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Interview with Blues Prodigy, Eric Gales
By: Lindsey M. Keen
 It's a Tuesday night in Nashville, TN, and it's a little dead outside due to the humidity. But things sure are hot inside the city's newest nightspot, B.B. King's Blues Club. Guitarist Eric Gales, stands before me wearing a silky white blouse, fuzzy leopard guitar strap and finger nails painted black. He's definitely his own character, and I didn't exactly discover this until I met him back stage where he truly gave me a piece of his mind.
Gales plays a faded pearl Fender Stratocaster – left handed, upside-down and backwards. The guitar, which had once caught on fire, is now charred with smut and weeps a bluesy mourn. The second song of his set is a scorching rendition of "Little Wing." This heart-wrenching interpretation pulled the veins in Gale's forehead and released a cry reaching out to heaven's legend, Jimi Hendrix.
NowOnTour: So who are your influences?
Eric Gales: B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, and Carlos Santana, who's my godfather. I met him when I was four years old and played with him at the 1995 Woodstock festival.
What feeling do you want a listener to carry with them after leaving your performance?
To go home inspired. A soul benefits from a talent that's giving a feeling of pure music.
This show is full of energy. At one point, Gales drops his pick and begins to distinctively pick up random possessions, using them as a slides. Then, gently rubbing the neck of his Strat up-and-down the microphone stand, creates an orgasmic sound. He decides to close the set with "The Star Spangled Banner." Another tribute to Jimi, who like Gales, faced a nation in a time of war and brought people together through their music.
Tomorrow marks the 13th anniversary of Stevie Ray Vaughan's death. How do you feel about him from this point in your life, as a young blues musician playing here at B.B. King's, playing music from the rock gods like Jimi?
I'm just carrying on the torch. Stevie Ray Vaughn is a master of the Stratocaster, and Jimi provides an out of body musical experience for me.
So, then what annoys you the most about the recording industry?
They don't fuckin' care about the artist they'll sign. They won't stand behind us, because they're materialized. And you can quote me. Social Security number blahblahblah, Memphis, TN!
The 27 year-old musician is self taught, had cut a quarter-million dollar deal with Elektra Records at the age of 15 and is about to release a new album, Live in Rio with Stevie Wonder. He's well known in the music industry, Guitar World magazine voted him "Best New Talent" and Spin Magazine recognizes him as "The Stuff of Legend." So, look out, this is the new face of blues and it belongs to Eric Gales.
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