Corner Booth

"You have to meet my friend Eric, he's a tortured soul just like you..." Leash was working at Outback and we had recently come home from UD for the last time. I was looking for something to justify going out to bars during the week and Leash had this friend that played guitar and sang his own songs at bars. At the time I had written 3 or 4 songs, myself, and after meeting Eric only a couple of times he invited me out to play a few songs at one of his gigs (mind you he had never heard me play....ever).
With my stomach in knots I walked into a sparsely filled bar with a handful of friends and listened to Eric croon for about a half hour before he called me up for my first live "performance." I remember thinking, "This is not the guy I want to follow my first time playing in public." Damn he was good. I think I played 3 songs that night on his small personal P.A. in the corner of the bar...right by the bathrooms. I was scared to death, and immediately addicted.
Following that night my life revolved around playing guitar and writing. I was burdened with an overabundance of inspiration during the year that followed and writing music was the perfect outlet for the perpetual heartache that I experienced. I started going to play open mics regularly on Sundays. Mark and I played together for a while and wrote some tunes together. Eric was always there to discuss music, life, the creative process, and whatever girl had broken either of our hearts that week. E would host every now and then, and always amazed me with his poetry set to guitar licks, and would consistently tell me how much further along I was than he was at my age...though we both knew that wasn't' the case.
In November of that year, Eric got a regular gig hosting an open mic at a little bar called "The Pike" on Route 4. Every Thursday night we would sit in front of a bar packed with our friends and other local singer/songwriters and showcase our own personal tunes amidst the smoke and smell of stale beer. For the first four or five months we packed the place and we were kings. There is an indescribable joy that comes from stepping away from the mic, unplugging your guitar, and having complete strangers approach you and verbalize how much they enjoyed your set. It was the golden era of my short-lived, extremely amateur, songwriting career, and honestly one of the happiest eras of my life...though it was riddled with personal conflict and pain. Girls came and went during the year that Eric had that gig, and we would always comfort each other with the same phrase, "This is where the good songs come from," and damn if it wasn't true.
After a while, the gig lost it's flavor. The bar was pretty far away and our crowd diminished. The regular players began coming more infrequently, and there were times were E and I would have to fill the entire night all by our lonesome. After we lost that gig, we moved to a cigar bar in Montgomery called "Burning Desires." I was back in school by then, but still made it out every Wednesday. We were able to revitalize the crowd and got some new players to come out for a while, but it was never the same. Eric began playing with a band again, I began studying for my state boards, and after a while we ended the "Burning Desires" experiment.
In a vain attempt to hold on to the personal joy that I felt on stage, I played at an open mic at "Millions" regularly for a couple of months. I got some friends from school to come out most of the time, and my other friends made it down as often as they could. Eric would make it out every once in a while, but he was playing pretty often with his band and they were getting pretty damn good. The intimate setting that we had at "The Pike" and to an extent at "Burning Desires" was replaced by anonymous faces being shuffled on and off stage...and the quality was subpar. I soon came to the realization that people in "The Square" were not interested in original music, and would rather listen to second-rate covers of Van Morrison and Lifehouse...it was over....for me, anyway.
When I started at the hospital a year ago, I quit playing all together. Just have no time. Eric, on the other hand, continued with his band and has flourished. We grew apart (which was mostly my fault), but I still find myself putting his demo in my CD player every now and then with a rush of nostalgia. I know some of you can relate, and though I've stopped playing...Eric's just getting warmed up...



E's band, aptly named the "Eric Leyton Band," is having their CD release party at Allyn's Cafe on October 20th. I encourage any of you who enjoy original local music to come out and support them. I promise they will not disappoint. If you want to hear a few of the songs from the CD, click the title and it will take you to Eric's myspace page. The kid's come a long way from that small PA in the corner by the bathroom. Enjoy.
Much Love,
Bo