One man’s opinion on Vampires

In one of my earlier post “Learning to Love Yourself” I spoke of vampires being a mythological representation of a narcissist.

A good friend of mine invited me over to his house to watch the HBO series “True Blood” which is about vampires. I watched two episodes and it was all I could take it was torture.

Throughout each episode people are methodically manipulating and taking advantage of each other. Almost always culminating in some type of revenge plot and subsequent drama that unfolds.

I will admit it makes for great TV but it doesn’t say much about our present cultures insatiable need to feed off of and manipulate each other. I was thinking to myself while I was watching this why are Vampires damned to eternity. I came up with an answer fairly quickly that makes sense to me.

They don’t get it.

You see I believe wholeheartedly that we choose to come to the earth and work on our souls. After enough trips ideally we become enlightened and transcend the need to incarnate and evolve into the spiritual realm. By fighting that and opting to stay on earth until eternity you are therefore denying the opportunity to learn to let go of the lesser human behaviors such as resentment, jealousy, anger and all the manipulative drama exhibited on that show.

Of course this is all mythological but that is precisely why this is so deep. My heroes Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung were very steadfast and convincing in the power of myth. It is in our stories and in our history that we find our true selves and who we are.

Isn’t it interesting that a vampire can’t see the light? I think I know a few vampires, hell I used to be one and I am still working on it. The first step to change though is awareness and I was lucky enough to have enough pain in my relationships to use as leverage to get my self to change.

I also think it is interesting that one of the ways to kill a vampire is to drive a wooden stake through their heart. That is very interesting to me. At first my hunch is that says something about what the vampire has done to the person doing the killing. Destroyed their heart as well, especially since all of this is fiction. And there is always more truth in fiction.

I have a couple of very honest friends who are not afraid to tell me when I must keep my ego in check. I also have as a close friend one of the best shrinks in the world and he does not and will not sugar coat things. He definitely didn’t when it came to holding me to a higher standard and exposing my narcissism.

You see movies and TV and books and popular media always echo what is going on in our society at present. When mobster movies were all the rage it said a lot about our society.

Look at this vampire phenomena, look how many women are reading “Twilight” and all my guy friends have been on me to watch “True Blood” so I finally did and it disgusted me because it reminds me of everything that is wrong about our society right now.

Everyone is “sucking everyone’s blood” The Federal Government is seizing assets from people, look at California. The State level Governments are feeding of the people with more and more taxes and look at what people are doing to each other in relationships. It’s unbelievable and disheartening to see.

Look what corporations and banks and Ponzi schemes are all the corporate fraud was about.
Vampires sucking the life savings of people straight from their investments. Greed and more greed.

You see as I mentioned before a vampire is simply a mythological representation of a narcissist. Someone who “drains your energy” and plays on your fears. The term “Energy Vampire” is even a household term these days. I am a recovering Narcissist myself so I know about all of this a bit.

A friend of mine recently said “If I had a dollar for every time I wondered: Why am I still single, I’d be a millionaire” It’s a question more than half of American women ask themselves, according to a report the New York Times put out in early 2007. This data includes women who live apart from their significant others, but all independent variables aside it’s a figure that’s rocketed significantly in the last couple decades.

Even as those 57.5 million women gather round cozy wine bars with their girlfriends, enjoying Bridget Jones, or Sex in The City during nights in sweats on the couch, or pack four different guys into one week (yes, it happens), we’re likely to be puzzled over what we may be doing wrong: “That one wearing three carats with the husband more loyal than a black lab—what does she know that I don’t?”—or if we actually need partners, as tradition (and Mom) seems to imply.

I hang out at Barnes and Noble quite a bit and just last week I saw a book entitled:

Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable—Than Ever Before (Free Press, 2007)

It is by Jean Twenge is a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of and co-author of the upcoming “Narcissism Epidemic” with W. Keith Campbell.

Isn’t her next book title prophetic?, I got goose bumps when I saw it. Am I the only one who sees the stuff? I sure as hell hope not because it is all around us. Unfortunately the conversations that come up in the circles I have been in lately seem to lean towards the more mundane issues.

I am going to have to fire some of my friends.

Based on recent research she has conducted to learn about current attitudes toward relationships, Twenge confirms, “There is in fact a massive cultural shift at work here.” She says the number of women who are romantically uninvolved is a result of one major factor: our culture tells us we don’t need relationships.

Call it the “singular-single syndrome”: We have it. Twenge recently conducted a study of 200 student participants at San Diego State, and 90% of them answered the questionnaire stating they live by grand individualistic philosophies like, “You shouldn’t ever need anyone else to make you feel complete” and “You have to make yourself happy.” Read: Can You Buy Happiness?

Based on this study and a handful of others Twenge has conducted in the last few years, she concludes that today’s young adults feel they need to be completely self-sufficient in their happiness.

The fact is, young American adults view deep emotional involvement with others as weakness and dependence. It’s not just that our culture accepts and accommodates the single lifestyle now—it’s that it actually disparages the individual who isn’t focused solely on her own personal advancement.

The ubiquitous teachings from our capitalist culture media, Boomer-generation parents who toiled to teach us the importance of pursuing personal goals, and teachers in an increasingly survival-of-the-very-fittest education system—all these emphasize the individual and her goals, not her need for involvement with others.

Twenge also said that a study she’s currently conducting with W. Keith Campbell leads to the conclusion that narcissism in America is higher than it’s ever been before, and by definition of considering themselves more important than the people they associate with, narcissistic people make terrible relationship partners.

Twenge blames this spike in narcissism on societal teachings like those aforementioned but also feels that purported social networking devices like MySpace and Facebook are less a method of connecting with others than a means of shameless self-promotion giving the individual limitless opportunity to think about themselves and advertise why other people should want to know them.

Amen Jean! I am going to pick her up and hug her for that statement when I meet her.

This is why I have taken somewhat of a sabbatical from the internet. I am in the music business where “social networking” is all the rage and I am beginning to wonder about it’s true validity.

Whatever happened to going out and genuinely meeting new fans face to face and talking to them?
Going out and earning them with the “sweat equity” of getting in a van and playing shows. I don’t date women I meet on the internet, I like to meet them in person. I am the same way with fans, I like the personal touch. I use the internet as a way to stay in touch but am a people person at heart.

Some users even employ social networking sites out of romantic malice, attempting to provoke jealousy or track the whereabouts of an ex. And for some couples, being on each other’s friend lists is a topic more taboo than first-date sex. “No way would I add (my new girlfriend) to my page,” one of my friends told me. “I think she’s pissed about it but if it ends, it will be too awkward if we’re able to keep tabs on each other.”

Any way you slice it, we’re all looking out for Number One. Here’s the trouble: the more time we spend thinking about ourselves, formulating clever responses to friends’ online comments about us, posting our most attractive photos, and “pimping our profiles” to leave impressions on our contacts, the less time we spend actually interacting with and caring about others.

In one of my recent relationships a girl I was dating gave me a framed picture of herself for Valentine’s Day. Talk about narcissism, I should have seen that one coming.

Even the word “friend” has transformed from an endeared noun used to describe an intimate, trusted companion to a verb that implies a quick click of the mouse. “Listen, I gotta run, it was nice to meet you. Remember to friend me tomorrow.” We lack the basic fundamental of all relationships – spending time together – and personal eye-to-eye contact continues to grow more rare.

Chris Morett is a sociology professor specializing in family and marriage at Fordham University in New York City. Morett echoes this cultural emphasis on the individual.

He says our communities and peer groups have broken down significantly in the last decade, and our consumer culture promises the singular single that you can “Have it your way.” Thus young Americans are less willing to compromise their own desires than ever before, and Morett goes so far as saying that the American dating process has become similar to other means of shopping for a product.

Because women don’t need marriage for the economic stability and source of identity the institution provided decades ago (because the majority of American women nowadays were not raised simply to be wives but to value personal advancement by self-sufficient means, and women are economically independent deriving their identity from their work and other societal roles, not just from being a wife) marriage is not a necessity but a choice.

So when a woman dates a man and he doesn’t possess all the “features” she requires, she briefly deliberates and continues shopping (Is passionate about his work, check. Loves to travel, check. Forgot to ask how my meeting went, uh-oh. Completely unacceptable.) No longer does a woman need a man or a marriage; now she wants a soulmate, a partner to share her interests and values and who provides passion and support and fun. She desires a man who won’t require her to sacrifice her identity or every aspect of the single lifestyle she’s come to enjoy.

See why the divorce rate is what it is? And I can prove to you that in reality it is about 1000%
See my post “Mating”

But until we meet an authentic person, (good luck in this quagmire) the solution to the single person’s isolation is simple: shut the lid on your laptops and get over yourself.

I am going to be blunt, but those of you that read this know by now that’s my style.

You do not have a gold plated pussy, so get over yourself. It’s not that special, if you think it is, you can have it.

And guys, you are not God’s gift to women so get over yourself as well. Grow some balls.

You don’t have to do it all on your own. We’ll only find the comfort to our singles’ loneliness by spending time in the physical presence of people we love. If we want love, we have to love. We have to open our hearts to connecting again.

Wake up Zombies and get off of Facebook today and look someone in the eyes and have a real conversation.

Just one man’s humble opinion.

Much Love,

Eric

Mating

Be forewarned, do not read this if your are prudish and or easily offended.
This is a radically honest blog written straight from the heart and I intend to be honest and straightforward. Am I perfect and some kind of expert on relationships? Hell No, but I have been in a lot of them and I know what I want. This may not be suitable for some younger folks. Please use your discretion in showing this to them. I would talk to my children about this stuff but I am very “wyrrd” and definitely not a part of the “herd” so here we go:

As many of you may have noticed I took a sabbatical from the internet, especially in the last month. My mom needed some help navigating through the jungle of health care that we have here in the US. So I spent the last 3 weekends plus a few days in Houston getting her balanced.

We will all realize eventually that life comes full circle and that eventually your parents become your children. The roles reverse and it is a beautiful thing to give back the love that you were given as a child when you were helpless.

I had a lot of time to feel in the 5 hour drive it takes to get there and back. Let’s see;

5 hours there

5 hours back that is a total of 10

Did that 3 weeks straight so 3X10 = 30 hours.

I did not listen to the radio at all or any CD’s.

Completely quiet the entire time so I could just “be alive” and have a self encounter.

Thought a lot about why relationships are such a mess these days. I mean nobody get’s it.

I also thought of how hard it is to for just about anyone at all to have a real relationship.

Everyone is divorced or unhappy or even worse trying to put on a facade that they have it all together.

My Mom and Dad have been married 60 years and are still in “Love” and inseparable.

Sure they have their spats but growing up I never even once doubted the equanimity of their bond and their never was a question of whether they would divorce or have an affair or abuse each other?

Ever!

I couldn’t even fathom it or imagine them ever divorcing in any fashion and they never will. They say there are no guarantees. Believe me I can guarantee they are a shining example of “til death do us part.

Were they crazy?

Hell yeah! and so were me and my sister and all the neighbors and their kids but we never doubted the bond they had and still have.

Where does this all come from? Why are things so messed up. It’s very simple and I will tell you:

It comes from a simpler time. A time when people where real and authentic and consistent.

We are a nation of liars. Almost no one is true and real anymore. Just like Chris Rock says:

“When you meet people, you don’t meet them, you meet their representatives”.

I heard a great interview on NPR today with University of Massachusetts based psychologist Robert Feldman, whose new book is “The Liar in Your Life: The Way to Truthful Relationships” (Twelve, 2009).

Are you a liar? Do you, like most people, tell an average of three lies every ten minutes? The ubiquity and the cost of everyday deception is huge. I first became “hyper-aware” of this when I read the book “Radical Honesty” by Brad Blanton. It is one of the best books I ever read.

It changed my life, it is a book that after you read it you realize you didn’t even need to read it if you just read the title alone it says it loud and clear. I have to tell you I have never met the author Brad but I have always suspected he wrote the book because he wanted to get laid.

I will ask him that when I meet him, hows that for “Radical Honesty”

4 of my mentors are shining examples of this and I think this is what attracted me to them and their work.

Sadly those days are over my friend. We now live in a different world. A world of infinite choice.

When I was a kid there were 3 TV stations…

NBC, ABC and CBS

A few years later we got FOX (Rupert Murdoch)

My parents still do not have cable and they also have a rotary phone.

During Hurricane Ike my parents were the only home on the street that had phone service.
Why? because my father refused to join the grid years ago and still had a “Thomas Edison” old school “talking wire” i.e. “copper line”.

During the hurricane when the power was out, i talked to my folks everyday and it was comforting to know they were OK. I couldn’t speak with any of my friends in Houston for 3 weeks because they were “on the grid” and all cell phones and digital, fiber optic stuff was “dead in the water”

This leads to what is wrong with the world today.

There is too much choice and no one can stay focused anymore.

I never watch TV yet I have Verizon FIOS?

I have over 1,000 channels.

Look at Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and all the myriad social media. How could anyone focus?

Especially on a mate and being present?

The average female has had 10 lovers before she marries in our present culture.

Think about that and what that does to her?

We all know that the divorce rate is 50-60 percent now.

Hmmmmmmm…

I would argue it is 1000 percent.

Let me prove it to you.

If a woman has had on average 10 sexual partners before marriage what does this truly say?

It says that 10 guys that she (let’s be nice here) “made love” with didn’t work out prior to marriage.

So technically she at least “psychologically” has had ten divorces. Even a one night stand has the potential to “call a soul” to the world without the convenience of birth control.

You see where I am going with all of this?

Let’s not “hold back” here what is the potentiality of making love and a love bond?

Calling a soul to the world.

Having a child.

Procreation.

Let’s not reduce the act of having sex with another person of the opposite sex down to a couple of meat puppets jumping up and down and squirting. There is much more to at stake when we make love. She has the potential to get pregnant and that is deep my friend. Whatever your views are on abortion no one likes to have one and would be proudly talking about it if they did.

I am adopted and my mom was 14 and chose to have me and I am glad she did. I have this amazing life because she took responsibility and let the vine of my soul touch the earth.

This is precisely why “nature” made sex so enjoyable. It’s pleasurable so we will do it as much as possible because that ensures the survival of the species. Our biology wants that.

Ever notice why a couple that can’t get along for nothing and practically want to kill each other will stay together because “the sex is so good”

That’s natures way of keeping them together. That’s how strong the sex drive is.

Nature is not stupid.

That is the whole point of mating.

That is precisely why a “real woman” is very selective about who she mates with.

She only has very few precious eggs and she has to make sure she doesn’t waste them on some idiot.

Just because we have “birth control” and condoms and whatever means of “foiling nature”

Let’s be honest.

Women’s lib and feminism were major proponents of bringing the rights of women equal to those of men.

I have a major problem with that. I feel it didn’t nothing for women. It sure as hell didn’t elevate them.

I have have said for years that all men are scum and dogs. I tell women when they meet me that.

I tell them “All men are scum and dogs, I have just been working on not being that for the last 40 years”. And I have and I know a thing or to about relationships and I can tell you emphatically.

Relationships are are a lot of hard work and people today just do not have the “character” to handle that. I do not lie and I do not cheat and I am extremely honest in my relationships. I am honest to a point were it makes most people uncomfortable even the person that I am in a relationship with.

All feminism and Women’s liberation did was bring women down to the level of men. And there is not much to be said for that.

Men and Women are both evolved to last about 4 to 4 1/2 years in a pair bond until the baby is capable of independent survival and then we move on. All of this bullshit out there by all these uneducated people writing all these books that think you can make it work. You cannot make it work.

Evolution wants you as a man wants you to go knock up some other woman. Evolution wants the women to go get a different mate, have a different baby from a different man, so she has 2 chances of her DNA getting into the future. The first husband who knocked her up might have something wrong with him. Evolution teaches her she only has 5 chances max to have a baby. That is why women are so picky. When the baby is 4 to 4 1/2 years old she is looking for another man no matter what she says.
Ideally she has 4-5 chances to get her DNA in the future. Evolution is designed to get the two of you together and get that baby to 4 to 4 1/2 years old and get that baby to where it can survive on it’s own. You have to remember 99% of evolution was designed on the Savannah in Africa.

It wasn’t in Dallas in a condo, so here we are trying to fit 99% of our evolution into a condo in Dallas.

In ovulation, day one, the day the period starts 14 days after that she is going to drop an egg out of her ovary down into her fallopian tubes down into her uterus and when the eggs start to ripen her hormones start flowing to get her to mate. They get her thinking about mating and on the 14th day (this is a woman who has a 28 day period which most women do) she exposes far more skin than she does any day of the month. Feminist hate this, but it’s a fact.

The other thing that happens is on the 14th day women are attracted to a manly man. Someone with some balls to fight and kill. This is what they like, the rest of their period they like guys who would make a good dad and stay home and help raise the kids. So they are all over the place in a month.

This is why a lot of women are impregnated by a man who is not the husband. The estimates are that 15 % of all babies born in hospitals across all socio-economic lines, not just the ghetto, from the top to the bottom 15 % are by someone other than the guy who thinks he the father.

I have two close friends that are psychiatrist and they have seen this constantly in practice for over 30 years time after time. Where to keep a couple together they have to hide the fact that the woman had an affair and cannot tell the husband because he would reject the child.

So as a man, how do you get around all of this? You have to be real and you have to understand women better than they do themselves otherwise you will always be thinking too much. You have to believe in Love and I mean real Love from strength. Not this pansy idea of love we have forced down our throats in the movies and self-help books.

There are only two things you ever can control in a relationship and that is it.

1. How you treat the other person.

2. How you allow the other person to treat you.

It is that simple folks and it takes an incredible amount of courage to get there.

Think about it, if you don’t want to be manipulated, don’t manipulate people.

When another person exhibits behavior towards you that is unacceptable. Walk away.

Zero contact.

This is not always easy because we all have an ego that we must keep in check.

I am much aware of this than most people and I still mess this stuff up all the time. I fall off the wagon but I have to tell it get’s better all the time because we learn from our mistakes. That’s why they hurt so much. That is natures’ way of making sure you remember them. Like John Cougar says;

“It hurts so good”

I have had my ass kicked in relationships up and down the block and all around.

My last 4 girlfriends have all been a lot younger than me and my friends are constantly asking me how I do it. It is very simple, I know what I want and I accept nothing less and I am willing to accept the risk of getting hurt to find true love. That is what we all want. A loving, caring, sharing romantic relationship that stands the test of time. I want to have children, quite a few so it is very natural that I would be attracted to a very fertile younger woman that has the desire and the ability to do the same. It is not realistic to do that with some one my age unless I have a doctor inject her with drugs so we can have a “litter” of 8 kids at once like the “Octomom”

I don’t want that, it’s not natural and it’s just plain carnival material.

I am being honest, plus men mature much slower than women.

I have said it before, there is no way a 19 year old woman can date a 19 year old boy and be truly happy. In maturation terms a 19-21 year old boy is like dating a fetus.

Hell, I am a 40 years young which in “man’s maturation” years makes me about 17 years old.

I can prove this to anybody just give me about 10 minutes with anyone and I can cut through all of their bullshit and prove that they just want to be loved.

“I don’t want to be in a relationship right now” = BULLSHIT

“I just want to be single, I am not ready for a relationship” = BULLSHIT

Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you.

When I first start to date a girl, I always ask them, “If you could do anything you wanted in the world, there was zero chance of failure what would you do?”

The one’s that have been truthful have said, “I want to be a mother and have a wonderful child or children”

Anything else such as “I don’t want to have kids ever” or “I just want to travel” is already indicative of a traumatic childhood and the latter of running from something or problems.

My mind is sharp and I work daily on keeping it sharp and my questions slice right through the bullshit to the core.

It’s because I am honest and straightforward. I have said this before and I will say it again. I scare a lot of people off when they meet me. Generally one of two things happen when you meet me.

I either scare the shit out of you or you are intrigued.

Most often I scare people off but is that really a surprise in a nation full off manipulative liars?

Rejection means nothing to me, if anything Rejection is just Gods way of protecting me.

Rejection is God’s protection.

I want real people in my life and being honest and assertive will prevent other people from keeping me from getting my goal.

The biggest kind of liar we see in the female population is what my friend calls “The Wholesome Pretender” This is the girl that wants to give off the public impression that she is innocent wholesome, virtuous and all about monogamous relationships.

This type of girl says things like “You know how hard it is for me to have sex with someone” They will give you the false impression that their most glaring of virtues are their indefinite sense of sexual self-control, their erotic patience and conservatism and virgin like prudence. They are often from a small town and raised with a lot of religion.

Remember the word religion is derived from the latin word religgio, which means to bind over and over. That is where the “re” prefix comes from, “re” meaning over and over like in re-play and re-wind.

Someone like me is very attractive initially to a girl like this because I am a challenge. But behind the curtain of the image she is portraying is a mess and be forewarned it’s not as pretty as the outside.

Specifically because the very things that she is espousing to want she knows nothing of because she has never experienced it. So when she gets that very thing she wants it scares the hell out them and they run for the hills or off to the next challenge.

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Raising a child by controlling them with “religgio” always leads to neurosis and zero faith in true love.
Read “Children of the Future” by Wilhelm Reich for an awesome breakdown of this tragic phenomena.

Women are not the only manipulators though, Oh no. The classic liar is the “Nice Guy” as well as the “Macho bad boy” types. They are both manipulators as well and just as obvious is their game.

A “Nice Guy” is one of the worst because he tells women what they want to hear because he wants something. But he is not man enough to tell her what he wants. It’s all based in bullshit. The nice dinners, the extravagant gifts and the trips and blah blah blah.

The “bad boy” is just that, a pathetic boy that has figured out in his reptilian brain that he can mask his fear of women by projecting a fake confidence. He attracts little girls that equally like a challenge and it’s what happens in the “kiddie pool” and “sandbox” of relationships.

I know this has been a little “long winded” but keep in mind this is the result of over 30 hours of pondering this crazy world we live in. Let me wrap up with this;

What is your greatest dream that you would like to accomplish while you are on this earth?

Think about this for a minute before you read on…

Now picture that goal and imagine God appearing at your bed one morning and saying to you:

” I have chosen you to realize your dream and you can have everything you wanted before you leave this earth and “cash in your chips”

However there is one condition…

“I have to cut your cock and balls off”

Would you do it?

Be honest.

Hell no you wouldn’t and I have asked this questions hundreds of times to people from all walks of life and not a damn one of them said yes.

Women the same applies would a woman of birthing age willingly give her eggs away and have her breast removed so she could reach some earthly material goal.

Hell no.

So there’s some RADICAL HONESTY for you.

Until next time much Love and quit lying, it will make the world a better place.

I must warn you though you will lose a lot of friends. It’s not “comfortable” to be around someone honest and real. Remember people are taught to lie from a young age so that people will like them.

Therein lies the problem….

Therein lies the problem….

I said that twice to hammer home “lies” the problem.

Lies are the problem.

Much Love and be real.

Eric

Not of this Earth?

Every since I was a child I have been fascinated by our solar system.

My father always took us saltwater fishing at Matagorda bay as a child.
At night I would sleep on a cot with a mosquito net over me and stare at the stars.

The great thing about the ocean is that it is off the grid and since there are not the distractions of the city lights you can really see the vast spectrum of the sky and the stars and it is awesome.

I remember how excited I got the first time I saw a shooting star. The last time I was in Hawaii my friend Blase took me way up the mountain to the observatory that is a top secret government facility.

My entire life I have always imagined that there must be other life forms out there. I think about it all the time. On my first CD I even wrote a song about it and I have read everything from “Communion” by Whitley Streiber to just about about everything I could get my hands on about the supposed crash of UFO in Roswell, New Mexico.

Those of you that know me, know that I am not shy and will ask anyone, anywhere, anything.

I believe the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. I have to tell you, I have had a “wyrrd” life and I would put some of the crazy things that have come along during my short time on this earth against anyone. My own Dad who is 80 years young and doesn’t say much recently told me:

“Man, you should write a book”

My ex-girlfriend of 7 years told me one time after the police chased a pickup with a drunk driver into my front yard and his truck tumbled 5 times and landed upside down, 1 inch from coming into my house; “Eric!, the weirdest stuff happens to you in your life! I have never met anyone that all this crazy stuff happens to”

You have to keep in mind how much what she says is true, you wouldn’t believe all the crazy random stuff she saw in the 7 years we were together. I could write a book on that alone.

Anyway that’s the set up to something awesome that occurred to me on Father’s Day this year.

I was at Outback steakhouse here in Denton and I saw a dear friend and his girlfriend. They were there taking her Father out for Father’s Day. It was cute he was a tall distinguished gentlemen that seemed to be in his 70′s and his wife was adorable. My friend introduced me to her Father and I asked him what he did. He mentioned to me that he was retired. I asked him what from.

He told me “I was a general in the Air Force”

I thought to myself wow, If there is ever anyone I would ever want to ask about UFO’s this would be the guy. He was the highest ranking person I had ever met so I asked him:

I said in a very pointed tone so he would know that I was not joking, “OK, I have always wanted to ask someone with your stature and credentials. What is going with UFO’s and specifically what happened in Roswell?

He looked me right in the eye and asked me, “Why do you ask?”

I said because as I child I have always wondered and I think there has to be something to all of this.

He looked at his wife, who was a lot shorter than him and she smiled and said “tell him about Robert.”

He told me about his friend Robert L. Hastings who wrote a book entitled “UFO’s and Nukes.

He said you should read this book, I feel you will find it very interesting. I gave him my card.
Much to my surprise he e-mailed me later that evening with a link to Robert’s site and also later to let me that Robert was going to be on Larry King on Friday, July 3rd for an interview about his book.

I thought to myself “wow” can this really be happening an actual retired Air Force veteran referring me to his friend whose Father was a lifelong Air Force veteran as well. At the end of the e-mail he told me BTW “Robert is no kook”

I bought the book and I read it and it is astounding and very well researched with over 80 retired and former air force veterans personnel interviewed. The implications of this are major and to think that since we started testing nuclear weapons in the mid 40′s, UFO sightings have increased massively.

One of the reason that the U.S. Government has attempted to conceal its real but secret assessment of UFOs relates to it’s unwillingness to admit that unknown observers, piloting enormously superior aerial craft, have been systematically monitoring-and occasionally tampering with -our nuclear weapons. As incredible as this may seem to UFO skeptics, it is nevertheless based on persuasive, documented data. Hundreds of declassified U.S. Government documents, many of them reluctantly released to researchers via the Freedom of Information Act, clearly establish a UFO-Nukes connection.

Everyone knows about the reported discovery of a crashed alien spaceship near Roswell, New Mexico, in July of 1947. However most people are unaware that, at the time of the incident, Roswell Army airfield was home to the worlds only atomic bomber squadron, the 509th Bomb Group. Was this merely a coincidence?

You see how the quality of your life is influenced by the quality of your questions? I have always said in my lifetime I will get to the bottom of this and I will find out about life on other planets and I will.

It’s already happening…

BTW my friend Bill Dear mailed me a DVD of his documentary “OJ, IS Guilty, But not of Murder”

It is amazing and like the above it is “wyrrd” that so many people are asleep and awake on this planet and believe everything they read or are told in the media. How they let other people especially their government and the 4 P’s again. Politicians, Parents, Priest and Professors think for them.

Here are a couple of links where you can see exactly how misinformed most of the world is

Here is Robert Hastings site:

http://www.ufohastings.com

Here is Bill Dears:

http://www.theoverlookedsuspect.com

BTW, I finished the vocals to “Let it Go” at the studio today.

Tuesday, I will knock out the last track and then off to LA to get it all mastered.

Much Love,

Eric

Stepping up to the plate of Life

I had my beloved Seafoam Green birdseye maple necked Fender Stratocaster guitar in my hands yesterday from 10 AM to 11 PM. It is normal for me to to do 5 hours a day. This was crazy: 7 hours of teaching, 2 hours rehearsing and 2 hours recording solos in the studio. All so I can go home today for the most important cause of all. I have the first blood blister on my LH ring finger since my notorious high school practice sessions! That’s why I haven’t called or written anyone back. ♥

My mom has had some major challenges with her health so I am going home to make some major decisions for her and make sure she has the best care. I am never sick and when I say never I mean never. I had perfect attendance all throughout elementary school through Junior High.

This was because of my Mom, she never would let me stay home so I learned that illness would not benefit me in anyway. The only reason I broke my attendance streak in High School was because I had a car and could skip without her knowing my junior and senior year.

Be careful with Doctors and I mean very careful. Don’t get me wrong they have good intentions. Our healthcare system is based on one thing here and I don’t need to tell you what that is, but I will;

MONEY

That is why it is such a mess, It should be the other way around;

People first, money second.

I know that doctors get into the profession for the right reasons it’s just once you are caught up in the system and paying loans for years of medical school and to carry malpractice insurance it becomes a massive cross to bear.

Do you know what the life expectancy of a doctor is?

56 years

Not very impressive is it? Look it up. I have and the research is disturbing.

Furthermore do you know what the average time spent with a patient is?

Under 5 minutes.

Sad Sad Sad.

It’s a mess, Doctors are so busy pulling people out of the water to keep them from drowning.

They never go up the river to see who is throwing them in the water in the first place.

You can rest assured the doctors that I will find for my mother will break this mold.

My screening process is infinitely geared toward finding someone that will treat the person not the symptoms.

I will accept nothing less and make sure to always do the same for yourself and your loved ones.

I surprised myself at the studio last night with my guitar playing. My friend Heather was here from Vegas and she is an avid lover of music. I am glad she went with me, her Dad has been a great mentor to me and it felt good to just jam last night.

They say music is what our emotions sound like and I believe that. I am going through all kinds of emotions now and it makes it easy to play guitar.

Stay tuned a lot on the horizon.

Much Much Much Love,

Eric

letting go of Resentment

Today’s post is going to be a little blunt. This blog is about being real so here we go.

We are living in a time of terrible emotional shallowness. There is a lack of depth and passion in young people, and it shows up in their relationships. It’s not good news for romantic love, and that means it’s not good for people. They don’t understand what they’re depriving themselves of. There has to be some way back to intimacy.

Being in a relationship is kind of scary sometimes isn’t it? I will admit that.

We must put down our shields and just tell the truth. Tell the truth.

Willingness to let others see your vulnerability-that, too, is self-assertiveness. You refuse to fake who you are for the sake of an “image.”

Anyone who really loves you wants you to be authentic. And anyone who doesn’t want you to be authentic doesn’t really love you.

Romantic love can be terrifying. We experience another human being as enormously important to us. So there is surrender—not a surrender to the other person so much as to our feeling for the other person. What is the obstacle? The possibility of loss. Need creates a vulnerability that can be frightening and enraging. Romantic love is not for children. Ten-year-olds can’t have romantic love and neither can a 35-year-old whose view of his self-interest is fit for a 10-year-old.

Men and women need each other. That should make them friends. Instead, too often it makes them enemies because of the fear and anticipation of being hurt.

That leads to the major roadblock to love and it impedes love more than anything.

Resentment

Resentment is pure fucking poison.

It is guaranteed to destroy love completely and forever.

When we resent somebody it turns to bitterness and when it turns to bitterness it turns to arsenic.

Energy for which you do not find an appropriate outlet and form of expression, can turn into a rage that poisons your soul.

Often, you are most intolerant in your lover of those qualities you have disowned in yourself. So paying attention to what angers you or makes you impatient can be a doorway leading to deepened self-awareness.

I recently have had 2 people I care about deeply let resentment get in the way of our relationship.
They have even told me to my face that they have resentment towards me.

The first positive thing to come out of this for me so far is I wrote a new song. It is aptly titled “Let it Go” It will be the final track on my new release “A Mind on Fire”

A good friend of mine that is a psychiatrist related to me that in marriage counseling by the time a couple that has this challenge gets to you. Both have built up so much resentment and bitterness across the years that it is impossible to do anything.

I once heard a wife, in a moment of great anger, say to her husband, “Right now I feel that I hate you.” I was filled with admiration for the precision of her language and the consciousness she retained even under stress. What a difference between saying “Right now I feel that I hate you” and simply saying “I hate you.” She did not deny her emotion-she honored her anger-but she did not forget that she loved this man or that their relationship was more than this one moment.

Robert C. Solomon, a professor of continental philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, places resentment on the same line-continuum with contempt and anger. According to him, the differences between the three emotions are as follows: resentment is directed towards higher-status individuals, anger is directed towards equal-status individuals and contempt is directed towards lower-status individuals.

So at least if someone resents you, there is some joy in the feeling that they know you are high-status. I am joking but it is often when we are joking that we are the most serious.
However any joy is short lived if it is based in resentment. Believe me I know firsthand.

Resentment can be triggered by an emotionally disturbing experience that is being felt again or relived in the mind. When the person feeling resentment is directing the emotion at himself it appears as remorse.

Because of the consequences they carry, resentful feelings are dangerous to live with and need to be dealt with. Resentment is an obstacle to the restoration of equal moral relations among persons, and must be handled and expunged via introspection and forgiveness.

Psychologist James J. Messina recommends five steps to facing and resolving resentful feelings.
(1) Identify the source of the resentful feelings and what it is the person did to evoke these feelings. (2) Develop a new way of looking at past, present and future life, including how resentment has affected life and how letting go of resentment can improve the future.
(3) Write a letter to the source of the resentment, listing offenses and explaining the circumstances, then forgive and let go of the offenses (but do not send the letter).
(4) Visualize a future without the negative impact of resentment, and
(5) If resentful feelings still linger, return to Step 1 and begin again.

That is a nice academic approach, I personally feel we learn best through stories.

Here is a beautiful story I once heard about letting go of resentment.

There were 2 monks who were members of a monastery where they had taken a vow of silence.
They were to talk to no one at anytime under any circumstances as silence reflected their commitment to their faith and service to their creator. They lived a simple life growing their own vegetables and brewing Ale. One day the 2 monks were walking along the embankment of the river that they gathered their water from. A mother came running up to the elder of the 2 monks and was crying that her son had slipped on a rock and broke his leg and she needed help.

The elder monk broke his silence and asked where the boy was. The mother pointed to the river where the boy lay agonizing on the bank writhing in pain. The monk asked the boys name and went to him. Reassured the boy that he would be OK. Made a splint with stick and tied his rope from his robe around the leg to secure the splint. He then asked the mother from where they had come and carried the boy to the village.

The younger monk in shock that the elder monk broke his vow of silence said nothing the entire time. After the boy and the mother were returned to the village the monks continued the path down the river toward the monastery. The whole time it was all the younger monk could do to keep from breaking his silence. He had to ask the elder monk how he could break their sacred vow.

So he just blurted it out, “I know the circumstances called for action but how could you break our vow? We are not even supposed to have any contact with others and you carried that boy all the way to the village!”

The elder monk slowed his pace put his arm around his younger friend and said “I set that boy down in the village 3 miles ago, you are still carrying him”

Let it go,

Much Love,

Eric

Dads are Cool (Father’s Day)

As you saw from my Guitar Hero Blog.

Chet Atkins was a major influence on me.

When I was in high school I saw Chet live for the first time at Rockefeller’s in Houston.
He sang this great tune “I still can’t say Goodbye” about how he still misses his Dad.

I love the way he did this tune, you can tell it’s straight from the heart.
Chet wasn’t known for having the greatest voice but listen to the emotion he sings this with.

Everyone is the audience got a tear in their eye, even Chet’s backup guitarist Paul Yandell.

It is exactly what I was talking about in my post “Finding your Voice”

I like this tune as well, it is by Mike and the Mechanics and it is called “The Living Years” it is about telling your Dad that you love him while he is still alive. The lyrics are phenomenal and unforgettable.

Men have such a tough time expressing emotion with each other and often with women as well.
It’s OK just get over it because life is too short to live any other way. Society kind of trains us that way and it does no one any good. Just be real and remember most men are incapable of straight talk.

It’s not bad, it’s not good, it;s just the way it is and it is time to get past all that and be real.

Make sure and tell your Dad you love him if he is still here this Fathers Day. I am looking forward to spending the day with my Dad and doing just that. I wouldn’t have it any other way, life is too short.

Tell your Dad you love him on Sunday,

Much Love,

Eric

Soul Survivor

I saw an amazing news story this morning that was very touching.

I will share the video with you at the end of this story so be sure to watch it.

It reminded me of something eerie that happened in my life about 5 years ago.

I received a call from this mother who asked what was the youngest age she could have her son start guitar lessons. I asked her, “how old is your son”?

She said “4″

I thought out loud “hmmm” that is young, but I have a massive success story at my studio named Zack Morris that started at 6. He was so short his feet couldn’t reach the floor on my stools in the studio. He has studied with me for 6 years and is now 12. He is so good that it is funny. Seriously, all kidding aside, I have seen people break into laughter when they see and hear him play because they don’t know what else to do. It is that stunning to see something like that.

So she brings the kid by, he was so small that they had bought him a ukulele. A regular guitar was just too big. He did not care, he went right for my guitars, all of them and wanted to play them. Since he was so young, I decided to just let him be a kid and not try and corral his curiosity in any way. I just let him take over my studio with his desire to explore. This is an approach I like because I believe we learn best when we don’t know that we are learning.

This approach was the cornerstone of one of my favorite composers and educators Carl Orff.

At the end of the lesson the Mom and Dad asked me what I thought they should do and we discussed his history with all of this. The shared with me that from the time he could walk and mutter words he began to ask for a guitar. He was relentless and very adamant about it. He would play air guitar constantly with anything that resembled a guitar in the slightest degree.

I asked if the Mother or the Father had any musical background. They replied none whatsoever and that they were both in the medical field and that no one in any of the extended family did either.

He was not adopted and he was an only child and the first child to be born into this family.

I said to them, let’s do it. I see a lot of potential here and I myself was curious to see what he was capable of. What I saw over the next few months shattered every paradigm I ever had about what and where we come from. It affected me spiritually and surprisingly to me who was always a skeptic concerning reincarnation.

What I was witnessing solidly convinced me that reincarnation was not only real but I was experiencing it first hand in my home. I get “goose bumps” as I write this it was so damn convincing.

The first few lessons he would just tell me all about the guitar. This was what I was supposed to be doing and I have a 4 year old kid that supposedly knows nothing telling me all about the guitar.

He would say, these are the pickups, I don’t like the ukulele my Mommy got because it is just a toy. He said the pickups have magnets in them and that is how the sound comes out on a real guitar.

He also explained to me that his Mom and Dad do not understand that he needs a real guitar and asked me if I could explain that to them. He said I cant play that thing it is just a toy. He also told me he misses all his guitars and asked me if I could help get them all back. This was crazy.

I have seen a lot of “wyrrd” things in my life and any of my close friends will tell you that I have led anything but a “normal” life.

This was starting to completely intrigue me and i just couldn’t explain it, everything i showed him, he would do the same thing.
He would immediately sing it, the pitch and rhythm were exact every time.
Then he would flesh it out on the guitar. I say flesh it out because he never looked at the guitar at all. He would close his eyes a lot and feel around till he found the pitches. He found them fast as well.

After 4 weeks I told his mother, buy him a real guitar and also don’t take this the wrong way, but there is something spiritual going on here. I think your son was a musician in a previous life.

She started laughing hysterically.

You ever notice people will do that sometimes when they are uncomfortable?

She says are you trying to say my son is reincarnated? I explained to her that is the only explanation I could imagine possible, because I myself am starting to believe that is the only way he could have such a skillset.

You could see the frustration in his little body and hands. He knew exactly what he wanted to do but was trapped in a 4 year old body without the motor skills to do it.

I developed a major precept of my approach of not looking at the guitar and learned it from this kid.

His mom finished nursing school and got transferred to a hospital in Austin. So after that summer he no longer was able to come for lessons. However this was such a trip I am glad I met him.

This morning I went for a walk in the woods and came home got an apple and watched the news before I started practicing. The following story was on the news and all I could think of was how much it reminded me of my own experience a few years back.

This story is about a 6 year old boy James Leininger.

Here it is, and as I alluded to earlier, make sure and watch the video at the end.

I also think it is awesome how his father’s faith was only reinforced by this. The same thing happened to me.

James Leininger says he’s thinking of becoming a fighter pilot — and that’s not surprising, since the 11-year-old and his parents believe he was one in his past life during World War II.

“I think reincarnation is very real, and people should open their eyes,” the Louisiana schoolboy said yesterday during a visit to New York. “It’s not a lie.”

In a new book co-written by James’ parents and former journalist Ken Gross, they detail how the boy, at age 2, began having recurrent nightmares, and when asked to describe them said, “Airplane crash. Little man can’t get out.”

Gross — a self-described, “built-in skeptic” — said James then recounted amazing details about the flier, and “I couldn’t disprove his story.

“He was still in a diaper, and he knew things about World War II that scholars did not know,” Gross said.

“He named the aircraft carrier, the flight characteristics of a Corsair. He named his shipmates.”

The book, “Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot,” tells how Bruce and Andrea Leininger researched all the startling things their young son told them — and determined he was reliving the memories of James Huston Jr., who was killed at Chichi-Jima in 1945.

When his dad asked the toddler, “What happened to your plane?” he replied, “It crashed on fire.”

Asked who the “little man” was, the boy said, “The little man is me.”

“Our hair stood on end,” his mother told The Post yesterday.

When asked why his plane was afire, he said, “The Japanese shot us.”

James no longer has the nightmares, and yesterday told “Good Morning America” that “I don’t remember the dreams at all.”

Pretty amazing isn’t it?

Much Much Much Love,

Eric

Finding your voice

I have had a lot of “wyrrd” experiences in my life.

Those of you that read my blog have probably seen me use that spelling “wyrrd” alot.

It is the original Gaelic spelling of the word that translates into “destiny” so if something is weird.

It’s your destiny…

Pretty cool, eh?

One specific example I remember vividly is a relationship I was in where me and my girlfriend had been together a long time and we were starting to grow apart. Our lives were headed in different directions and the relationship had grown apart. Yet we were still very close and so were our families and there wasn’t an easy way out. We went to dinner one evening with some friends and while we were at a red light on St. Patrick’s Day we saw a girl and her mother run across the road in a flash trying to beat the oncoming cars. The mother hesitated and held back yet the girl went for it was hit by a truck.

I can picture the whole thing vividly to this day and it was extremely surreal and very very “wyrrd”

She was catapulted several feet in the air and landed at least 10-12 car lengths away from where she was hit. There was nothing the driver could have done as her decision to “go for it” was made in a flash. My girlfriend saw it as it was in the process of happening and said; “Oh my god no! Oh my god! no and then BAM! the impact and it was overwhelming to see such a thing up close.

I immediately put my car in park right in the middle of the street and had my girlfriend call an ambulance and rushed to check on the girl. She still had a pulse and was breathing but was unconscious from the shock of the impact.

I still believe us seeing this was some type of divine intervention and she found the courage to initiate our breakup shortly thereafter. Something like that can remind you of how short life is and that we are only here for a moment. It was a wake-up call.

I was happy to find out a few days later that she survived.

There were similar “wyrrd” things that led to my finding the courage to pursue a solo career in music in 2004. I remember the one “sticking point” was after so many years being known as a “guitarist” how would I re-invent myself as a singer as well.

Shortly thereafter I met a singer named Jimi Tunnell that changed my life. He helped me find my voice.

The most important thing in singing is that you believe in what you are singing and that you you mean it. There are myriad examples of this, a few that come to mind are; Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Billy Corgan, Leon Russell and Dave Grohl. None of the aforementioned are stellar vocalist but they have the most important holy trinity when it comes to delivering your message;

1. Focus
2. Determination
3. Heart

Music is to be felt, not seen.

I learned this when I started singing. When I started singing everyone was telling me;

“Eric, what are you doing? you can’t sing”

I heard this from friends and family members and you name it.

I still hear it from some friends (he he)

One of my favorite cherished e-mails is a 3 paragraph letter from my sister where she was shocked at how good I got at singing when I went solo. She hadn’t seen me perform in a couple of years and came to my CD release party and it floored her.

In my old band we didn’t spend hardly any time on lyrics we were all music majors so we just focused on that. It showed as our shows were fun and people danced but the message was lacking.

I immediately started focusing on finding the stories and events in my life that I was passionate about and writing about them. I noticed a major difference and I felt it as well.

I had a friend that was murdered in Houston, TX. Houston can be a very dangerous city. I have a friend that was shot there as well. His wife agreed to testify against the man that killed her husband under one condition. The state not pursue the death penalty.

That moved me and I no longer believe in the death penalty after researching it quite thoroughly as well. One day I was at home in my studio and a melody came to me. No words just this haunting melody out of nowhere. I immediately grabbed my hand held tape recorder and captured it.

The whole thing just flowed on to the tape and I captured it and practiced singing it for a few days.
I had never had anything come to me that vividly before and the “wyrrd” thing was that there were no lyrics just this melody. I took it to Jimi Tunnell’s studio and sang it for him and he came up with this piano ostinato that was perfect and we captured it.

I remember Jimi was out of town in NY for a few days and when he got back he was like “Man this sounds good” That is a nice compliment coming from Jimi who is a hell of a singer.

I went on to pen some lyrics that I was very proud of, but here is what is “wyrrd”

No matter how hard I tried I could never sing the song as good when I had lyrics and with the same amount of passion. That original track haunted me and it still does.

My girlfriend at the time cried the first time she heard the melody only version with no lyrics. In fact after my album came out she had me make her a copy of the original “melody only” demo so that she could put it on her ipod and just listen to that.

Here is that original demo for you to hear, it still surprises me when I hear it.

There is no pitch correction or auto tune on my voice. The only effect is a little bit of delay for ambiance. Make sure the volume is cranked so you get the full effect.

It is my wish that this inspires you to find your voice as well. It doesn’t have to be music, it could be writing, or public speaking or painting or cooking. Just follow it with focus, determination and heart.

Insist on that and remember “Music is to be felt, not seen”

Much Love,

Eric

Meet Lid-Beh!

I got a new cat and her name is “Lid-Beh”

She has been an absolute joy and brought a great energy to the empire.

Her name is pronounced “Lid-Buh” and if you say it right it will sound like you are saying;

“Elizabeth” in a very southern drawl.

I brought her in to deal with this pesky mouse that has eluded every kind of trap I set for him.
Of course now that “Lid-Beh” is here the mouse “Don’t come around here no more”
So she has already earned her keep in the fact that she is a “massive deterrent”

I purposely got a female as they are better hunters and less likely to spray than the males.
I busted her this morning “terrorizing” the paper towels. Here is a crime scene photo where I caught her “red pawed”

I gave her a good talking to as you can see here:

Subsequently we made peace and she resumed to grooming herself. She likes to sit up in my hand in the funniest position and she is a very lovable, people friendly cat. This is a photo of her “assuming the position”:

I am doing my best to raise her right, however there have been some challenges:

I bought a scratch pole, yet she seems to think it is a stripper pole.

She constantly is doing all kinds of wild, provacative dancing around the pole in an attempt to elicit validation.

She “got out” the other night and stayed out till 6 in the morning. If this is acceptable behavior at 6 months I am in for a long ride.

And then there was this!!!

“Shacking Up” and sleeping with my good buddy who stayed on my couch after visiting from out of town. Now I got a kitty that is a ho’?

Oh well,

I love her anyway!

Here is a little video introduction to her:

Much Love,

Eric

Thought for the Day

Took a drive out to Sulphur Springs Texas yesterday.

Took a few songs I was working on with me in the car.

Also had a great conversation with my friend Dr. Blase Harris in Hawaii.

We got to chatting about Buckminster Fuller an American architect, author, designer, futurist, inventor, and visionary.

In 1927, at age 32, bankrupt and jobless, living in public, low-income housing in Chicago, Illinois, Fuller lost his young daughter Alexandra to complications from polio and spinal meningitis. He felt responsible, and this drove him to drink and to the verge of suicide. At the last moment, he decided instead to embark on “an experiment, to find what a single individual could contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity”

Wow, what an example of moxie and courage and faith. Reminds me of something Joseph Campbell might say. “Follow your Bliss”

Fuller went on to change the world and live an extraordinary life. Look him up;

Way too much to mention here but he definitely answered his question and how is that for a quality question?

“What can a single individual do that could contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity”

Beautiful question = Beautiful answer.

The size of this man’s heart can be measured in the way he left the earth as well.

In the period leading up to his death, his wife had been lying comatose in a Los Angeles hospital , dying of cancer. It was while visiting her there that he exclaimed, at a certain point: “She is squeezing my hand!” He then stood up, suffered a heart attack and died an hour later. His wife died 36 hours after he did. He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

That is beautiful as well, she signaled it was her time and he wanted to go with her.

He was in the moment and sensitive to her and majorly aware and authentic here.

Every time one of my students who I all consider friends walks into my home, I ask my self “How can I make his or her day better through music and lead by example. I encourage them to start bands and to follow their dream and do what they love”

I try to be fully present with them.

I am working on this in my relationships and friendships as well.

A wise one said, “Children don’t need your presents. They need your presence.”

This path is not always the easy one but it is the right one and you must have faith.

“You don’t learn from experience. You learn from your capacity for experience.”

It’s just like singing, you do not have to have the greatest voice. Just believe in what you are singing and do it from the heart and to build and make the world a better place. James Taylor was booed off stage early in his career but he stayed the course and found his voice. Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin are excellent examples of singers who made it because they believed in the message and sang from the heart.

This is the Key;

Here is something to think about;

“What kind of LOVE asks for “yes” in advance?”

You either believe in love or you don’t. Do what you love.

It’s not always easy to stay in the moment especially when you are doing what you love. You will feel vulnerable and naked sometimes. This is OK, because your are stepping out from your shadow. Carl Jung said our shadow is either or best friend or our worst enemy.

Believe me, I mess this stuff up all the time, but the pursuit of happiness requires us to stick our necks out and “be alive”. Remember that is the true definition of “believe”

“To be alive, in the moment.”

So like I said in my song “No one knows my thirst”

“If you must work, work on LOVE.”

All of my Love,

Eric

The Hero & The Coward

“The Hero and the Coward both feel the same thing.

But the Hero uses uses his or her fear, projects it onto his opponent.

While the Coward runs, it’s the same thing, Fear.

But it’s what you do with it that matters.”

These are the wise words of Cus’ D’ Amato, Mike Tyson’s mentor and trainer.

Regardless of what you think of Mike Tyson when his career began, it began with Cus in his corner.

Cus discovered Mike as a troubled youth and took him in to his gym
and focused him and showed him how to channel his fears onto his opponent in exactly this way.

If you watch any of Mike Tyson’s early boxing matches he was devastating.

The fights were over before they ever started. The opponent didn’t seem to even matter.

Then something sad happened, Cus died and the vultures stepped in and Mike lost focus.

People like Don King started showing up and the downward spiral began and Mike lost everything.

There is an excellent Talk Show host in Canada “George Stroumboulopoulos” that I love.

After an interview on his show Bono said that George was the best interview he had ever had.

I saw an interview on George’s show where he sat down with Tony Robbins motivational coach.

George asked Tony who has met some amazing people like; Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, counseled 2 U.S. Presidents and scores of other world leaders.

Who was the most surprising person you ever worked with?

Tony scratched his chin for a moment, leaned back and said;

“Mike Tyson”

This should have surprised me but it didn’t, because I know Mike’s history.

Tony mentioned that Mike is so well read and has such a good heart.

Tony was a major help to me years ago when I had just arrived in College.
He wasn’t as high profile of a man as he is now but he already was the best at change.

I attended a workshop he held in Dallas/FW at the Airport hotel and it changed me life.
I learned so much from him I am simply grateful.

In Mike Tyson’s case his entire life he got love by fighting so when people took advantage of him he just snapped.

So think about your focus in your time with yourself, make sure you are grounded and following your heart. I like to say “Embrace the ugly baby”

Keep your expectations high. Remember, “people rise to the level of expectations”

When your life doesn’t match your expectations, you are going to be in pain.

Much Love,

Eric

Eric Shreds

I have been teaching guitar since I was 16 years of age.

I never consciously decided to do it, I just love the damn thing so much that I used to live, eat, and sleep with a guitar in my hands. After a while so many of my neighbors were coming over for guitar lessons my Mom started cussing me to charge them. She always has been the entrepreneurial type.

My first student was this kid named Robert and he would bring over $15 and stay an hour for lessons.

I have been doing this so many years now it amazes me the “graduates” I have and what they are doing. One of my favorite “rights of passage” is the tune “Crazy Train”

I love that song and the way the opening riff is just so “killer”

“Killer” is a white kid growing up in the suburbs listening to heavy metal term, but it rocks!

Another one is “badass”

Regardless of your style of music; if you play guitar and you don’t think Randy Rhoads, Ozzy’s first guitar player is “killer” or “badass” you are out of the loop.

For my students that want to learn Rock and Roll guitar, “Crazy Train” is a standard. Everything about the tune is great. It starts out in F# minor and modulates to the relative Major (A Major).

The tune utilizes chord inversions, harmonics, right hand tapping, whammy bar simulation techniques without the bar and very clever rhythmic syncopation’s unorthodox in metal until Randy’s emergence. One of the first thing that I read about Randy was how when he joined Ozzy he noticed all the Black Sabbath tunes were in E or A. You see those are the first two open bass strings on the guitar so without thinking most knucklehead guitarist just start riffing there. That’s fine and dandy until you have 2 or 3 albums with all the songs in E or A and redundancy sets in big time.

Just like in the 90′s when all the grunge wave hit and everybody had to tune to “Drop D”
We see how long that lasted, I had a roommate in college that did that with every song. It like going out to dinner for a five course meal and every entree being the same. It get’s old.

Music is a spectrum and every musical instrument falls somewhere within the range of that spectrum. Learn the range and utilize it to the fullest. Your listeners will appreciate it.

Look what Randy did.

Crazy Train- f# minor modulates to A Major
Over The Mountain- Ab
Steal Away the Night- B

He explored the range of his guitar and all the possibilities.

I purposely did that on my first solo release “Wake Up”

OK, back to lessons;

Once one of my students can play the tune perfectly with the “drum machine” at 120 bpm. They have graduated to a whole new level. I then recommend the parents buy them a real guitar.

I am partial to the Fender Strat or Les Paul. In the last couple of weeks I had three graduates step up their game.

Slader Ammons, Skylar Niederer and Morgan Sutherland.

Slader is an awesome guitarist and is only 14 and burning on guitar.

Here he is with his new Axe an awesome Strat:

Here is a shot after we got through learning “Holy Diver”

I think “Guitar Hero” is brilliant for bringing the best guitar playing to a new generation.
Vivian Campbell from Dio was definitely one of my guitar hero’s growing up.

Here is Skylar with his new badass strat from Sky Guitars in Denton. I was there with Morgan Sutherland helping him pick an SG when Skylar’s Dad walked in after leaving me a message at home.

Perfect timing, we got him this mean machine.

When some one sticks to lessons 4 years plus going on five they are going to be dangerous.

This is key, people who never reach their goals on guitar generally just quit, that’s it.

I have had several dozen guys that have been with me 5 years plus and are monsters.
Most are in bands and touring and many professionally. This cat here is a shining example.

His name is Jonny Riley and he has a new CD that me and Eric Delegard produced that is on the horizon.
It is the best local debut CD I have ever heard due to the sheer amount of catchy good songs.

I am very selective as to what I will work with as far as production as to the time involved and the expense to do it correctly. One of my strategies is to get the act together before you walk into the studio to record. Once you are in the studio cost are high so it is key to walk in ready to “print”

Not sit around in the studio trying to figure out what works and doesn’t work. We took all of Jonny’s songs and made demo’s. Then I took the ones that we all thought were the best and put them away. We then spent the next few months molding the tunes that we felt were not as strong.

This kind of turns the problem on itself and a few months later when it was time to get ready to go to the studio we had kind of forgot about the original tunes we thought were great and then messed with those a bit. This is an old trick I learned from the legendary producer Quincy Jones.

This is why I think they are an exceptional amount of tracks on this CD that are very good.

His band is called Osage and watch for them. I will keep you tuned in as things develop.

Not only is he a killer guitar player, but a singer and songwriter as well and he has a cool car.

My friend Edgar Cruz was here at my home shredding his classical guitar so much last Friday he blew the electrical circuits out in my backyard and started a fire. It’s OK, we just moved the show inside.

In honor of all this “guitar shredding” I thought I would throw something fun and free in the mix for all of you. This is a recording of me playing guitar along with my friend Eric Delegard on Bass and Matt Thompson on Drums.

We recorded this awhile back at Reeltime Audio (Eric’s studio) Matt plays a killer drum track and he is a mofo on the drums. Matt plays in King Diamond as well as Shaolin Death Squad.

I used my Black Gibson Les Paul and my Mesa Boogie old school “dual rectifier”

The tune is in 6/8 and has a “neo-classical” feel ala “Yngwie Malmsteen and Vinnie Moore.

Two cool guitar cats, I grew up listening to. A friend in high school Byron wrote the harmony guitar part and I played it just as he wrote it. Can’t believe I still remember it.

Here it is for your listening enjoyment. Make sure you have your computer hooked up to a system that will do this justice. Eric’s bass is booming and Matt’s drums are kicking so stand back.

A lot of my students and fans are razzing me about why I don’t play more guitar solos and do more shredding. This one is for you guys. I grew up doing this stuff and I enjoy it as much as I ever did.
I had a lot of fun on the guitar solo and even managed to throw a jazz line Clint Strong showed me in the middle of a metal solo? Hell why not!

Here goes, remember to be sure and crank it! I am not kidding your computers tiny speaker cannot do this justice.

Eric Shreds

Let me know what you think of the track.

Rock On,

Eric

An inspiring story

A good friend of mine sent me this so I thought I would share it with you.

It’s an aspiring video of a saxophonist from England following his life’s bliss.

I especially love the way he is doing it for his family and has always stayed the course.

The great thing about the music business is that when you are 40 years of age you are still a baby.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz8BvSiop5Q

Bravo Julian,

Bravo!

Much Love,

Eric

Guitar Talk II

Just a little thoughts on rhythm and phrasing for all you Guitar Players~

Rock On,

Eric

Guitar Hero

As a kid I always had heroes.

My first one was my Dad, I always wanted to be as good of a fisher and hunter as he is.

I never quite caught up to him but I got damn close which says a lot. You could drop me off at the ocean with a cast net and a ball of string and we would be eating like Kings in a few hours.

Here we are at The Ocean where we have a get away home. This is on a day when zero fish were biting and my dad still managed to somehow catch one Speckled Trout out of Nowhere.

I used to play a lot of baseball and basketball as a kid as well and my biggest sports heroes were St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith and The Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird.

When I turned 16 something came over me and the guitar became the most important thing in my life. Here I am at my high school talent show were I was victorious over a Jimi Hendrix impersonator.

I have never been impressed by impersonators or “tribute bands”. I like the real deal and it is sad to see how prevalent that is in our society these days. It shows a lack of moxie and courage. To be an innovator shows that you are maverick and that have the steel balls to do what you believe in. It proudly displays that you are not seeking validation and that you do not give a damn what other people are thinking.

Those are my heroes!

What came over me when I was 16 was seeing Yngwie Malmsteen live. I waited in line with my friend Peter Elsner for 2 hours so we could be the first ones in and get in the front of the stage.
What I saw that evening shattered every paradigm I had ever imagined was possible with an electric guitar. They had to do 5 encores and every person in the room’s jaw was cemented to the floor including mine. After this that was it, I knew “Ed Zachary” what I wanted to do with my life and I have never looked back.

You know the word decision is derived from the latin word “decise” which means to cut off. I decided right then and there that I would do whatever it takes to be the best guitar player I could be. I practiced for 4 years 6-8 hours a day and studied classical guitar and did gigs and garage bands straight until I was 20 years of age.

Yngwie was my first guitar hero and I have hung out with him quite a few times.

Yngwie gets kind of a bad rap sometimes and as is often the case this is rooted in misinformation and falsehoods. I found him to be charming and to have an incredible sense of humor. He is a big fan of Monty Python and we discussed one of our mutual heroes J.S. Bach.

After Yngwie got me practicing that much I started going to guitar shows like crazy. During the height of my classical guitar days my teacher told me to go see Chet Atkins. I did and man was that cool. His versatility was so overwhelming that I almost cried some of the stuff he was playing was so beautiful. That was the best way to describe his sound. He was so smooth, when I moved to Denton to go to College I became a member of the Dallas Classical Guitar Society. We brought Chet to the Meyerson for our concert series and I got to meet and spend time with another one of my guitar heroes. We both perform and love the guitar piece “Misionera” by Fernando Bustamante and here we are discussing the fingering on the intro:

Chet died a few years after that and I still have every album he ever put out on vinyl and that is a lot of records.

I saw Al Dimeola at Rockefeller’s in Houston a few years after that and that was another epiphany in what I thought was possible. Al is another gentleman who is accused of being all technique and not having any feeling. I notice most of the gossip comes from guitarist in the Jazz community who lack the technical prowess of Al and are simply jealous. What I learned from Al is time, he has an impeccable command rhythmically of his instrument and it shows. He also plays with an incredible amount of emotion. Listen to the CD “Cielo Di Terra” and you will see what I mean.

I was introduced to Al by my friend Chris Carrington who is a hell of a Classical guitarist and a luthier as well.

In college I was surrounded by a lot of musicians but I have to say my greatest education did not come from school. In fact, I haven’t used a fucking thing I learned in music school. I look at it as more of a hindrance that a help. It’s funny because my friend Clint Strong said the same thing in an interview I did with him in the Lion’s Den. Chet Atkins did not have a degree in music either. In fact he just gave himself an honorary degree “Certified Guitar Player” and he used to sign his autographs “Chet Atkins C.G.P.” (certified guitar player)

My friend James Bland told me on the phone the other day that bassist Mike Medina said the same thing to him about music school as well.

You want a Phd? get one in results.

Let me ask you a question…

“Would you rather go to Heaven?”

“Or a lecture about Heaven”

School is a lecture my friend.

My 3rd major guitar hero is my friend Clint Strong. This guy can play circles around anyone and Clint is living proof that you can have technique and play Jazz. I am not a big fan of most Jazz guitarist. I find them to be snobby and full of themselves and they have the worst guitar tone imaginable. It sounds like a mosquito or a wasp in a jar when they play.

Frank Zappa said it best watching most jazz guitarist solo is like watching someone masturbate.

Clint breaks the mold entirely and has a great sense of humor about the whole thing. He doesn’t talk about it he just does it. One of my proudest moments in my life was something Clint told me.

I kept bugging him about showing me how to play bebop so I started going over for lessons. I practiced everything he gave me like crazy and when I went back for my follow up lesson, I played everything for him and Clint says to me “Damn, what the hell are you doing here, you just need to get a drummer and a bassist and hit the clubs”

That did a lot for my confidence coming from him and that is one of the moments in my life I am most proud of. Even Ted Greene (R.I.P.) The Godfather of the Jazz guitar community raves about Clint. I was talking with Ted on the phone a few years back and when he found out I lived in Texas he just went on and on talking about Clint.

Of all my guitar heroes my favorite is Allan Holdsworth. I gave up trying to figure out what he is doing years ago and just surrendered to enjoying his playing. As a testimony to doing what you love and success will follow we ended becoming great friends and he burned a solo on my new CD “A Fire in the Mind” on the track “No one knows my thirst”

Allan also thinks that the whole idea of who is the best guitarist is stupid. I share that belief with him as the answer to that question is impossible, as it is all relative. You should never try and be better than anyone else. Just be the best that you can be. This is why battles of the bands are so stupid. How can you have a battle if everyone has the same goal. To entertain their fans, If they lose the competition mentality everyone wins. This is horrible in Texas where I live, I suspect it has it’s origins in High School football or something.

Allan is quite the fan of Yngwie himself and Yngwie is quite the fan of Allan. I love the way Allan says; “Oh Yngwie, he’s fucking great”

Here we are at my home earlier this year.

It’s important in life to have heroes and people that you look up to. To stand on the shoulders of giants and to have true friends.

When I get a little older I am going to get a place in Hawaii and sit around the fire with my friend Dr. Blase Harris and play Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. The music just gives me “goosebumps”

Here I am with my Slack Key guitar hero George Kahumoku in Hawaii:

This Friday April 17th I am hosting another great friend and guitarist Edgar Cruz at my home in Denton. Edgar is a maverick and has transcribed an amazing body of popular music for guitar. He comes from a family of guitarist as his father was a great guitarist and his brother is the head of the guitar faculty at Southwest Texas State University. The concert is in my backyard and admission is $20. My friend Mark Holderbaum will be cooking Brisket. This is going to be amazing and a night to remember.

Here is a photo from last time Edgar was here. We are doing a video interview for The Lion’s Den as well tomorrow so stay tuned for that as well.

Much Love and until next time Aloha.

Eric