Eric Anders Explained

Eric Anders
Years Active:2003–present
Label:Baggage Room Records

Eric Anders is an American singer-songwriter based in California.[1]

Music career

Anders released his first album in 2003, at the age of 39.[2] Not at One was produced by Anders and Richard Barron. Anders collaborated on the songwriting with Mark O'Bitz and Benny Bohm.[3] In 2004, Anders released the EP Songs For Wayward Days in protest of what Anders believed to be the illegitimate administration of George W. Bush. It was produced and mixed by Jeff Peters.[4]

In 2005 Anders released his second album, More Regrets,[5] produced by Grammy-winning guitarist, Randy Ray Mitchell. His third album, Tethered to the Ground, was released in 2006[6] and was produced by Matthew Emerson Brown.[7] Anders' first releases were all mixed by Jeff Peters.

After a five-year break, Anders released the EP Remains In Me in 2011, also produced by Brown. The album was inspired the 1992 Michael Apted documentary, Incident at Oglala.

In 2017 Anders released the album Eleven Nine, which featured the Vilnius mural of Donald Trump kissing Vladimir Putin on its cover. The name of the album comes from the day on which President Trump was elected—the ninth of November[8] —as well as referencing the date of the 9/11 Attacks, another event that Anders sees as catastrophic to the U.S.[9]

In 2018, Anders released his first album as a duo with guitarist-composer Mark O'Bitz, Of All These Things.[10]

After Of All These Things, the duo would release eight albums, six EPs, and seven singles.

Anders and O'Bitz released the single, "Matterbloomlight", in 2018 and it would be the inspiration for the duo's 2020 album American Bardo, created as an ode to the novel Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.[11]

Anders and O'Bitz worked with producer Mike Butler on both American Bardo and This Mortal Farce. They would work with Butler on every release after.

Anders, O'Bitz and Butler released their single "Careful Now My Son"[12] in December 2020--and then their album Sirens Go By in February 2021. These releases are the first and second installments of their multi-release collection that is based around the theme of "music in the time of the coronavirus," which also includes the 2021 albums, Stuck Inside and Variant Blues.

Anders, O'Bitz, and Butler worked with Basque artist Joseba Elorza (Greenday) on the critically acclaimed "Searise" climate change music video.

Anders, O'Bitz, and Butler continued producing work that would mix Americana, rock, and folk with their albums The Loss We've Won (2022), So Far Gone (2022), Answers Belie (2023), and their EPs The Unencumbered Ones (2023) and Contrapasso (2024).

Their dual EP project, Bardo Hauntings (2022), were all remixes of the twelve American Bardo songs: six by Steven Jess Borth II and six by Mike Butler.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Woronzoff . Elisabeth . December 4, 2020 . The 25 Best Americana Albums of 2020 . January 20, 2022 . PopMatters . en-US.
  2. Web site: May 20, 2017 . Eric Anders aims for Eleven Nine after five years away from studio . Vancouver Weekly.
  3. Web site: Cunningham . Steph . June 16, 2016 . Big World Abide: The Best of Eric Anders . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20161026013641/http://scallywagmagazine.com/big-world-abide-the-best-of-eric-anders/ . October 26, 2016 . Scallywag Magazine.
  4. Web site: Eric Anders . Eric Anders.
  5. Web site: Hafey . Lisa . July 15, 2016 . Eric Anders Shows He Is Not Tethered To The Ground With 'Big World Abide' . January 20, 2022 . en-GB.
  6. Web site: April 12, 2016 . Eric Anders, 'Big World Abide' . On Stage Magazine.
  7. Web site: April 21, 2006 . Orange Pop: 'Smoke' smells successful . Orange County Register.
  8. Web site: Eric Anders . Music-News.com . Music News.
  9. Web site: Eric Anders Questions, Is This Your Land? . The Beat.
  10. Web site: May 25, 2020 . Song Premiere: Eric Anders & Mark O'Bitz Craft Haunting Folk Ballad with "Bury Me" . March 14, 2021 . Glide Magazine.
  11. Web site: Simmonds-Ronceros . Samantha . September 16, 2020 . Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz "American Bardo" Album Release - NoHo Arts District . March 14, 2021 . nohoartsdistrict.com.
  12. Web site: Zivkovic . Ljubinko . January 11, 2021 . Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz - "Careful Now My Son" Reaction . March 14, 2021 . Living Life Fearless.