justin played the bass tracks and Liam Hurley played drums and percussion. Now after the 6th Scotland/Fife tour I am planning a 5th album of songs either about Fife or written while in Fife which I want to produce and release in Scotland next summer. We recorded two songs while we were there this year so its already under way.  

All of this has been with the initial blessing of my Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Norlha Rinpoche, the Abbott of Kagyu Thubten Choling monastery right nearby in Dutchess County. He gave the project the title of "Joyful Garden of Melodious Song and Dance". So its the inner energy and spirit of the songs and the fans who have made this all happen and the only way I can show my gratitude is to keep playing and bringing the songs into the light, because as I said above, "Those songs had other plans..." Peace