Eric Gales grew up in a musical family with four brothers, two of them who learned to play the guitar
upside down and left handed in the same fashion that Eric does. Eric’s brother Eugene Gales who played
bass in the Eric Gales Band and his brother Little Jimmy King who had a thriving career as a blues artist
before his untimely death.
Eric released his first record at Age 16 for Elektra records to an amazing
response from the media and music fans around the globe. Guitar World Magazine’s Reader’s Poll named
Eric as “Best New Talent,” in 1991. After recording a second record for Elektra, all three brothers teamed up
for The Gales Bros. “Left Hand Brand” which was recorded for the House of Blues label in 1996.
Through the years, it would not be unusual to look out in the audience and see artists like Carlos Santana,
Eric Johnson, Keith Richards, B. B. King, and Eric Clapton, looking on with interest as Eric took his God-given
talent and worked crowd after crowd into a frenzy. The new Millennium presented new opportunities for
Eric and he was signed to a deal with Nightbird Records which was affiliated with the Hendrix family and
distributed through MCA/Universal. Under this deal, Eric recorded the critically acclaimed record “That’s
What I Am” in 2001 and hit the road, mesmerizing fans around the world with his uncanny connection to his
guitar.
In 2006 Eric recorded the critically acclaimed CD “Crystal Vision” for Shrapnel Records and set the
stage for his incredible Blues Bureau Division follow-up, “The Psychedelic Underground.” in 2007. In 2010
Eric hit a new stride altogether with the incredibly successful album “Relentless”. In 2013 Eric, dUg Pinnick
(King’s X) and Thomas Pridgen (formerly of the Mars Volta) released the first critically acclaimed record
“PGP” on Magna Carta Records. The same year Eric released his first instrumental album “Ghost Notes”
under the new banner “The Eric Gales Trio”.
As both an African-American left-handed guitarist of extraordinary ability and an expressive vocalist, it is
natural for people to compare Eric to Hendrix but Eric has developed a unique hybrid blues/rock sound
that also draws upon influences as diverse as Albert King and Eric Johnson. A unique amalgam of styles,
Eric Gales stands head and shoulders among other guitarists in his genre.