MP3 Eric Lewis - Clear

Brilliant songwriting amidst modern groove/rock.

10 MP3 Songs
POP: with Live-band Production, ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
My Musical History

The son of a nurse and a truck driver, I was born in Clarksburg, WV, 1972. I began playing music seriously

since the fifth grade when I was introduced to the cello. I added the trombone to my list of instruments the

following year, which lasted through high school.

I came to not like Monday mornings, mostly because I had to walk a mile to school carrying a cello, trombone

and a book bag. They allowed me to leave them at school during the week. Fridays were bearable...I mean

c'mon, it was Friday.

During High School, I eventually got a hold of a bass guitar. As a member of the early MTV generation, I

thought the bass players were the coolest guys in the band. They didn't need to be out front. I think that's

why I chose cello to begin with. I figured, until I had attained a bass, I could just turn it on it's side.

When I graduated in 1990, I started college at West Virginia University. I started out in engineering, but

that changed. Who do I blame? The Snake Worshippers...

I helped to form, The Snake Worshippers, with Bryan Stealey (editor, Racer X Magazine) and Gregg Lowley

(drummer, The Recipe) at the end of my freshman year in college. The band lasted about 3 months and a 3

song demo. "A Date With Mary Jane," "Six Feet Under," and "Not Operates." We had to go our separate musical

ways, because we all knew, we would never live up to what The Snake Worshippers needed to be. We were not

worthy to convey the message. Whatever that message was.

My sophomore year I bought an electric guitar and thought I should join a band. I called Loren Duffey. He

said that they weren't looking for a guitar player, but they really needed a bass. I told them that was my

main instrument and I joined his 6 piece cover band, "DV8." Alan Kozlay, was the keyboard player of that

band.

After a couple of good, odd, crazy years with DV8, the older members graduated. Loren, Alan, and I decided

to look for another player to do some original stuff. We found Greg Riordan and started Hush.

After a year with Hush, I decided to form "Balloonhead" with Gregg Lowley and Mike Walls (I the Low, Lester

James and the White Flames.) Balloonhead gained a meager following and was the opening track on one of the

Morgantown Compilation Records released in the mid 1990's.

After a good solid year with "Balloonhead," I received a B.S. in Geology from West Virginia University in

1995. That same year, I rejoined Hush, we changed our name to "Once Hush," due to legal concerns, and we

moved to Baltimore, MD where we signed a deal with Terri Sommella at Finetune Management.

In the five years OH was together, we released 3 CD's independently, Say It Anyway, New Live Switch, and

Superior Machines (check out the "Here's some cool things I've done" section at the bottom of the page.)

After the touring, the line up changes, and the business, it just got to be too hard on everyone to keep it

going. So Once Hush called it quits in 2000.

I remained in Baltimore a while longer to record my first solo CD, "The Speed of Light," before moving to

Frederick, MD to record my second album, Clear. After the release of Clear, the West Virginia hills called

on me to come home...and here I am again...I moved back to WV in 2003, where I currently write, record and

perform at a level I've never experienced before.

To quote the Once Hush song, "Come Back Again," " ...everything goes around circles..."




Here's some cool things I've done...

- toured the east coast ( Boston to Atlanta to Michigan to Tennessee.)

- moved over 10,000 units of four independently released CD's;

Say It Anyway, 1996, produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Mathews Band, Ben Folds Five); licensed to

MTV for Real World and Road Rules episodes; Aware 4 compilation.

New Live Switch, a live album.

Superior Machines, 1998, produced by John Morand (Cracker, Joan Osbourne); also licensed to MTV for Real

World and Road Rules episodes.

The Speed of Light, 2001, produced by Alan Kozlay; solo debut album.

- received extensive print coverage, and excellent college and specialty commercial radio airplay

- received over 75,000 hits at www.oncehush.com

- sang national anthem at Camden Yards (Fall 2000.)

- performed at The Mall in Washington, D.C. for "The March" to conquer Cancer.