Eric Squindo

"Squindo certainly has an ability to write an engaging song..." (Chris Jordan, Home News Tribune) As a young child in the early seventies, Eric Squindo already had an addiction to songwriting. Since then, he has been honing his craft line by line, verse by verse. Turned on by AM pop radio, Squindo spent his nights huddled over the scratchy half-inch speakers while the words of Jim Steinman, Jackson Browne, and Bernie Taupin soaked into his thirsty subconscious. Determined to be more than a poet, he began strumming an acoustic guitar in high school while working out his dusty-road tenor singing voice. For years following, Squindo continued writing, armed with the ability to put his words to music. All he needed now was a musical direction to focus his rambling. By now, the music he had grown up with seemed processed and soulless, while the complex, over-cerebrated Dylan wannabes of the nineties bored him. Instead, he looked to the simple honesty of legendary wordsmiths such as Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie. Late one New Years Day, a radio show out of New York played a set of Townes Van Zandt, a country/folk songwriter from Texas that had just passed away. From that moment, Townes would become one of Eric’s most essential influences – this classic “Americana” would define the backbone of Squindo’s writing. He immersed himself in the sound of other similar artists such as Steve Earle, John Prine, and Lucinda Williams. Soon after, Eric began hitting the open mic scene and created a name for himself in Central New Jersey. After several years of playing rhythm guitar and supplying background vocals for local New Jersey bands (including Great North Special, a popular Grateful Dead cover band) Squindo self-released 'Roadsick', his debut solo album. Selling a few hundred out of his backpack, it was described as warm and whimsical country/folk and was rated one of the top ten local albums of 2003 by the Asbury Park Press and the Home News & Tribune. Although he remains a songwriter, Eric occasionally strays as a lyricist and ventures into other forms of scribble. He has written several children’s books (illustrated by his brother, Tony Squindo, a notable visual artist in his own right), as well as a novel that deals with the drama of a struggling musician. In 2006, Squindo began work on his follow-up album while continuing to perform on the east coast./ Bands: Great North Special, Hub City Ramblers, Along Came Jones, The Squindo Trio, Odus Driftwood./ On Record: 'Breakfast at Bill's', Spook Handy, (2001 Akashic Records) vocals on the song 'Vote'/ 'Roadsick' Eric Squindo, (2003) self-released solo album/ recorded at 'the gasworks'/ ‘The Davidson Mill Tapes’ Eric Squindo, (2004) self-released EP/ ‘The Story of Annie Edson’ Eric Squindo (2004) self-released single/ 'Strangers Rest' Eric Squindo (2007) self -released EPMyspace Backgrounds