Eric Steckel (born 1990) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. To date, Steckel has released 12 albums, and toured worldwide sharing the billing with

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Larry Carlton Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. He has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorde ...

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Springfield ...

, and others. In 2021, Steckel was named one of "10 Future Blues Stars” by ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

''.

Career

Steckel was born in

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Lehigh County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Lechaa Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557.

. A young talent on the guitar, Steckel recorded his debut album, ''A Few Degrees Warmer'' (2002), at the age of 11. The collection contained three tracks written, or co-written, by Steckel. A year later he became the youngest musician to perform with

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

, having been invited to play with them on stage, following his own appearance in the 2003

Sarasota Blues Fest The Sarasota Blues Fest was an annual music festival held at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. In addition to all day live entertainment, the festival has vendors selling a wide array of food, drink and crafts. History The Sarasota Blues Fest ...

. In 2004, Steckel joined

and his ensemble on tour in Scandinavia. The following year, Steckel recorded with Mayall in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, providing guitar work on one track on the latter's '' Road Dogs'' album Steckel's next own album, ''High Action'', followed. Steckel then issued several studio and live albums, including ''Feels Like Home'' (2008), where he employed the percussionist

Duane Trucks Duane Trucks (born December 28, 1988) is an American musician best known as the current drummer for Widespread Panic and Hard Working Americans. Life and career Duane Trucks was born on December 28, 1988, in Jacksonville, Florida. He began learn ...

on drums. The album's overall sound evoked the feel of 1970s

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

. In addition, Steckel toured widely particularly throughout Europe, where he supported Johnny Winter at the Paradiso in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, performed at the Tegelen Bluesrock Festival and shared the bill at the Pistoia Blues Festival with Gregg Allman. He also in May 2010 performed at the Café Wilhelmina in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Musikfest ''Musikfest'' is an American music festival that has been held annually since 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the nation's largest non-gated free music festival. The festival begins on ...

. In 2012, he recorded the studio album, ''Dismantle The Sun''. It was promoted by Steckel's first UK tour, and the album contained seven tracks co-written by him plus his version of the

Mel London Mel London (April 9, 1932 – May 16, 1975) was an American songwriter, record producer, and record label owner. He was active in the Chicago blues and R&B scenes in the 1950s and 1960s. London is best known for his compositions for Chicago ...

penned "Sugar Sweet" (as originally recorded by

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

), which incorporated blues harmonica from

Steve Guyger Steve Guyger (born September 12, 1952) is an American Chicago blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. He has recorded five albums since 1997, having previously backed Jimmy Rogers for almost fifteen years. Rick Estrin, from Rick Estrin ...

. In 2015, Steckel made his first transatlantic studio album, when ''Black Gold'' was jointly recorded in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and Amsterdam, Netherlands. His 2018 release, ''Polyphonic Prayer'' saw the emergence of what Steckel considers his 'bluesmetal' era, with more up to date guitar and production styles. It saw Steckel tackle every instrument on the album, apart from the drums. ''Grandview Drive'' (2020) took the 'bluesmetal' sound onwards, and included full Steckel production credits, before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

curtailed activities for many. Steckel has been featured in ''

Premier Guitar ''Premier Guitar'' is a media company devoted to guitarists. It is based in Marion, Iowa, and it's staff is focused on creating the best website, videos, podcasts, and print/digital magazine for gearheads around the world. Interviews have include ...

'', ''

Guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

'', ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'', ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'', ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Al ...

'', '' The Intelligencer'', ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', ''

Times Herald-Record The ''Times Herald-Record'', often referred to as ''The Record'' or ''Middletown Record'' in its coverage area, is a daily newspaper published in Middletown, New York, covering the northwest suburbs of New York City. It covers Orange, Sullivan ...

'', ''

Sarasota Herald-Tribune The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''. History The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...

'', and ''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

''. International press includes a feature in the ''

Haagsche Courant 250px, The former headquarters of the Haagsche Courant in Rijswijk The ''Haagsche Courant'' operated as an independent newspaper between 1864 and 2005 in The Hague and its suburbs. After it was acquired by the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) it is now pu ...

''. He has appeared on NBC 10, Comcast CN8, SNN6, and

Reuters TV Reuters TV is a mobile video news service operated by the news organization Reuters. The service was available via several digital media players as well as the Reuters and Reuters TV apps and the Reuters TV website. On Wednesday, January 15, 202 ...

. In March 2022, Steckel took his Los Angeles-based rhythm section to

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

's Steakhouse Studio in

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

for an impromptu live session. Using zero autotune, samples, overdubs or re-takes, Steckel and his band performed a live set of original material, which was captured on tape and video. ''The Steakhouse Sessions: Vol. 1'' (released September 22) is Steckel's latest release on his own Bluzmtl Records label. Later the same year, Steckel undertook his first tour of the UK for eight years. He commented "I've been on the road since I was 12 years old and there’s no place on Earth I'd rather be than on stage. I am beyond thrilled to be finally returning to the stage in Spring 2022". In April and May that year he performed across parts of Europe, and recommenced those activities in September and October.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

*
Eric Steckel "El Camino" from ''Black Gold'' @ YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steckel, Eric 1990 births Living people 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American blues guitarists American blues singer-songwriters American male guitarists American male songwriters Blues rock musicians Musicians from Pennsylvania Songwriters from Pennsylvania People from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Record producers from Pennsylvania