Eric Sommer & The Fabulous Piedmonts at Cafe Improv • July 29 • 7:00PM

Eric Sommer & The Fabulous Piedmonts at Cafe Improv

Cafe Improv is the beautiful Live Music Showcase venue in Princeton, NJ

This is Eric Sommer, Jimmy Hauer and Amanda Sycamore – a trio in the “power trio” format. It’s a mix of a few songs by our favorite artists and a collection of songs – all original – we have arranged and developed!

Making Magic in Three Pieces

Eric Sommer and The Fabulous Piedmonts are a roots rock powder keg wrapped around a burrowing bass clef. Huh? Yeah, one that’s headin’ down to 96 octaves below absolute zero. It hit Miami, turned around on a dime, and came back on a red eye.

The Piedmonts are a unique musical force. Ok, everybody says that, but this is one amazing combination of influences. So much so, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher just trying to describe it… but here goes:

This is North Carolina’s Americana Standard!

It’s a high-octane mix of rock-steady percussion supplied by Amanda Sycamore, mixed with the bottom-driven bass gymnastics of Jimmy Hauer and the guitar-laced lines of lead singer Eric Sommer.

But this simple collection of words is nothing like see this show live.

Right off the bat, the slide guitar that opens “Red Dress” will grab you in mid-sentence, and when the rhythm section kicks in a few bars later, if you are not up and moving around or swinging from the stage lights, check your pulse. You might be dead…

As the engine keeps revving up, The Piedmonts’ musical wall of sound starts to hit you like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist: a combination of punk, power pop, Motown ballads, Muscle Shoals and blues-based Charlie Musslewhite-type grooves that pick you up, bounce you across the room, put you up on the ceiling and then ease you down slowly while you try to pick your jaw back up.

Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Go see for yourself!

The Piedmonts are:

Jimmy “Four Fingers” Hauer • Bass, Double Bass, Vocals
Amanda Sycamore: Percussion, Chimes, Vocals
Eric Sommer: Guitar (Telecaster, Stratocaster), Acoustic Guitars, Harmonica,

Wait, what? You’re still here? GO!

Open Tunings, and so much more

With open tuning, slide guitar, lap-slap tone guitar, this show is exciting. And a remarkably aggressive fingering style approach makes watching Eric Sommer so fun and crazy! It’ll make you jump out of your seat and holler for joy! There are very few players who have maintained this authentic American style of guitar and Eric Sommer is one of the very best

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“How do you call this sidekick to unique personalities ranging from Nick Lowe to John Koerner an underachiever? This multi-instrumentalist bad boy could easily be a superstar in his own right…” Midwest Record, Lake Zurich, IL

“Eric Sommer is an astounding guitar player, a virtuoso on acoustic and electric… Eric has worked with everybody who is anybody; His resume’ reads like a musical encyclopedia…” Nashville Music Reviews, Don & Sherry’s Blog

“It’s a wonderful evening whenever Eric Sommer is part of it… Not to be missed!” Austin Record, Steve Barron

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CityBeat/Best of Cincinnati

Guitarin’ and Singin’ are what Eric Sommer is all about.

Singer/songwriter Eric Sommer is an unbelievable intersection of improbable influences. That and insane experiences channeled into an amazingly diverse catalog. His is a résumé that reads more like a musical adventure novel than a series of career bullet points.