Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Does he epitomize “the new nerdiness”? Could he be the poster-boy for “Generation Blah”?! And what if he really inspired a whole offspring of apathy-addled, pseudo-intellectual wanna-be poseurs who are just too jaded to find a musical icon to fawn over or throw their crumpled Starbucks cups at?!?!
The answer could be scary, indeed. Especially when we’re talking about Red Bank singer/songwriter, Eric Ginsberg, who has been quoted as saying that, “Hearing a room full of people chanting back every word to every song at a show is the biggest high in the world.” A prolific writer, the 12 tracks on Eric’s debut album, I’m Glad I’m Not As Cool As You, reflect the best of his most recent two years’ worth of writing.
During the past three years, Ginsberg has played roughly 300 shows at scores of venues throughout NJ, Los Angeles, and NYC, as well as FL, NC and CT. He’s done dozens of live college radio performances, and turned hostile audiences around to his favor more than once, while, at one point, he cleared out a room full of Ft. Lauderdale blue-hairs. With his sensitive balls-to-the-wall lyrical style, Eric turns on the same gently manic one-to-one heat whether he’s playing for a room of five or five hundred.
But wait. Prepare to be deceptively lulled with warm acoustic intros and melodic riffs, as Ginsberg’s warm but nerdy voice belies a pithy wisdom. You’ll quickly dig the cock-eyed un-coolness which lines the walls of where this dude is coming from. Ginsberg leaves you no time to think as you sense how much common ground you might share with him, as his nakedly angry and equally sardonic attitude hit home again and again. But don’t be deceived by the funky to spritely beats bounced between acoustic and the occasional electric riff for emphasis; this guy lives what he sings.
Ginsberg plays it more on the angry – or neurotic? – side, as the edgy dude who’s had it up to here, but takes out his angst with a more humorously vicious realism that’s banged out instead on acoustic guitar. Whatever your take, this is one artist who will do anything but leave you cold or wanting; the cat has a freshly bizarre spark that could evolve into a minor cult at least, or just reaffirm that venting yourself with anger steeped in your own psychotic dignity is more effective personally than we may ever know. - The Aquarian
Discography
"I'm Glad I'm Not As Cool As You" (2003)
"Disconnect" (2007)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Eric Ginsberg has overcome cancer. No, no...wait...a car crash! A sinus infection? All right, scrap all that. There's no hard-luck story here. Damnit! Let me think...a marketing ploy, a marketing ploy, a marketi...I'VE GOT IT!
Eric Ginsberg dresses up as a giant banana on stage! And there are naked girls! And his music makes wads of hundred dollar bills magically appear in your pockets!
This isn't working. Okay, how about this: Eric Ginsberg is a lot of fun! His music is really good! You'll have a great time at his shows! He gives good back rubs! I like using exclamation points! There. That did the trick.
Look, we could sit here all day and talk about how Eric has performed at cafés, bars and clubs from LA to New York and everywhere in between. I could tell you that he’s a prolific writer, and that his songs manage to capture love and heartbreak with a peculiar accuracy that seems to speak directly to you. I could ramble on and on about the national acts for whom he’s opened, the awards he’s won, and the constant attention the news media pays him. But I think that would just belittle us both. Don’t you?
I think we’ve all learned something here, today. And it’s that Eric Ginsberg, playing his songs, on a stage, with amplification, is a good thing. You will enjoy the upbeat songs; you will laugh with the quirky lyrics; you will cry through the somber ballads; and you will sing along every time.
•triCityNews calls Eric Ginsberg "one part Tasmanian Devil and one part P.T. Barnum. He combines energy with enthusiasm and creates order out of seeming chaos," and adds, "he's a firecracker...if I had an ounce of motivation, I'd be like this dude."
•The Aquarian says, "Prepare to be deceptively lulled with warm acoustic intros and melodic riffs, as Ginsberg's warm but nerdy voice belies a pithy wisdom...Whatever your take, this is one artist who will do anything but leave you cold or wanting."
•The Islander adds, "Lyrically, Eric stretches the entire good-painful spectrum...[He's] got a simplistic, almost pop-punk style that, coupled with his often-humorous lyrics, makes for a very interesting listen."
•the hub proclaims, "For over two years now, Red Bank area songwriters have had a patron saint of sorts - the founder of the Red Bank Music Community, musician and songwriter Eric Ginsberg: always a tireless supporter of music and sonic creativity."
Links
