EXERPT FROM 2006 EXACT MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Growing up in front of one of the largest religious congregations in Memphis, it was a vast change for him when he started performing and recording secular music. "It wasn't like I was totally oblivious to worldy music," he laughs. "For years, me and my brothers would sneak and listen to it." Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, and New Edition were all some of his favorites. One can hear a bit of Marvin Gaye-esque croons in at least three of Erics recorded songs. "Seriously though, the church is where I really exercised my music. I played drums, sang in the choir, did solos, and sang with my family in churches and auditoriums across the Mid-South...I learned almost everything I know from my mom and her family. My grandmother was a minister of music back in the day and plays the piano. My uncles were all performers and my mom was and is so talented. She sings, writes, plays guitar she's the gifted one." Erics mother, singer/songwriter Wendy Renee, was a recording artist with Stax in the 1960s. Appearing on several movie soundtracks and compilation albums, the song After Laughter Comes Tears was the hit for Wendy and soon became a cult classic. Several artists such as Wu Tang Clan have sampled the song. ...singing in a packed house and opening for big name performers one night, then going to work at one of the largest hospitals in the region as a supervising registered respiratory therapist the day after makes for a very hectic schedule for Eric. If he had to choose between the two, which would he pick? "That's a hard one. In the medical field you get to help people. Sometimes their very lives depend on me and my skills. On the other hand, music has been a part of my life for so long that it is literally a part of me. I can be helping my kids with their homework or doing chores around the house and suddenly hear a melody in my head. I know it sounds crazy (he laughs), but sometimes I can hear a whole symphony in my head." You cant be in the music business without being just a little bit nuts. "I have dealt with some pretty shady people in the past when it came to my music career. When I was living in Texas I got a $30,000 advance from a big record company [that I wont name], but the deal went sour because of some dishonest people. [Most recently] another record company exec not only didn't make good on his promises, but is/was actually doing time for embezzlement and other white collar crimes. I was so disgusted with the whole thing that I actually left music alone for a while." Its always good to have something to fall back on. Now with a new management team and his own label, 24 Scientists Records, promoting the release of his first CD will keep Eric pretty busy this summer. He says that he loves the traveling part of it, but if he had his way he would do all of his work in the city that he grew up in. "Memphis is a music Mecca. Los Angeles is the limelight place, New York is an urban artists territory, but Memphis, man Memphis is the bread and butter of it all. We've got the history
