Music Biography
In the mid-sixties, I was one of those young teenagers who hung around New York City’s Greenwich Village sneaking into bars and clubs in the hopes of hearing the new wave of folk singers creating a scene in New York and beyond with their politically inspired folk music. While it was somewhat unusual to see Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, or Simon and Garfunkel, I soon become inspired by Phil Ochs, Woody Guthrie, Eric Andersen and other topical singer-songwriter / activists. In 1971, when I was finishing college in the City (and foolishly inclined to go to law school), I decided to learn to play guitar, relying entirely on my very meager musical skills. A few years later, while living on Hubbard Hill Commune outside of Ithaca in Upstate New York, I began writing songs and beginning to wonder whether my modest guitar playing and somewhat melodic messages would attract an audience.
Upon arriving in Floyd County, Virginia in 1978, I decided to start playing my songs publically, first in small coffee houses and political demonstrations in Blacksburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Richmond and a couple of years later throughout the region in concerts, at universities, and in more established folk clubs. A year of private classical piano instruction at Virginia Tech helped me break out of some of my self-taught limitations.
Between 1979 and 1985, I toured up and down the East Coast, often taking my young son, Jesse, with me. We hitchhiked on most tours, often 10 or 15 thousand miles a year (hitchhiking with a small boy and a guitar case was about the same as having a ticket to one’s destination). During this time, we met countless wonderful people who gave us rides, put us up, enjoyed our stories of the road, and attended my concerts. I performed on the radio and television in some cities in the U.S. and Canada, and received some airplay for a few years in college towns and big cities, but I never really caught on. I recorded All Your Heart, an album of my politically and philosophically motivated songs in 1982; it was released in February 1983.
I’ve shared the stage with countless passionate and inspired musicians, some local and some well-known. During these years of touring, my delusions of the prospect of fame eventually matured into simply loving to sing my songs and talk to audiences in the countless towns and cities in which I performed. By the mid-80s, being on the road five or six months a year started to wear on us.
I stopped touring and performing in 1985 to begin six years of graduate school in literature at Virginia Tech and eventually a new career as a university professor (first at Virginia Tech and now at James Madison University). I still write and play but no longer perform. Most of the songs on this site have some relevance to my life and activities, and I’ve included some comments with the songs. I’ve never considered myself an “entertainer” per se, although I hope I did entertain my audiences. I’ve always hoped my songs would inform and inspire others to fight for social justice as well as spend more time being introspective.
Remastering nearly thirty-year old studio tapes took a few months, and some of the tapes were damaged. You will hear some irregularities on a few songs (Inside and Outside, in particular, and few songs on the Studio Cuts and Live Recordings). Unfortunately, very few of my concerts were filmed (and these I’ve not be able to locate), but I’ve included a couple of informal and poor quality videoed sessions. Since this is an archive, I’ve included recordings and videos regardless of their technical or musical quality.
Writing and singing has always been a way for me to see people and events in a different perspective— and a path inside, if you will— even as a way of explaining the world to myself. I have never considered myself a gifted musician or composer…just a hard working one.
Eric Pappas
Harrisonburg, Virginia