Eric Tingstad (born December 16, 1954) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter and composer. He was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Best known as a fingerstyle guitarist, Tingstad has performed, recorded, and produced alternative country, blues, americana, rock, smooth jazz, ambient, and New-age music. Tingstad frequently collaborates with woodwinds player

Nancy Rumbel Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and traveled together since 1985, and are responsible for 19 albums. Eric Tingstad is a composer who plays fingerstyle guitar. Nancy Rumbel plays oboe, English horn and t ...

Tingstad and Rumbel Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and traveled together since 1985, and are responsible for 19 albums. Eric Tingstad is a composer who plays fingerstyle guitar. Nancy Rumbel plays oboe, English horn and t ...

Background

Eric Tingstad cites early rock and roll influences such as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and King Crimson. Other influences include the Kingston Trio, Flatt and Scruggs, pianist and composer Martin Denny, sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, Mason Williams's "

Classical Gas "Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by American guitarist Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album '' The Mason Williams P ...

" and the Hawaiian

slack-key guitar Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiia ...

. In the mid 1970s, while playing lead guitar and bass with Seattle-based rock band Pegasus, Tingstad began studies under masters of techniques pioneered by Spanish classical guitarist and innovator

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987) was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were students of Segovia or their students. Segovia's contribution to the m ...

. Those techniques, combined with innovations of his own, have shaped Tingstad's stylings and the instrumental compositions for which he is known. His innovative work inspired

Will Ackerman William Ackerman (born November 16, 1949) is an American guitarist and record producer who founded Windham Hill Records. Career Early years Ackerman was born in Palo Alto, California. His adoptive father was a professor of English at Stanfo ...

, founder of

Windham Hill Records Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

, to create the Windham Hill Guitar Sampler series. Tingstad's Prelude from the Bridal Suite is a selected pick on AllMusic.com from the first Windham Hill Guitar Sampler. By a vote of his peers, he was honored in October 2006 with the Coyote Award from Arts Northwest commemorating his leadership, visibility, and contributions in live performance. He is also known for his philanthropic and community service work for historical preservation, land trust, and environmental issues which he has incorporated into his compositional themes and branding.

Recordings

Tingstad's solo recording career began in 1982 with the release of ''On the Links'', eleven original songs in the then-burgeoning New Age genre. The album appeared on his private label, Cheshire Records, under which he continues to release albums of his own music and others. In 1985, he began a collaboration with woodwinds player

. Their debut album, ''The Gift'', an acoustic Christmas collection, was very well received, selling ten thousand copies in the first ten weeks. ''The Gift'' went on to sell over half a million copies, and remains a best-selling Christmas album. In 1987 Tingstad signed a multi-album record contract with

Narada Productions Narada is a record label formed in 1983 as an independent new-age music label and distributed by MCA. A fully owned subsidiary of Universal Music Group and distributed by Capitol Music Group's Blue Note Records, the label evolved through an expan ...

which led to 14 recordings from 1987 to 2004. The catalog is now owned and distributed worldwide by EMI Capitol. In 1988 Tingstad and Rumbel collaborated with pianist

David Lanz David Howard Lanz (born June 28, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) is a Grammy-nominated pianist and composer. His album '' Cristofori's Dream'' topped the New Age music charts in 1988. Early years Lanz attributes his interest in the piano to experien ...

to form the Woodlands trio, which resulted in a best-selling album called ''Woodlands''. In 1998 the double album, ''American Acoustic'' was honored as "Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year". It debuted at number one on Adult Contemporary charts and spent ten weeks on the ''Billboard'' radio charts. In 2000, Tingstad & Rumbel were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. Tingstad won a

Grammy Award for Best New Age Album The Grammy Award for Best New Age Album is presented to recording artists for quality albums in the new-age music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several ca ...

in 2003 as artist, engineer, and producer of

's, ''Acoustic Garden''. In 2007 Tingstad recorded ''Southwest'', an instrumental album inspired by the landscapes of the American Southwest region featuring compositions in the style of what he calls "Ambient-Americana". He received a Grammy nomination for the recording ''Southwest'' recording. In 2012 he released his instrumental Americana recording ''Badlands'', which includes an appearance by

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was origin ...

and steel guitarist

Cindy Cashdollar Cindy Cashdollar is an American musician specializing in steel guitar and Dobro. She grew up in Woodstock, New York, where she perfected her skills by playing with bluegrass musician John Herald, blues musicians Paul Butterfield, and Levon ...

. ''Badlands'' continues in the ambient-Americana style, deriving influence from Native American music, along with country and roots genres. On April 21, 2015 Tingstad released another instrumental called ''Mississippi'' continuing in the realm of Americana, folk, blues, country and more with Chris Leighton, Ben Smith and TJ Morris on drums and percussion, Eric Robert on organ and whirly, and Garey Shelton and James Clark on bass.

Discography

*''On the Links'' (1982) *''Urban Guitar'' (1984) *''The Gift'' (1985) *''Emerald'' (1986) *''Woodlands'' (1987) *''Legends'' (1988) *''Homeland'' (1990) *''In the Garden'' (1991) *''Renewal'' (1992) *''Give and Take'' (1993) *''Star of Wonder'' (1994) *''A Sense of Place'' (1995) *''Pastorale'' (1997) *''American Acoustic'' (1998) *''Music to Brighten Your World'' (2000) *''Paradise'' (2000) *''A Dream and a Wish'' (2001) *''Acoustic Garden'' (2002) *''A Trip Through Tuscany'' (2003) *''Comfort and Joy'' (2004) *''A Moments Peace'' (2005) *''Southwest'' (2006) *''Leap of Faith'' (2009) *''Fortune Smiles (The Halyards)'' (2010) *''Badlands'' (2012) *''Mississippi'' (2015) *''Electric Spirit'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tingstad, Eric 1954 births Living people Musicians from Seattle American male composers 21st-century American composers American male songwriters Songwriters from Washington (state) Narada Productions artists 21st-century American male musicians