ERIC GALES’ NEW ALBUM ‘CROWN’ IS THE WORK OF AN ARTIST AT HIS APEX. THE CHOPS ARE STAGGERING, BUT IT’S THE SONGWRITING – WHICH DELVES DEEP INTO HIS PAINFUL EXPERIENCES OF PREJUDICE, DEMONS OF SELF-DOUBT AND ADDICTION – THAT HITS YOU IN THE GUT. IS THERE ANYONE TO BETTER HIM RIGHT NOW? WE JOINED HIM TO FIND OUT…
Anyone who has witnessed Eric Gales live will agree that he fully deserves his newfound status as blues-rock royalty. But his guitar vocabulary extends way beyond just those domains as it incorporates elements of jazz, funk, soul and gospel within its compass, all channelled into what he describes as his “upside-down and backwards” playing style. Touring to promote his new album, Crown, he recently wowed audiences across the UK with the unstoppable force of his live performance, a canny blend of showmanship and unbelievable chops. “Everybody is actually blown away, man,” he tells us as we settle down for a cuppa in the Guitarist studio. “And the response and the emotion that has been displayed by the audience receiving the material live has been awesome. Everybody’s been really enjoying it.”
Lyrically, the album explores areas that are at once both old and familiar and shockingly contemporary. “It’s inspirational to watch actually, to see the tears come in people’s eyes when I’m playing and singing these lyrics,” he continues. “Predominantly, a lot of people come to the shows to see the guitar playing, but at the end of it they are moved by the things that I have to say. It’s a one-two punch, doing everything that I can to try to help change the world.”
To say that Crown’s release was eagerly awaited would be an understatement. As with many recent projects it was stalled by the onset of the pandemic. “We made wise use of our time and we even delayed the record coming out for a year because I didn’t want it to be released and not being able to fully promote it and tour and everything,” Eric remembers. “So we held off until this year. It’s been anticipated for quite some time and I hope it was worth the wait.”
Unleashed to the world at the beginning of the year, the album has proven to be not only worth the wait but something of a game-changer for Gales with the prize finally in sight and a coronation imminent…
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Would you say that Crown is very autobiographical in a lot of ways?
“It’s very autobiographical. The writing was taken from the st
