Erik Upshaw

Nashville, TN based songwriter and instrumentalist Erik Upshaw has been creating catchy hooks and writing melodic tunes for nearly 12 years. Essentially a "one-man band", Erik taught himself how to play drums at the age of 13 and has since taught himself how to play the guitar. Most recently, Erik has learned the keys. "I've always been most fascinated with drums. Ever since I was a kid in church, my eyes were glued to the drummer," states Upshaw. "So I asked for a kit one Christmas and basically just taught myself how to play by practicing for hours each day." Once he felt pretty comfortable behind the kit and after his high school band broke up, he decided he wanted to take on another instrument - the guitar. "Even today I'm no where near a 'pro' by any means [on guitar], but I did in fact find it rather easy to pick up and learn." He asked for an acoustic-electric for his high school graduation gift and immediately fell in love with the guitar. "I still own it to this day, I called her 'Keira'." Once he picked up guitar he started writing his own songs in college. About a year later he rediscovered a cheap keyboard in his attic he received for Christmas as a kid, dusted it off and set his next goal - to learn the keyboard. "I remember placing masking tape on each key labeling them on the keyboard to help me learn each key." He then purchased an inexpensive audio interface and started recording. "I always get a good laugh when I go back and listen to some of my original recordings," Erik states (laughing) "But it's refreshing to know how far I've come since then." Now, nearly 13 years, 6 instrumental albums, 4 group albums, 2 Christmas EP's and nearly 100 songs later, Erik dreams of landing his tracks in film, TV, or commercials. "My dream one day before I pass on is to be in a movie theater and hear one of my songs during the film. Even if it's only 10 seconds long, knowing that something I was featured on the big screen would be one of the biggest accomplishments I could ever dream of experiencing." His next and final task - learning how to sing. “I strongly believe God has blessed me in many things and I simply believe singing is not one of them. If it works out and I can learn, great, but if not – I’m okay with that too!”

Erik's latest Instrumental/Pop release "Keys & Melodies" released in September. It is available everywhere online, including iTunes and Amazon.

Erik Upshaw’s tracks

• The Adventure by Erik Upshaw
• The Contender [Part I] by Erik Upshaw