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Eric has been asked to join Breedlove Guitar's Artist Roster. The endorsement by Breedlove is an honor and Eric looks forward to a long successful relationship with a company that engineers the some of the world's greatest accoustic guitars.
"The tonal qualities in a Breedlove are unmatched, and everyone in the company puts their heart and soul into the instruments themselves. It is an honor to join the team." - E. Tollefson - Press Release
Late last week, local blues-rock singer-songwriter guy Eric Tollefson sent along the picture at right.
It’s not the world’s greatest photograph, but it’s the content that matters: On Oct. 20, Tollefson and Tim Schroeder (a local guitarist and employee of The Bulletin) traveled to Southern California to perform at the world-famous Whisky a Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood. “Driving up and seeing the Whisky for the first time in person and having this on the marquee was too cool,” Tollefson said. It was, he said, “the time of our lives.”
The Whisky has occupied the same corner in West Hollywood since early 1964, and it has hosted most of rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest names, including The Byrds, The Who, Van Halen, the Ramones, Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana. The Doors were the club’s house band for a while.
Tollefson got the gig after his sister saw a Whisky ad calling for acoustic acts to play the club and submitted a link to his MySpace page and his cell number. “I was going to follow up and send them our new electronic press kit, and they ended up calling me the next week to offer me some dates,” Tollefson said. “(I) was shocked and excited.”
After playing the legendary club with Schroeder, Tollefson called to thank the Whisky staff and was offered more dates, he said. Next time, he hopes to take his entire band — which includes Pat Pearsall and Lindsey Elias of Empty Space Orchestra — down to L.A. “The good news is, they want us as a steady gig,” he said.
Tollefson is also working on other out-of-town dates in Idaho, Colorado and Nevada, he said.
Only six months ago, Tollefson was a relative unknown when he burst onto Bend’s music scene with his album “The Sum of Parts.” Maybe you knew who the guy was, but I pay pretty close attention to local music, and I had never heard of him before I wrote this article in advance of his CD-release gig at Silver Moon Brewing in April.
In the months since, though, Tollefson has done very well for himself, regularly headlining Silver Moon and scoring spots opening for Jackie Greene and G. Love & Special Sauce. That’s no shock, really. From the first time I listened to “The Sum of Parts,” I thought this guy had an opportunity to find an audience outside Central Oregon, thanks primarily to his catchy songs and easygoing vibe, like Jack Johnson if he were from the mountains instead of the beach.
If you haven’t seen Tollefson live, your next chance locally is at Nov. 7 at Silver Moon. Rumors of a Tollefson/Empty Space gig at the Domino Room in December are floating around, too, so let’s hope that comes to fruition.
-Ben Salmon, Go! Magazine - Go! Magazine
Saturday 17th, 2009
Here’s the strange thing—Tollefson is mostly soft, bluesy and poppy on his disc, Sum of the Parts, but when you put him with his live band, which includes Empty Spacers Pat Pearsall and Lindsey Elias, the dude can rock it. He did just that when opening for G. Love this summer and will probably do that again on Saturday night. Make sure you arrive early to see James Orr, a one-man Boise-based rock machine with a lovely David Gray sorta sound. $5. 9pm. Silver Moon Brewing Co., 24 NW Greenwood Ave. - The Source
October 16th, 2009
• Six months ago, Eric Tollefson burst onto the local music scene with an album called “The Sum of Parts” that, as I’ve been telling you on these pages, shows a songwriter with serious potential to impress folks beyond Central Oregon. On Tuesday, Tollefson will begin to chip away at Los Angeles with a performance at the famed Whisky A Go Go. Pretty cool, huh? So Saturday would seem to be a perfect time for locals to send him off to SoCal with good vibes. Tollefson will perform at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom (24 N.W. Greenwood Ave., Bend), with one-man-alt-pop-band James Orr coming in from Boise to open the show. Cover is $5, and start time is 9 p.m.
-Ben Salmon - Bend Bulletin
Alaska native Eric Tollefson surprised just about everyone on the local music scene, coming out of nowhere to release the most radio-ready local album of the year. Tollefson's songs are bluesy pop beauties, spilling over with impressive guitar work and melodies that'll follow you around for days. Watch out, world. - Ben Salmon, Go! Magazine - Go! Magazine
Discography
The Sum of Parts was released in April of this year. It has received radio play in Bend, OR on Clear 101.7 FM and in Juneau, AK on KSUP. Album is available on iTunes and cdbaby.com.
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Bio
Tollefson grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and began playing guitar at age 8. At 12, he performed at the Juneau Folk Festival. He began writing songs at 18. After college he found a home in Bend, OR where he began work on a new album with the help of Clay Smith of Soundsmith Studios. The album’s title, "The Sum of Parts," is apropos, being both a collection of his life experiences, and a final product of two years of focused passion.
'Parts' has been recieving radio play in Bend, OR on Clear 101.7 FM, and in Juneau, AK. Since its April release, and subsequent momentum, Tollefson was given the opportunity to showcase his talent with performances at the Breedlove Guitar Festival, The Les Schwab Amphitheater, the Clear 101.7 4th of July Concert in the Park, and Sisters Folk Festival. This has spurned a growth of his already burgeoning fanbase in Central Oregon, where most recently he opened for G. Love and Special Sauce and Jackie Greene.
Plans for a tour are in the works with his band whose backdrop has given him strides at finding a bluesier, liver sound.
Tollefson will be performing at the world famous Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los Angeles on October 20th, and more dates will be announced soon.
“I think it’s every artists goal to take a person from the point before they listened to a song, to someplace different…to move them in a way,” said Tollefson, 25, in a recent interview, “I guess that’s my ultimate goal at the end of the day—to write something that moves me at the same time.”
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