Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Stevenson

Hi Eric, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

Well, Elizabeth and I met in college, but didn’t become friends until afterwards. I planned a solo piano tour (my first) back in 2010, and we were already dating by then and wanted to hang out more. She had done some live painting on stage before, so we figured she could come, we could hang, and it’d be a fun 6 weeks. It was!

We realized we actually made money on that tour, which we didn’t know at the time was unheard of for most band’s first tour. But we auctioned off the paintings after each show and that was a solid 60% or more of our income. We got married in 2011 and decided to go for it.

Since then, we’ve played over 1100 shows, played in all 50 states, started an autobiographical comic about our lives (The Touring Test), made a documentary about small touring bands (Drive. Play. Sleep.), and even broke a world record for “Playing a show in every state in the fastest amount of time” which we turned into a graphic novel that came out in Oct. 2023 called “How To Completely Lose Your Mind.” And that’s on top of releasing 11 to 16 albums (depending on how you count them). We’ve stayed busy, and it’s been financially meek much of time, but we’ve always been able to make ends meet, pay off college loans, and live a pretty great, satisfying if stressful career.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

HA. Smooth? I don’t even think there was a road. I feel like we’ve mostly been pulling a rickshaw without wheels through the thick brush of a jungle, hacking away with manchettes to clear a path.

Between sleeping in your car on tour, dealing with venues who don’t care about the show, trying to convince people you’re band is worth their time, and attempting to get the algorithm on whatever platform to work in your favor, it’s always one challenge after another.

But we have learned that attitude is nearly everything. Taking care of yourself and band morale is absolutely key, because when the challenges come, we’ve learned trying to make the best of them can often turn the entire situation around. For instance, sometimes you are about to start a show, and there’s only 4 or 5 random people in the bar, not caring you’re there and clearly just want a drink. It’s very easy to phone it in and just get through the show as fast as possible. However, we’ve learned that if you try to laugh at the situation a bit, and get on stage and try to engage everyone in the room, make jokes, and give it your all, those people can often turn out to be long time fans in the making.

We’ve actually had several shows like that to 5 people, but afterwards they all buy a bunch of merch and we walk out of the show with $400 or $500. If we phoned it in that wouldn’t have happened. You never know how it’ll go, and if you have a good attitude, it can often turn out great.

We’ve been impressed with Pocket Vinyl, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Pocket Vinyl is primarily a duo of Eric Stevenson (myself) and Elizabeth Jancewicz. I play the piano and sing while Elizabeth paints a 2’x2′ painting on stage, which we auction off after the show.

We’ve also made comics, a documentary, a 300 page graphic novel, and played over 1100 shows.

From what we’ve seen, there is no other band like us out there, and we do our best to stay engaging and fresh to our small yet passionate audience.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?

It’s best to fail doing something exactly how you want to do it. Compromise can be great and you should be open to other’s input, but if something fails, it’s far more satisfying knowing you wouldn’t have done it any other way. That’s the kind of satisfaction you can’t buy, regardless of the end result.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pocketvinyl.com
• Instagram: @pocketvinyl
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/pocketvinyl
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/pocketvinyl
• Other: https://pocketvinyl.bandcamp.com

Image Credits

Promo pics taken by the band. The other photos are examples of paintings Elizabeth has done on stage during a PV show.