Shredding it Brewer Style

By Jenna Croyle

With driving rhythm-based originals and amazing musical harmonies, Eric Brewer and Friends offer their audiences a fresh, raw approach to the music while always keeping them wanting more with remarkable beats.

This week’s featured band is made up of some of the most talented musicians Erie has to offer, with Charlie Meyer on Keys, Ralph Reitinger III on Bass, Steve Barone on Drums, Joe Cieslak on Sax and of course, the shockingly unforgettable Eric Brewer on Guitar.

Eric Brewer and Friends have such a wide range of genres successfully merged by the band’s collective musical talents that seem to create a vibration that gets stronger with every note until finally engulfing one’s entirety into a warm glow, rhythmically passing from body to soul.

The absolutely amazing finger work of Brewer sets the tone for sweet melodies and a truly outstanding musical event with each show the band plays.

With distinctive grooves, excellent time keeping and classic rhythms, Steve Barone is a major drumming force behind the distinctive sound of Eric Brewer and Friends.

In most bands, the keyboard player is usually the person who knows the harmony precisely and will give you chapter and verse on inversions if you were to ask, for this band, no statement could be more true. As a veteran keyboardist helping to bring out the innovative sounds of Eric Brewer and Friends, Charlie Meyer is certainly this band’s secret ingredient.

Ralph Reitinger III takes his style of instrumental music and brings it to unknown perfection levels with his melodic lines having as much of as a Bass Taste as the Bass Line itself. Rhythmic melodic patterns move fluently and are expressed in such a masterful way as to show without a doubt, Ralph is the face of bass in Erie.

The first thing I noticed when I saw Eric Brewer and Friends was some of the best sax playing I have ever heard. Joe Cieslak shows his versatility and takes his horn work to new heights that are totally engaging and infectious without overshadowing the rest of the band or showboating. Cieslak is one of the most creative Sax musicians blowing a horn in Erie today.

Never over shredding, Eric Brewer’s screaming fingers along with the original compositions and the fusion of Jazz, Rock and Funk all presented with that jam band sound driven by an obvious passion for music has melded in such a way that has created perhaps the most innovative band to hit an Erie stage in the last decade.

With this caliber of talent and musical proficiency, it is certainly no wonder why Eric Brewer and Friends swept last year’s RockErie Music Awards, while never selling out the sound and always keeping it real.

For more information on Eric Brewer and Friends, please visit their Facebook page.