Eric Silverman has been in love with music since he was a little kid growing up in New Jersey.
This, of course, means one is a bit beholden to worship Bruce Springsteen. But, for Silverman, that journey was slightly different.
Speaking from his home studio in Oakland ahead of his upcoming performance at Mill Valley’s revered Sweetwater Music Hall on Sunday, Jan. 25, Silverman says, “For as long as I can remember, music was really the biggest part of my life. My first real memory is playing ‘Rubber Soul’ and some Beach Boys records.”
Recalling how this passion transformed into a career, he says, “When I got a little more serious with my writing and recording and felt like I had some music I was really proud of, it really just became a bigger part of my life and something I wanted to spend more time doing.”
Silverman laughs that of course he loves Springsteen. But, as these stories often go, alongside a love for the intimacy and bravado found in music The Boss makes, he also quickly developed a passion for the Grateful Dead (see David Dodd’s piece on recently passed Bob Weir on page 16). And, since we’re talking about a musician who made his way to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue his passion, one might assume Silverman’s music owes a debt to the music of The Dead; however, this is surprisingly not all that true.
He doesn’t hide his love for the group, saying, “I mean, I own Jerry Garcia’s old console; I’m recording on it right now.” And, he adds, “My daughter’s name is ‘Cassidy’”—a nod to the Dead song of the same name from 1981. The refreshing part is that Silverman doesn’t feel the need to be just another member of the local Grateful Dead musicianship scene.
The musician explains, “[They are] a very important part of my life. But also, I’m not really interested in making Grateful Dead music. I mean, I’ll play Grateful Dead songs, and every now and then I’ll do some of those Dead [tribute] shows and stuff like that, but at least the music I make, I think there’s probably more Springsteen in there than there is The Dead.” Apparently, one can take the Jersey boy out of Jersey, but one can’t take the Jersey out of the Jersey boy.
Silverman’s songs indeed feature Springsteen-esque, thoughtful, lyrical insights and a sort of muscular structure imbued with soulful grooves, yet there’s also a much more modern, layered sound that he credits to producer, sound engineer and musical co-conspirator Damien Lewis.
“I’ve been working with Damien for a long time now,” Silverman says. “We record, write and produce together and sometimes DJ as a duo as well. It’s a really special partnership. We play the majority of the instruments on all the records and then bring in other musicians for certain parts like stings and horns.”
When listening to the music Silverman has recorded and released over the past decade, it can be a bit hard to pin down a sound that will fit easily into an elevator pitch. However, he says he doesn’t set out to make a different sound for each recording, rather lets the song dictate how it wants to sound or where it wants to go.
Case in point: “We’re literally in my home studio working on a song right now, and without intention, if I’m not actively listening to what we’re working on, this song is going to become ‘Fire on the Mountain,’” Silverman says with a laugh. “And I don’t want it to do that because I love ‘Fire on the Mountain,’ but that’s already a song. We’ve already got that one.”
Silverman says he’s finding himself in a fairly fruitful creative groove these days but also knows well enough not to push too hard when creating a new tune. To this, he notes, “I think it’s just more about letting it all kind of marinate. I’m not the kind of person that’s like, all right, I’m going to sit down and write a folk song, or I’m going to sit down and write a country song. It might happen, but it’s certainly not intentional. It’s just going to happen the way it’s going to happen.”
He dives deeper on this thought, recalling a track from 2022 titled “All In My Head” as a song that got lost along the way, only to later be rediscovered.
“I wrote the first verse of that and that little guitar part years, probably a decade or so ago, and then came back to it when we were making [something else], and we finished it. So, that stuff just comes around,” he says.
As to the “why” or “how” one misplaces or forgets about a song, Silverman matter-of-factly notes, “Sometimes, you get distracted or you write something you don’t know what to do with. Then you come back. There’s stuff that we’re doing now that we found on a hard drive, and I was like, whoa, where did this come from?” he incredulously explains. “And it’s like, oh man, remember we booked that session in L.A. between albums. … You just find stuff.”
While Silverman’s diverse recorded output is well worth checking out on the streamer of one’s choice (especially via Bandcamp, if one is into the whole “musicians being treated fairly” thing), he promises the newest lineup for this show is going to add many layers to the songs one may have heard.
“We’re a five-piece band; we’ve been playing together for a while. I mean, my bass player, Nate [Skelton], we started playing in bands in college together,” he explains. Other members include Sarah Reinke on guitar, David Mayman on drums and Akhil Bhatt on keyboard. Silverman makes it a point to note, “The whole band sings, so we get to really lean into all the harmonies,” adding that he’s still working on the setlist for the upcoming gig.
“Sweetwater’s a great room, and it’s a really good hang, but also I just feel like we’ve got something to really show people. And I’m proud of it. I love playing these songs,” he says. “I put a lot into the records. And if it was up to me, I’d probably hole up in a studio and just kind of live in one and work on records all day,” he adds with a laugh. “So if I’m going to get up and really play shows and get the band together, I want it to be impactful. I want it to be really good and be something special.”
Eric Silverman headlines The Sweetwater on Sunday, Jan. 25, Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley. The Nyte Skye and Michael Michael Motorcycle open the show. $28.33. Check out ericsilverman.bandcamp.com for more info.
