About Me
In the late 90s, Winnipeg born singer/songwriter Eric Corne formed the Toronto space pop group, Mysterio, along with guitarist Simon Craig (Son, Dragonette) . The band released "Agent000", an album of "catchy, dynamic studio pop" (Exclaim! Magazine) on Bobby Dazzler Records in 2003.
In 2004, Corne moved to Los Angeles and met producer/engineer Dusty Wakeman (Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam). Soon after, Corne began working as a producer/engineer at Wakeman's Mad Dog Studios and one of his first gigs was working with him on the mixes for the live Gram Parsons tribute DVD, "Return To Sin City". Wakeman was also the musical director and bass player for the concert which featured Keith Richards, Norah Jones, Steve Earle, Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt), John Doe (X, The Knitters), Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam.At Mad Dog, Corne was able to learn from some of the best engineers in the business, working regularly with the likes of Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones) and David Bianco (Teenage Fanclub, Frank Black, Tom Petty). He has also had the good fortune of working with an amazing talent pool of session musicians. Some of the friends who've already guested on Corne's forthcoming album include: Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams, Ray Lamontagne), Greg Leisz (kd lang, Ryan Adams), Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, John Hammond), Richie Hayward (Little Feat, Eric Clapton), Freddy Koella (Bob Dylan), Skip Edwards (Dwight Yoakam, Chris Hillman), Brian Macleod (Sheryl Crow, Madonna), Santa Davis (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh), Humdinger and of course Wakeman.Working with a vintage Neve 8088 console, Corne has developed a very distinct sound...Big, warm and gritty with raw vintage tones getting a modern treatment. He has worked with Lucinda Williams, Michelle Shocked, Walter Trout, John Mayall, PF Sloan, Marvin Etzioni, Glen Campbell, Anne McCue, Nancy Wilson (Heart), John Doe (X), Honey Tongue Devils, Humdinger and Tsar (Corne used the L.A. rock band to cover Trooper's "Raise a Little Hell" for CityTV's "The Buck Calder Experience"). Recently, Corne did a track for Amnesty International with Ghanaian reggae/afro-beat artist Rocky Dawuni. "What an experience," Corne recalls. "The rhythm section was Santa Davis on drums (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh) and Ronnie McQueen on bass (Steel Pulse), with Benmont Tench (The Heartbreakers) on keys!" The project will raise money for children in Darfur, with artists such as REM, U2 and The Cure all performing John Lennon covers.Corne has also spent a good part of the last two years working as the main engineer on another charity, "The Congo Square Project", produced by Argentine drummer Fabian Jolivet. All proceeds from the project will be donated to New Orleans musicians in an effort to help revive the crucial music community which has been left devastated by hurricane Katrina. Some of those participating include: Airto Moreira (Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell), Clem Burke (Blondie), James Gadson (Solomon Burke, Beck), Don Heffington (Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams), Cougar Estrada (Los Lobos), Clayton Cameron (Sammy Davis, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett), Herlin Riley (Wynton Marsalis), Ndugu Chancler (Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Santana), Freddie Staelhe (Dr. John, Allen Toussaint) and Louie Bellson (Duke Ellington).Musically, Corne's tracks pull from a wide variety of roots-based styles but with an experimental pop production aesthetic/ethos. "Kid Dynamite" is a vitriolic slide down a greasy bannister, where stream of consciousness wordplay bobs above twisted raw guitars, whining keyboards and pounding drums before giving way to a haunting, fractious instrumental outro; "Common Man" places a classic protest song in the clutches of a grinding country rock groove, where Corne describes the state of a his adopted country, "A once great nation's fallen ill / a school yard bully hooked on pills / with one hand on the bible and a hand inside the till."; and in "Not Familiar", Corne again takes our "leaders" to task, this time through the pleading voice of a populist impresario, overtop a Johnny Cash guitar trotting alongside watery marimbas, spooky organ, upright bass and a deep warm drum sound;Recently, Corne finished mixing Michelle Shocked's new iTunes single, "Hardcore Hornography" and recording country music legend Glen Campbell for the Gene Autry tribute CD. He continues to work on finishing his own record between recording projects. A fall release is expected.
