Equal parts wandering poet and live performance mainstay, Eric Reitz delves into rock, folk, and pop to couch his purpose-driven lyrics.
Eric Reitz hails from Reading, Pennsylvania, a paradoxical place; though a suburb of Philadelphia, it neighbors Lancaster County—Amish country. Culture clash is inevitable. Eric wearily studied piano as a boy, but he longed for the guitar—its shape, its allure, its legacy. Eric’s parents stipulated: first learn “The Entertainer”on keys, and the guitar would follow. Even this he couldn’t manage.
Undeterred, Eric convinced his parents to rent him a guitar, an axe yanked from the pages of a heavy metal magazine. Not quite the tool he’d seen in the hands of idols like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. Eric soon returned that ol’ lightning bolt to the rental shop. The musical muse had been quieted.
A few years older, wiser, and more motivated, Eric picked up his older brother's acoustic guitar and taught himself chords and progressions. Intrigued, Eric bought his own acoustic. He also discovered an insistent but unpolished urge to sing.He’d imitate popular songs, a tentative first step toward vocal training. Now years removed from that mimicry, Eric has developed his own peerless voice and delivery.Alongside an unquenchable songwriting thirst that’s seeped into his debut album,12 (South), and his recent sophomore effort, Sinister Love. Check out the video for lead single "City Lights" on YouTube. Available on iTunes, CDBaby, or at Eric’s site, www.ericreitz.com Eric Reitz.
