Approaching the musical world of Eric Apoe is like trying to decide where to land on an undiscovered planet. A maze with many entrances, but which one leads to the scenic route that shows it all? Do we start with the teenage drummer, follow him through gigs with Ron Davies through to free jazz escapades with Jerry Heldman, and finally a Las Vegas debut with Doug Kershaw? Or does the real story begin with his stint as a songwriter for Chappell Music, a near signing with John Hammond, or should we start with the Elektra demos? Or skip all that and jump ahead to his discography, where his piles of songs receive musical ornamentation by such diverse players as new age pianist David Lanz, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, and longtime Willie Nelson harmonicat, Mickey Raphael? I don’t know. Wherever we begin, we will end with only a partial view of the man who may well be Seattle’s most diversely accomplished musician. He has been everywhere, knows everyone, yet after 50 years of raising his voice in song from open mikes at Seattle´s legendary Last Exit on Brooklyn to famed appearances in the song halls of Jerusalem, he remains somewhere on the curved edge of the grid, a face that shows up frequently in the archives of rock history, but is difficult to put the finger to exactly how he is….is Eric Apoe the Zelig of rock and roll or a harbinger of what is yet to come?
It was in the very early seventies that Eric facilitated what surely must be noted as the dawn of Seattle Punk Rock. Along with Gary Minker, later of Red Dress, and Richard Riggins, later of Chinas Comidas, Apoe initiated a series of what he christened Snotlogs in various Seattle venues, from the Ethnic Cultural Center to the U of W´s Hub auditorium. These events were the first musician produced and promoted events since the early days when groups such as The Wailers and The Sonics put on dances in rented halls. They were wild affairs that mixed aggressive rock and roll with spastic theatrics and classical interludes, with breaks for apocalyptic folk songs and mummified blues. In these shows, Apoe could be seen playing drums along with the free jazz piano of Bill White to the poetry of Cynthia Genser or puking mushroom soup over his vaselined chest onto a Saran wrapped guitar while singing Straight from the Mouth of the Scorpion.
Those were wild days, Alive in Underground Seattle, before Apoe hit the road to join his friend Max Paul Schwennsen in Doug Kershaws touring band. Before long, he had dragged a plethora of Seattle musicians, including Al Katz, Annie Rose. Pat Hewitt, and Brian Smith, into the band, which toured the world and appeared on many nationally syndicated television programs. He made a lot of industry contacts on the road, which helped him when he landed in Hollywood to pursue a songwriting career. He wrote a lot of songs for Chappell Music, one of which was recorded by Al Kooper, but his career was largely a series of almosts. So after getting married and deciding to raise a family, he moved back to Seattle, and started working with a core group of musicians that have remained loyal to him for nearly 30 years, producing eight albums for his own label, Soundtrack Blvd Music.
credits
from Songladder January 2019,
released December 28, 2018
eric apoe vocals, rob cook piano, damien aitken sax
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