The in-demand multi-instrumentalist who’s performed with Hannah Rose Graves, Northern Skies, The Change, Bigfoot Buffalo and many more unleashed a rootsy new album in 2016. (Story, radio podcast)
Embracing Michigan’s Music Scene: Eric Engblade (Photo/Anna Sink)
THE ARTIST: Eric Engblade
THE MUSIC: Indie-folk-rock
WHERE YOU CAN SEE HIM: Engblade performs at noon Thursday (Dec. 29) at H.O.M.E. in The B.O.B. for WYCE’s “GR Live”; the Eric Engblade Trio performs at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Rockford Brewing Co. for a New Year’s Eve Party with The Underground Circus
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Eric Engblade uses words like “real,” “warm” and “alive” to describe the sound and approach on his new solo album.
Of course, when the Grand Rapids multi-instrumentalist first started writing and creating music for what would become the self-titled solo project, it was supposed to be a full-band album featuring The Northern Skies – a Michigan folk-rock outfit that enjoyed its heyday a few years ago.
Eric Engblade’s self-titled CD
That project never came to fruition.
But his eventual collaborations with musicians Justin Avdek, Justin Wierenga and Max Morrison later convinced him “to record a new album and have those songs featured,” he said. “I love playing with other people’s projects, and sitting in with them wanted to record something of my own songs” – songs covering themes of social and environmental injustice, love songs and other topics.
So, Engblade laid down 11 tracks – some written as far back as 2013 – with engineer Roy Wallace at River City Studios last December, recording all of the “live in the same room at the same time. No overdubs, little to no edits, and only occasional reverb put on vocals.”
Engblade said that approach was inspired by the techniques used by Motown musicians and bluegrass stars such as John Hartford.
“To me, it makes the music sound raw and at the same time warm and alive,” Engblade said. “You can feel the energy from the musicians in the music more than if we would have recorded track by track multi-tracking.”
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What emerged from that approach stands as one of the regional music scene’s hidden gems of 2016, a collection filled with love for Michigan’s beauty and a genre-spanning album of passionate performances. (Read the full Local Spins review here: https://localspins.com/michigan-album-reviews-july-2016/
Engblade officially debuted the new album in June, then performed two tracks in solo fashion during the following day’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE. Listen to that July 1 podcast here, which also featured new music by Red Sea Pedestrians, Tail from the Crypt, Jon Ponder and more. (Watch a video from Engblade’s CD-release show below.)
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE with Eric Engblade
Since then, Engblade has played a blizzard of shows across West Michigan. He’s accustomed to performing regularly in a variety of different band alignments, sometimes as a duo with Avdek on upright bass, other times with Wierenga on guitar, Morrison on cello and Brad Fritcher on trumpet.
Backbone of the Project: Engblade performing with his band at Founders Brewing. (Photo/Anna Sink)
“Those are the guys that I play with on a regular basis,” said the 33-year-old Engblade, who teaches banjo, guitar, ukelele, piano, bass, drums, mandolin and voice at Firehouse Music in Grandville and online through takelessons.com.
“They really have been the backbone of this project and I’m so grateful to be playing with them all the time.”
Engblade also occasionally sits in with friends such as Hannah Rose Graves and The Change, but is mostly “just busy focusing on my and enjoying life in West Michigan.” (He’s also played in the past with bands such as Bigfoot Buffalo.)
Of course, that includes enjoying the region’s strong music community.
“That’s what makes Michigan’s music scene so special is the community and the support that (Local Spins) and people like (singer-songwriter) Ralston Bowles give to other artists making music in this wonderful state,” he said.
“There are a lot of great acts out there, but Michigan certainly is as top-notch as anywhere in the world as far as I’m concerned.”
VIDEO: Eric Engblade at Founders Brewing (June 30, 2016)
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
