Erik Stoeckeler

Erik Stoeckeler is heavily influenced by Minnesota Folk and Hip Hop. Starting his musical career as an acoustic singer-songwriter in 2006, Erik Stoeckeler (Steck-ler) was known as Sticky(aka Manboy) for the first two years of playing music. Occasionally during his acoustic sets he would drop covers by artists such as Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Atmosphere; the crowds would blow up. He quickly decided that Hip Hop raised heart rates and that he had a talent for rapping and beat boxing. After a small hiatus in 2008 he returned to songwriting and is on the circuit playing shows going by his birth name, Erik Stoeckeler. Simple folk songs are still a small part of his repertoire, but he mostly enlists the help of a digital looper, doing multi-track looping which includes hard hitting beat boxing and growling bass lines. Topped by honest rap and a soulful voice, his looping is what Nancy Rosenbaum, Producer at American Public Media called "the most incredible thing [she'd] seen on the stage in the last year."
Erik has rocked Hip Hop crowds at places like Patrick's Cabaret, Honey, the Blue Nile and Hell's Kitchen (Minneapolis), as well as Folk/Rock crowds at venues including The Aquarium, Concordia College and The 400 Bar. He was also featured on Kare 11 with singer/songwriter Sarah Pray. Currently Erik is recording his 1st full length album which will be released in Fall 2011. Watch for upcoming shows, new releases and check out his songs at www.ErikStoeckeler.com.