| Intro | American musician |
| Is |
Musician Guitarist Singer Songwriter |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Music |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 1 December 1965, New York City |
| Age: | 54 years |
Eric McFadden (born in New York, New York) is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from San Francisco Bay Area, California.
Reviews note McFadden’s guitar virtuosity, distinctly melodic songwriting and “rich, deep” vocal tone. His recordings and performances are cross genre and his lyrics often express an interest in the macabre side of life and love.
He spent his formative years in Albuquerque, NM, receiving lessons from Stanton Hirsch among others. During his mid-teens, he moved to Syracuse, NY where he acquired a considerable amount of knowledge in jazz guitar techniques. McFadden has also spent time in Spain studying flamenco techniques and in interviews has expressed interest in Gypsy music. Eric McFadden played in a number of influential bands in the Albuquerque area, most notably the Angry Babies, a punk rock/heavy metal three piece band that toured along the West coast and released three albums in limited runs. After relocating to San Francisco, he gained notoriety as lead singer and guitarist for the band Liar, which originated in 1994 including Paulo Baldi (Cake, Les Claypool) on drums, along with Marisa Martinez on violin and Paula O’Rourke on bass. Liar’s debut release Devil Dog Road and follow-up album Gone Too Far received much acclaim among both fans and critics. Liar won the SF Weekly Music Award (Wammie) in 1997 and BAM Magazine’s California Music Awards in 1998. Paulo Baldi also joined him in the band, Alien Lovestock, which was self-described as “chili-powered, hard rockin’, avant-funk, Latin, surreal-desert groove.” Eric McFadden toured extensively between 2002-2010 with his trio, EMT, which features bassist, James Whiton (Tom Waits) and a revolving cast of drummers such as Paulo Baldi (Cake) & Kevin Carnes (Broun Fellinis).
Other credits include three years as guitarist and mandolinist for George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars. In 2004, McFadden joined Stockholm Syndrome with bassist Dave Schools (Widespread Panic), singer-guitarist, Jerry Joseph and drummer Wally Ingram (Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne). In 2005-2007, along with Wally Ingram (Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne), McFadden joined Eric Burdon and the Animals, and toured Europe, Canada, the USA and Australia. In addition, McFadden has performed and recorded with a variety of renowned musicians over the years including Les Claypool, Joe Strummer, The Reverend Horton Heat, The Coup, Galactic, Keb Mo, Bernie Worrell, Pat MacDonald, Fishbone, Widespread Panic, Jackson Browne, Nels Cline, Mike Watt, and more. In January 2013, Eric McFadden was again on tour with Eric Burdon and the Animals through the summer of 2014. He is also touring and recording with his new supergroup, T.E.N. (Thomas Pridgen, Eric McFadden, Norwood Fisher).
McFadden has released several albums through the French label, Bad Reputation, in 2006-2007, including “Dementia” and “Let’s Die Together…Forever”. In 2009, McFadden released “Delicate Thing” and “Train To Salvation”, also on Bad Reputation. His latest full-length album, “Bluebird on Fire”, was released in 2011 by both Bad Reputation in Europe and by phYne Entertainment in the USA. This release features such players as Norwood Fisher (Fishbone), Dave Catching (Queens of the Stone Age, EODM), Dave Schools (Widespread Panic), Paulo Baldi (Cake), Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes), Abby Travis (Go-Go’s), Wally Ingram (Sheryl Crow/Jackson Browne) and other greats. In 2011, phYne Entertainment released a compilation for Eric McFadden entitled, “Inside Out”, which included four previously unreleased tracks. McFadden’s Faraway Brothers album, “Hand me that Cow”, was released by phYne Entertainment in Fall 2012. The debut release from T.E.N., is due out in 2017.
In recent years, Eric McFadden has become more involved with altruistic endeavors. Alongside his partner from phYne Entertainment, delphine de St. Paër, Eric McFadden founded a non-profit program called “We Are 10 Star!” that creates avenues for musicians and artists to work with underprivileged youth & communities. “We Are 10 Star!” (www.We-Are-10-Star.org) has visited schools, detention centers, teen homeless shelters and continues to provide creative outlets and support to those in need. In 2013, McFadden & de St. Paër, took over producing the annual San Francisco Strummerville benefit which raises money to provide resources and performance opportunities for artists who would not normally have access to them.