Eric Andersen The Cologne Concert (CD)

(Meyer Records) 7 tracks, digipack

Eric Andersen first came to prominence as a performer in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s and immediately became part of the Village folk and songwriter scene along with Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, and Bob Dylan and was one of the founders of the singer songwriter movement. His first LP, on Vanguard, was released in 1965; since then he has released over 25 CDs of original music including Today is the Highway, More Hits From Tin Can Alley, Blue River, Ghosts Upon The Road, Memory of The Future, Beat Avenue, The Street Was Always There, and Waves. In the early 1990s he recorded two Norwegian Grammy winning trio-harmony albums with The Band’s Rick Danko and Norwegian singer Jonas Fjeld. Andersen’s poetic, often darkly romantic songs have entertained and captivated audiences worldwide and have been covered by artists ranging from Judy Collins, Peter, Paul & Mary and Linda Ronstadt to the Grateful Dead, Gillian Welch, Fairport Convention and the Blues Project. Touring international festivals and concert halls as a solo artist or with a blues band, in recent years Andersen has performed at a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tribute to Phil Ochs, appeared in a documentary on Joni Mitchell, the Wildflower Festival DVD with Judy Collins, Tom Rush, and Arlo Guthrie, and in the rock train film Festival Express. In 2003 he won the Premio Tenco award with co-recipient Patti Smith in San Remo, Italy. It is an award given to outstanding songwriters. Previous awards have gone to Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen, the latter two of whom were influenced early in their careers by Andersen’s lyrics and guitar-playing. Eric’s most recent album, Blue Rain, was recorded live in Oslo with members of the Norwegian blues band, Spoonful of Blues, and was released in the US in 2007 on Appleseed Recordings. In 2009 he performed in the BBC television special “The Village” with Judy Collins, Roger McGuinn, Carolyn Hester and Billy Bragg. In 2010 he headlined a show in Paris for the book launch of essays called “Naked Lunch @ 50” to which he contributed, on the American Beat writer William Burroughs. The event was reprised in New York and other cities in America.

Dividing his time between Europe and New York, Andersen is currently creating new lyrics and melodies for a new studio album and is working on another live album project in addition to photo books and writing novellas for two new books.

His new live album ‘The Cologne Concert’ will be released on March 18, 2011 on Meyer Records with Inge Andersen singing harmony and Michele Gazich playing violin in both vinyl and CD formats.