We thought spoken word was for pussies until we fell in love with this guy.

One day Mike Cormier of Volta Sound called me up and tells me I need to record his friend in the recently completed So You Wanna Own a Tiger studio at the Davenport Collective space. No questions asked. I booked it. It was my first paid recording session. Cormier was gonna pay me $15 for an hour.

Eric, his brother Benton, and Cormier came down. I set up and hit record. What happened over the next four hours was one of the more pleasant surprises of my adult life. This bald guy sat in this smokey studio and spun tale after tale after tale. Amazing stories that kept me riveted to my seat. His brother sat in for half the set on a borrowed mint Rhodes. I loved it so much that I offered to mix it and release in on VGR.

Decades later, Eric Alleman is my office neighbor at the Davenport spot. He’s become an integral member of the Collective and VGR’s roster.