Album Notes

According to Rolling Stone critic Gail Worley: "Eric Anders is an obscure, independent singer-songwriter whose unaffected ability to turn a phrase and otherworldly knack for arranging transcendent, melancholy melodies would have made him a superstar … you know, if records still sold based on talent." Tethered to the Ground is Eric's third full-length CD and will be released April 11, 2006. Though there is continuity with his previous releases since Eric wrote many of the songs with the same writing partners from before, particularly Mark O'Bitz, there is also very much a new sound here, largely attributable to some new music partners: the members of Trespassers William. Tethered to the Ground was produced by Matt Brown, Trespassers Williams guitarist and producer. Matt also played most of the guitars and keys. TW's celebrated lead singer, Anna-Lynne Williams, generously contributed some truly wonderful backing vocals, while Ross Simonini, TW's bassist, made an invaluable contribution during recording by playing several instruments including bass. Gail Worley on Tethered to the Ground: With a voice that combines James Taylor's grounded poignancy with Jeff Buckley's complex ethereality, west coast singer-songwriter Eric Anders creates gorgeous, wistful "Sunday morning" music unlike that of any other contemporary artist. The thirteen tunes gracing Anders' brilliant new release, Tethered To The Ground are buoyed by his masterful grasp of song craft and remarkable knack for warm, intricately sculpted arrangements. On standout tracks like the haunting "Earth Rise" and the thinly veiled revenge fantasy "Looking Forward to Your Fall" the singer manages to convey a range of nuanced emotions by foregoing superficial emoting. But it is his nearly-unrecognizable-yet-instantly-familiar cover of the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun," which transforms the original's spastic jubilation into a ballad on the sweet agony of unarticulated sentiments, that truly separates Anders from his peers and marks him as singular.