Eric Friedman

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Eric Friedman
Tremonti - 2022156154018 2022-06-05 Rock am Ring - Sven - 1D X MK II - 0825 - AK8I4463.jpg
Friedman with Tremonti in 2022
Background information
Birth nameEric Charles Friedman
Born (1984-06-28) June 28, 1984 (age 40)
Yorba Linda, California, U.S.
Origin Anaheim, California, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass guitar
Years active1996–present

Eric Charles "Erock" Friedman (born June 28, 1984) is an American musician, best known as the current guitarist for the rock band Tremonti and guitarist and backing vocalist for Creed. He is the former lead guitarist for the band Submersed [1] and also the former lead guitarist for Daughters of Mara. Submersed and Daughters of Mara both disbanded in 2008.

Contents

Background

He was born Eric Charles Friedman in Yorba Linda, California. In 1996 while in his teens, he was in the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, California. He got pulled onto stage by Kenny Wayne Shepherd for a jam session during Shepherd's set. Sometime later he formed his own band, The Eric Friedman Band. He also has the distinction of at age 13 of being the youngest guitarist that was endorsed by Fender. [2]

Career

Early years

Friedman opened up for acts such as Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jonny Lang. He had a developmental record deal with Steve Vai's label Favored Nations at 15. [3]

Submersed

In 2000, Eric formed a rock band called Blacsun. The group had demos produced by Brett Hestla (Virgos, Dark New Day). Also that year, he became the lead guitarist for the band Submersed, playing on their debut album, In Due Time . Friedman quit the group before the second album, Immortal Verses , which was released later that. The band broke up in 2008. In that period, he was the guitarist for Daughters of Mara during. This group also broke up that year. He then went on to play with former TNA Impact Wrestling star Christy Hemme, and with Garrett Whitlock, formerly of Submersed. [4]

Creed

In addition to Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Friedman is influenced by Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge and has since formed a close friendship with Tremonti, who requested for Friedman to perform as Creed's rhythm guitarist on tour. Friedman states that he grew up listening to Creed's music, particularly their debut album My Own Prison . While on tour with Creed, he provides rhythm guitar and backing vocals. He also performs a guitar solo with Tremonti on "What If." He appeared as a touring member on Creed's record-breaking live DVD, Creed Live .

Tremonti

Friedman with Tremonti in 2022 Tremonti - 2022156153758 2022-06-05 Rock am Ring - Sven - 1D X MK II - 0501 - B70I2360.jpg
Friedman with Tremonti in 2022

Friedman was featured on Mark Tremonti's debut solo album, All I Was , playing guitar, bass and singing background vocals. He is featured in the music video of "You Waste Your Time" He was part of the album, Cauterize , that was released in June 2015, and part of Dust , which was released in April 2016.

Projected

In 2012, Friedman joined the supergroup Projected, alongside Sevendust's John Connolly, Vinnie Hornsby and Creed/Alter Bridge drummer Scott Phillips. Their debut album Human was released on September 18, 2012. Their recent work was Ignite My Insanity which was released under Rat Pak Records on July 21, 2017.

Further activities

Friedman was nominated "Guitarist of the Week" by The Rock Riff in January, 2013. [5]

In 2015, Friedman was interviewed by The Moshville Times about what it was like playing in a band with Mark Tremonti as well as touring with him. [6]

Friedman was interviewed by Claudia Mancino of RAMzine which was published on December 6, 2018. [7]

Appearances

Eric Friedman appeared on The Sound And The Story which was the third in an instructional-documentary guitar DVD series which was released in 2011. It starred Troy Stetina and also featured, Mark Tremonti, Michael Angelo Batio, and Bill Peck. [8]

Related Research Articles

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<i>My Own Prison</i> 1997 studio album by Creed

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<i>All I Was</i> 2012 studio album by Tremonti

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Waste Your Time</span> 2012 single by Tremonti

"You Waste Your Time" is a song by Tremonti that was released by FRET12 Records as the debut single from his debut solo album All I Was on May 7, 2012. It is also the first song to be released by Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti as a solo singer-songwriter. The song received positive reviews and its live music video premiered on May 17, 2012.

<i>Human</i> (Projected album) 2012 studio album by Projected

Human is the debut album by American hard rock band Projected. It was released on September 18, 2012. Initially envisioned as a solo project by founder John Connolly, the project eventually grew into a full-fledged band involving a number of musicians that he had intentions of working with, namely Scott Phillips of Creed and Alter Bridge, and Eric Friedman of Submersed. The album received generally positive reception but limited public exposure, as little promotion of the album in the way of touring was possible due to members' commitments to their respective bands.

<i>Cauterize</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Tremonti

Cauterize is the second studio album by Tremonti, a band fronted by Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti. In addition to Tremonti, who provides both lead vocals and guitar, the album features rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Eric Friedman and drummer Garrett Whitlock. It is the first Tremonti album to feature Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced Brian Marshall as the band's bassist after the release of the band's first album, All I Was, in 2012. Cauterize was released on June 9, 2015 in the United States. The album was set to release in Australia on June 5 but saw an earlier release by a day, thus being released on June 4, 2015.

References

  1. Monger, James Christopher. "Biography: Submersed". Allmusic . Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  2. The Rock Riff, 22 Jan 2013 - Guitarist of the Week – Eric Friedman
  3. The Rock Riff, 22 Jan 2013 - Guitarist of the Week – Eric Friedman
  4. Progress Rock - Pojected, Biografie, Eric Friedman
  5. The Rock Riff, 22 Jan 2013 - Guitarist of the Week – Eric Friedman
  6. The Moshville Times, 12 Nov 2015 - nterview: Eric Friedman of Tremonti
  7. RAMzine, December 6, 2018 - INTERVIEWS, Eric Friedman talks about Tremonti’s new album “This is my favourite album because of the way we did it together”
  8. Music Radar, 14 May 2011 - Mark Tremonti on solo album, Alter Bridge, instructional DVDs and Creed by Joe Bosso, LATEST VIDEOS FROM MUSICRADAR