My Dream Collaboration

The Universe flows freely through Paul McCartney and his catalog is a statement to his being completely open to the inspirations the Universe sends, so I’d appreciate an afternoon with him alone, on a bench, talking.

An hour or two with Cole Porter, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce and Ira Gershwin, and Gamble & Huff and Harold Melvin and Holland, Dozier & Holland who made the Philly Sound what it was and took it so far beyond the music.

I would love to spend an afternoon with Dylan Thomas, Swansea’s most famous Son, and with one or two street performers from Dublin, Ireland and also from the Nottinghill Street Market.

I would love to write with someone on the skids, where I was for a time, who has nothing left except their soul and a life of regret and wrong turns; just imagine… what would they say?

I would love to write with Bob Dylan around the time he wrote “One Too Many Mornings” and I’d give a lot to be able to have an afternoon Tea with Truman Capote, just as he finishes Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory”, in my view the most perfect short story and lyrical statement ever written. I like finding fresh faces in the basement of Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) in Nashville, full of songs, ideas and verbs but not yet able to hook them all together… and I would love to hear from Joe Jackson who I’d ask to trade lines with me.

And my 92 year old Dad, still the Poet Laureate, who, at the drop of a hat, and many times without provocation, will hold forth like a freight train on a firey ramble that can shake the rafters and is so loaded with gloriously arcane uses of the English Language it would keep an English Doctoral Student busy doing research for a month.

I write with anyone who inspires me.

About the Author

“If there’s a place for musical perfection, it’s wherever you’ll find Eric Sommer – A blistering acoustic style plus a variety of slide and open tuning formats will knock you for a loop…” wrote Studdie Burns, Melody Maker/UK in 2013. “How one guy can do this so well is remarkable, but if you look a little deeper there’s a batch of road miles around this lad… and it all makes sense.”

Eric started his musical career in the Boston area under the eye of legendary promoter Don Law and was onstage at The Paradise Theatre in Boston for a record 40 appearances. He has been a regular player on many national and international tours and showcases, and worked in Europe for two years with Nick Lowe and acts Bram Tchaikovsky and Wreckless Eric; during this period Eric worked on Danish, German and British rock stages, returned to Boston and formed The Atomics.

As founding member of Boston’s legendary pop/new wave cult trio “The Atomics”, who toured non-stop with Mission of Burma, Gang of Four and The Dead Kennedy’s and were on the leading edge of a number of musical transformations, Eric never lost sight of his acoustic roots, returning to his heros and mentors often: David Bromberg, Steve Howe(YES), Duane Allman (Allman Bros.), Bert Jansch, Davy Graham, Robert Johnson. Mr. Sommer’s current project with power trio “The Solar Flares” shake up Chet Atkins and David Bromberg influences with those of Randy Travis and British Rocker Elvis Costello – a remarkable mix.

And to keep track of it all, Eric started keeping notes, which evolved from napkin scribbles to paper and pen efforts, writing stories, making poetry and capturing the roads and bridges as they went by, plus people, places and… more people which become his notes, then become characters for songs, stories and prose.

Eric currently has four volumes of verse, 5 studio albums, a LIVE in AUSTIN DVD as well as an electronica project titled “The Smallest Particle” and more on the way… this blog is an attempt to keep track of it all,

Amen.

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You can reach Eric directly at ericATericsommer.com and see more of his projects here on this website. Red Chairs, Black Pancake and Blue Turtle are all available here, as well as all current releases. Please share and comment below.