Eric has been performing his music pretty much since junior high school.  He helped start a band called Torchlight Red, and another group called Jim Shorts.  Starting out they played at local clubs doing short sets, along with other local bands.  These clubs would pay a portion of ticket sales to each band, according to how many people came to see them play.  It was a start.  

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     During junior college Eric took some Gen Ed courses but took as many music classes as they offered.  And all through high school he took guitar lessons at a local music store, and then with a local musician.  This musician had attended Washington University and extolled the virtues of the music program they had there.  Eric's next stop was Wash U.  He had just about finished his first year there when he was approached by a local group named Foxing, who was looking for a guitarist who could write music.  Eric said he was their guy.  They were a local band getting ready to put out their first album and had the ambition to get their music out there, electronically, and physically by travelling and getting in front of the people.  They signed their first recording contract.

 

     They started out by connecting with people on-line that expressed interest in their music.  Their initial tours were coordinated by heading in the direction of clumps of fans, hitting them up for a place to sleep, (usually the floor of a small apartment, a couch if they were lucky) and either finding clubs that paid a portion of ticket sales by fan base, or playing in locals basements or garages.  At first, they didn't break even, but eventually they made enough money to afford to buy a 15-passenger van with bald tires, and well over 100,000 miles, that they could all ride in together and haul their equipment.  That van was a steady drain on their income stream, but it got them where they wanted to go.  After each foray into the touring arena, they'd head home, find a job, then save up enough money to go on their next musical adventure.

 

     Eventually they were able to buy a trailer, which when hooked to the van allowed them to start selling their own tour merchandise.  They kept writing music and met a lot of great people in other bands some pretty mainstream.  Their fan base kept growing and they hired a business manager, basing their tours on clubs they'd already booked ahead of time instead of when they arrived in town.  Occasionally they were able to spend the night in a cheap motel in real beds.  There were setbacks.  One night in San Antonia, TX, their trailer was stolen with all of their equipment.  They were crushed.  But the word got out and friends in other bands lent them instruments, and amps, and they were able to finish the tour.  Some fans started a GoFundMe page, and some of the bigger bands they'd met donated some equipment, along with a few music equipment companies.  It wasn't too long and they back and running again.         

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