About This:

I was lucky to grow up in an artistic environment. My mother has pictures of me at age two playing an upright piano and at age six playing a Fender Rhodes. I was the kid on the kitchen table playing the harmonica for a house full of hippies. My mother and her friends had their young adulthood in front of them. With JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. gone there skeptical views of life, politics and government were turned upside down. Know one really knows if the great music from this era helped shape our country. But I do know it helped break down barriers for artists. Especially black artists. Who could contest the powerful voice of Otis Redding or the soulful ways of Aretha Franklin? No one. How about Stevie Wonder or James Brown? Are there actually people out there that haven't been effected by this music? A big smile, an urge to dance, or that warm feeling inside. All of this leads to my CD, self titled Eric Brandoli. The way these performers make me feel, has tremendous inspirational value to me.

I have a newfound respect for engineers and producers because in the past year or so I have recorded this CD from scratch. I sing and play most everything except for the drums. I have my brother Paul Brandoli on the drums. His work is a big part of the sound on this project. There's an uncanny conviction in his playing that separates him from other drummers.

Although I've been a house painter, landscaper, soldier, cook, firefighter and I don't regret doing any of these things. I'm finding more than ever before that I've always needed to create and to perform. I'm also learning as I go that the journey is the best part.

PEACE, Eric Brandoli