Big E
Portland, Oregon, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
“[STRUNG OUT] Think string bands are just for hippies and bluegrass bumpkins? You haven’t heard the Sugarcane String Band, a quintet of PDX rowdies who bring foot-stomping into grimy ditties and barroom anthems. Not content to twang away on the front porch, the band in-breeds the classic conception of bluegrass with gritty-as-grits blues, funk, a little soul and a touch of the Caribbean, making its sound a strange mutantin an easily pigeonholed genre, and a hell of a reason to throw back some moonshine.”
---The Willamette Week - Willamette Week - Portland OR
Sugarcane String Band has been growing a crowd faithful followers since their debut several years ago. These guys hypnotize with their own groovy style of bluegrass rock and have been known to pack the house"
- City Repair - Matt Bibaeu
"You're { bigE } a great vocalist and songwriter...and Sugarcane is a fine group, keep working hard"
--- Willie Nelson 5/22/10 - Sugarcane
Sugarcane String Band, Lost Creek Gang, Garcia Birthday Band
[STUMPTOWN SOIL] Local quintet Sugarcane String Band is as sweet as advertised, turning out porch-friendly blues and bluegrass with ease on most recent album Soulgrass and in concert. Performing mostly Americana with occasional fits of Caribbean-infused country, these guys should be invited to every summertime house party in Portland. Let’s just say if I were a big beer company looking to sell my refreshing product, I’d look no further for a band that encapsulates warm-weather tomfoolery and poolside jammin’. MARK STOCK. 9 pm. Mount Tabor Theater, 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd., . $7. 21+. Map
- Willamette Week - Portland OR- Circulation 100,000+
Discography
Ashbury Park - 2001, 2004,2006
New Church Militia - 2008
Sugarcane - 2010
Solo - 2010
Previous recordings have appeared on many radio stations acroos America. Currently, his self titled Solo debut and Mrs. Gray from Sugarcane's Soulgrass Revue is starting to gain National attention.
Photos
Bio
To begin,
Eric "bigE" Schwieterman hails from the Hoosier state of Indiana and was raised on Bluegrass and Country Music. Born into a family of singers, It wasn't until attending Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, IN that Eric got involved in organized music and theatre. From the start it was apparent that he had a great gift of voice and stage presence, earning him many solo and principal spots in various choirs and musicals. Throughout High School, he went on to make a name for himself in the performing arts community statewide by winning honors as an All-State Choir member and in regional Solo & Ensemble contests. After graduation he attended college at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN., where he formed one of the most inspirational and heartfelt underground rock-n-roll bands that there was in the 1990's, Ashbury Park. Ashbury Park toured the country relentlessly until 2003, while being based at different times in Tucson,AZ., NY,NY., Philipsburg,MT., and eventually came to finally stay in his current home near Portland,OR. Since then, he has continued to tour the Northwest as a solo performer, with his duo (The New Church Militia), his trio (The Dust Settlers), and with his current full band, Sugarcane. To say that he has made a big impression on the NW music scene is easily said and felt. Today, his reach is out-growing the NW even, making a name for himself along the US West Coast and Hawaii, and even in Texas and Nashville songwriting circles he is become highly respected for his writing and vocal style. To sum up, the sky is the limit for this young man. In the tradition of Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Bob Marley, his voice, songs and presence are natural and undeniable.
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