Eric is the founder of Fruit Bats and co-producer of the Huichica Music Festival in Sonoma.
What was the food highlight of your year?
When I was working on Nina Persson’s record this summer, my time in Sweden coincided with the holiday Midsommar, which is the longest day of the year and a time when folks get together to eat and drink and be outside and just sort of celebrate summertime and being Swedish. We spent it with Nina’s friends and family in the Swedish countryside. There was lots of pickled fish, sausage, aquavit, and beer. Tons of flavors I recognized but a bunch of dishes I’d never tried, and the vibe and setting was amazing. Ww walked our food off on a trip to the beach in the dusky 11:30 PM light. Also worth mentioning was that I finally got around to eating at the Woodsman Tavern in Portland. It has a lot of hype and deserves every single bit of it. Not a bad dish on the menu and the trout is the best thing I’ve had in some time.
What was the music highlight of your year?
This was a year of music highlights for me personally. Lots of beginnings and endings and milestones. My own Huichica Music Festival is always special, and this year there I got to share a stage with Bob Weir (thanks to Jonathan Wilson), which was pretty incredible. I collaborated with Yellowbirds on a tour, which was lovely. I got to do the complete Last Waltz again this year in Port Chester, NY with some of the best musicians on the planet. I worked on my first three records as a producer, which is sending me off on a pretty fun new path. But most important is that after 13 years I wrapped up my band Fruit Bats. It is super bittersweet but a really beautiful thing to be able to go out with an emotional, lovey-dovey, sold out show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. It’s been a crazy year. My favorite show I saw was Ty Segall, Shabazz Palaces, and Jessica Pratt in the Woods at Pickathon. My Favorite album was Kurt Vile’s “Wakin’ On a Pretty Daze.”
Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?
Well, it would be hard for me not to drop Huichica again as a prime example!