BIO

To call Eric Ambel “The Godfather of Americana” would be doing Ambel a disservice, as his career as a singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer stretches beyond the boundaries of even that seemingly all-encompassing genre. Before Dave Cobb and Shooter Jennings were piling up Grammys behind the boards, Ambel was working with bands like the Backsliders, Bottle Rockets, and Blue Mountain, producing records that would form the foundation of what people now call Americana. 

This isn’t even taking to consideration Ambel’s debut solo album, Roscoe’s Gang (1988), which Rolling Stone called “the record Keith Richards should have made,” and which, along with his bona fide rock ‘n’ roll pedigree (a member of Joan Jett’s original Blackhearts lineup, The Del-Lords, collaborations with Syd Straw and Mojo Nixon) earned Ambel a reputation as the go-to producer and guitarist for anyone seeking that raw, loose, electric sound that Ambel made seem so effortless, but proved elusive for so many. Nils Lofgren enlisted Ambel to produce his landmark solo record Crooked Line and the aforementioned Backsliders, Bottle Rockets and Blue Mountain followed, leaning on Ambel to produce the albums that remain their most memorable and enduring works. 

Somewhere amid the production work, Ambel found time to release Loud and Lonesome (1994), his follow-up to Roscoe’s Gang, which No Depression compared to Neil Young, saying, “...whether its Crazy Horse-styled guitar heroics or a harmonica blowing over an estranged confessional. One listen, and you’ll feel mighty Neil, guaranteed.” The spirit of Young does indeed run through much of Ambel’s work; the same way it was Neil’s ethos as much as his output that earned him the “Godfather of Grunge” nickname for a spell in the ‘90s, Ambel’s understated, intuitive approach to songwriting and production remain among the guiding principles of contemporary Americana. 

The list of artists Ambel has played with and produced is dizzying, stretching from Chip Robinson to Run DMC and Everlast. One standout over the last several years has been Ambel’s creative partnership with Sarah Borges, whose albums Good & Dirty, Love’s Middle Name, and Together Alone were all produced by Ambel. That Ambel produced the albums and gradually, seamlessly became a featured member of Borges’ touring band (performing some of his own songs), and a sometimes co-writer, speaks to the ease and effortlessness with which Ambel is able to work collaboratively with the artists who enlist Ambel to produce their records.

The only downside to Ambel’s prolific work as a producer and band member (most notably, a lengthy tenure in Steve Earle’s band, the Dukes, and an ongoing gig alongside Dan Baird, Keith Christopher and Terry Anderson in the Yayhoos who released 2 well loved albums) is the wait between his own releases. Ten years passed between Loud and Lonesome and the compilation Knucklehead, which culled tracks from fifteen years of Ambel’s recording career, and which led David Fricke (Rolling Stone) to offer perhaps the best description yet of Ambel’s musical prowess: “Ambel rocks like the ‘72 Stones — all by himself.” 

Another decade passed between Knucklehead and the Jimbo Mathus-produced Lakeside (named after the legendary, defunct East Village bar Ambel co-owned with James “The Hound” Marshall), an album that proved once again that while countless bands wear Ambel’s influence on their sleeves, none do it quite as well as Ambel himself, and that solidified a mutually beneficial friendship and working relationship between Ambel and Mathus, who continue to produce and appear on each other’s innumerable projects. 

Mathus was on hand to produce some of Ambel’s latest release, You Asked for It (2022), which was borne as much by circumstance as anything else. As the COVID-19 pandemic ground the music industry to a halt and temporarily shuttered Ambel’s recording studio, Cowboy Technical Services, Ambel began working from his studio at home, releasing a series of digital tracks through Bandcamp, each one a part of what Ambel called The Shut In Series. Those eleven tracks are compiled on You Asked For It, presented with their original artwork and notes, available together on one CD, with the addition of one more track, a version of “Honky Tonk Women” Ambel recorded with Mathus and frequent collaborator Keith Christopher. 

You Asked For It may have come about a bit differently than Ambel’s previous albums, but it provides yet another reminder that, as Americana’s reach continues to grow, Ambel is every bit as influential an artist now as he was with the release of his first solo record, before the genre he helped invent even had a name.

Recently Released Albums Produced by Eric Ambel: Jerry Joseph: Baby, You’re The Man Who Would Be King, Katie Curley: Penny For My Heartbreak, Emily Duff: Tonight, Ward Hayden & The Outliers: Free Country, Esquela: A Sign From God, Erik Vincent Huey: Appalachian Gothic, Sarah Borges: Together Alone, Andrew Grimm: A Little Heat

Selected Eric Ambel credits at Allmusic and Cowboy Technical