Eric Neher is a unique guitarist/vocalist from New York City. His musical style occupies the creative terrain that lies between rock, movie soundtracks and traditional song writing. His compositions are dark, dramatic and expansive in nature. Working with legendary producer Martin Bisi, he has just completed the recording of a new CD. Advance copies of the CD are now available and Eric is available for bookings.
An experienced musician, Eric was a founding member of downtown NYC groups Crash Bureau and The Filthy Five. As such, he performed extensively on the East Coast in Boston, Philadelphia, New Haven, Albany and New York. As a solo artist he has performed on his own and with accompanying band at NYC venues Mercury Lounge, CBGB, CB’s Gallery, Don Hills, Ace of Clubs, Luna Lounge, Arlene Grocery and others. Eric has also played solo shows in Australia, has performed live on XM Satellite Radio in the US and has performed with Glenn Branca for his orchestral piece “Hallucination City”
The artists who have provided him longtime musical inspiration are Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Hank Williams, Leonard Cohen, Nico, John Cale (the Velvet Underground in general). Providing current and more recent inspiration are Joseph Arthur, Calla, Tricky, Jessie Malin, and Gillian Welch.
On his first full length solo CD, Shame Train, released in 1998 by Treehouse Music, he had the experience to work with such notable musicians as Lorenza Ponce ( Sheryl Crowe’s violinist), Lance Doss ( John Cale’s guitarist), Doug Petty ( Shawn Colvin’s keyboardist) and Don Yellech ( Psychedelic Furs drummer). Produced by Robert Kirk, the CD featured seven Neher originals and covers of Billy Bragg’s “The Man in the Iron Mask” and the Hank Williams classic “Ramblin’ Man” “Shame Train” garnered excellent reviews sold a modest amount of copies and received a respectable amount of non-commercial radio airplay.
In 2001 Eric recorded a follow-up album which was never released. The CD, which would have been called Interlude, fell between the cracks of an indie-label-gone-bust scenario, however the material was performed live during that time frame and some of it is incorporated into his current live show.
Recently Eric brought together a great line-up of musician friends to record his latest effort, working title Winter. Dramatic, dark and turbulent in feeling, the style is what he calls “psycho-dramatic.” The pieces are linear and without an abundance of chord changes. The arrangements leave lots of room for musical expansion by the group. The music moves at a cinematic pace and has a depth to stand up to active listening or serve as a background for your daily chores.
Winter was recorded at BC Studios by Martin Bisi. Martin has produced work for Sonic Youth, The Swans, Bill Laswell and many other great artists. (Recently he has produced Dresden Dolls and Serena-Maneesh) Throughout most of the CD Eric is accompanied by Billy Loose on drums, Lyris Hung on electric violin, Greg Krinsky on bass, Andrew Potenza on percussion and Ithalia Johnson as a backing vocalist.
For more information about Eric Neher and the new recording or performance or media inquiries please contact info AT ericnehermusic DOT com.