Eric Heveron-Smith is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who pulls myriad influences- jazz and swing, soul and funk, indie rock and folk, West African and Afro-Latin rhythms- into songs full of gentle wit, earnest joy, and transcendent wonder at the world around us.
Along with a huge variety of sideman work over the past 20 years, Eric leads an original indie-folk band called Einstein’s Dreams, and a jazz/funk/blues power trio called Swordfish Collective. He tours regularly with rising blues star Gabe Stillman, and swing bandleader Gordon Webster (playing in Quebec, Korea, and beyond).
“The term multi-instrumentalist gets thrown around a lot these days, but Heveron-Smith earns it,” (Roc City Paper) playing upright and electric bass, trombone, and tuba on tour across 45 states and 6 Canadian provinces (plus South Korea, Sierra Leone, The Netherlands, and Belgium) with YouTube supergroup Postmodern Jukebox, swing musicians like Gunhild Carling, Gordon Webster, and Sweet Megg, and Americana, roots and blues artists like Gabe Stillman, Miss Tess, and the Resonant Rogues. He has opened for B.B. King, Tower of Power, Jake Shimabukuro, and Keb Mo’, and played one beautiful gig with pop legend Michael McDonald.
In 2023, Eric attended the Silk Road Project’s Global Musicians Workshop, where he studied with cellist Mike Block, Chinese guzheng player Mei Han, and Malian balafon master Balla Kouyaté. This led to collaborations with musicians from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, India, West Africa, Scotland, and more, including a trip to Sierra Leone to teach and perform at a songwriting retreat and festival. Eric has studied jazz improvisation with Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) and Steve Davis (Art Blakey, Chick Corea), vocal technique with Grammy-nominated Priya Darshini, and songwriting with jazz/folk singer-songwriter Becca Stevens.