Pop Folk

Introducing Eric & The Soo’s most experimental work to date, blending elements of jazz, prog-rock, psychedelia, blues, and folk. Showcasing the depth of talent within the band, “It’s OK To Be Beautiful” is a genre-bending work that encourages you, the listener, to be proud of who you are, because who you are is beautiful. Speaking of beauty, this song contains beautiful performances from Ken Yoshioka on guitar, slide guitar, and harmonica, while Dino Naccarato impresses with a rock-solid drum performance showcasing a wide range of styles. Dino also takes his first turn on Marimba and Xylophone for this recording introducing a whole new dimension of sound to the Eric & The Soo canon. Tim Bradford underpins these performances with a driving bass line, while Eric Brombacher floats his acoustic guitar over top and lends his voice to the vocal section.

Songwriter Eric Brombacher creates a new vehicle to showcase the talents of his band mates. Photo by Brian Tremblay.

As Eric relates, “The core concept for the song came to me after an evening of listening to jazz stylings of Wes Montgomery. I started to hear a guitar melody in my head, which I immediately sang into my phone. The following evening, Dino and I got to work on building the song, and it grew from there. Though I question its commercial viability, it’s a song I’m immensely proud of, specifically as it serves as a great showcase for the talents of my bandmates.”

So come join us on this experimental, musical ride. Maybe it will inspire you to open your mind to something new. It’s OK to try new things, it’s OK to open your mind, it’s OK to be beautiful.

Produced by Eric Brombacher

Eric Brombacher – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Ken Yoshioka – Electric Guitar, Slide Guitar, Harmonica
Tim Bradford – Bass Guitar
Dino Naccarato – Drums, Marimba, Xylophone

Words & Music by Eric Brombacher

Recorded remotely in Toronto, and North Bay, Canada

An Orange Peel Productions production

Engineered & Mixed by John Dinsmore at Lincoln County Social Club, Toronto
Mastered by Jeff “Fedge” Elliott at Union Sound, Toronto

Cover Art & Design by Eric Brombacher
Cover Photo by Annemarie Brombacher

From the beautiful mind that brought us Low Moon, and the unforgettable instrumental masterpiece Gunslinger, comes the eponymous Andrew James Barker. Those who followed along with us on Andrew’s journey in bringing Gunslinger to the world will recall that it’s instrumental mastery was accompanied by an equally rich outpouring of watercolour paints and images. We are so grateful that Andrew’s exploration of visual arts has not faded, but rather transformed, nay ascended, to even greater heights. Accompanying the album is one of the most richly textured audio-visual experiences I’ve had the pleasure of being immersed in. Painstakingly created frame by frame, this music video (a term that seems trite in this context) is pure joy:

As for the album itself, we are thrilled to hear that Andrew is once again stepping up to the microphone, to add vocals as icing, on top of the beautiful musical cake that he has baked for us. Available on Spotify, AppleMusic, Tidal, Deezer, and where ever else beautiful music is sold. And as of today, it’s also available on CD!

Order yours today on Bandcamp! https://andrewjamesbarker.bandcamp.com/album/andrew-james-barker

Eastside Confectionery Records

Toronto, Canada + Lauchringen, Germany + Sault Ste. Marie, Canada

A Musical Experiment for Eric & The Soo

New audio and visual magic from Andrew James Barker