We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erik Coveney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erik below.

Hi Erik, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My journey into professional music began at age 16. I was your typical suburbanite: soccer, heavy music, keeping grades up, and backyard hangs with friends. With two engineers for parents, I was, by default, headed for a similar career. Or was I?

I had already quit the French horn from middle school band, hoping I’d have a better chance to “get girls” by playing in a rock band. The band my friends were starting already had two guitar players and a drummer, so, fatefully, I chose bass.

I considered music a hobby; playing with my school jazz band, the worship team at my church, and the talent show with various bands. I learned music theory and recording, and soon, I had made several albums of music I wrote, played the instruments on, and recorded. The bug was biting.

One summer, I got a job at Dunkin Donuts, and some of the realities of life hit me like a brick wall. I wasn’t paid well, but the real problem was I didn’t enjoy the work. I was blessed with the realization that even if I got a job that paid well one day, if I didn’t enjoy doing the work, I would probably feel the same way I did as a baker at Dunkin Donuts: uninspired.

I began to pray about it, I asked to be guided to a job that would “be fun” and “make a difference in the world”.

One morning, I was manning the cash register at Dunkin Donuts, and there were no customers. I sent up my prayer about finding the right path, and a strange but beautiful thought entered my mind. It’s as if it were a thought from some higher place.

The thought was: “Why don’t you just do music?”.

That thought changed my life. Making music for a career made so much sense: I loved it and music is such a powerful force to bring joy and communicate truth to the world.

I hold on to that moment when things get tough to navigate in music. I am privileged to have been a professional music maker for the last 10 years.

Erik, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a Nashville-based music maker, and I do that by functioning in three main roles: producer, bass player, and composer, depending on the needs of the project.

I got into the music industry by studying music at Belmont University, and then transitioned into working in music full-time in Nashville as I finished school.

As a producer, I help artists to realize their vision: from finishing the song, to arranging, recording, and then mixing/mastering. Check out a song called “Slow and Steady” that I recently produced for a band called Tophouse.

As a bassist, I perform on my instrument to help complete the vision of the recording or live performance. Some of the artists I have worked with include Andrew Peterson, Sierra Hull, Dave Barnes, The Arcadian Wild, Sarah Reeves, Cody Fry, The Belonging Co, Highroad, Chris August, Hunter Phelps, and Michael W. Smith.

As a composer, I write music that communicates a musical vision, whether it be for licensing for film and TV, for an artist to record, or for the audiences that my artist projects will reach. You can check some of my compositions on your streaming platform of choice on a project under my name called “The Sacred Places Project.”

I release music under my name as well as with different collaborators. I have a catalog of music for licensing that I’m continuing to build.

I am proud of the breadth of my musical experience, as well as the depth of the quality of the artists I’ve been able to work with. I feel I bring a well-rounded sense of musicality and camaraderie to every project.

Serving the music is the goal, either by producing the project, recording/performing on the bass, or writing the music.

I understand that making music is a choice, and I choose to bring joy to making it every day!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As I’ve gotten further into my career, it’s become more and more important to me that I have a goal that’s greater than “do whatever it takes to become/remain a musician”, which is the goal most musicians have at first.

That goal served me for a while, but I have come to realize that it’s the quality of the music and its positive effect on the listener that makes it fulfilling, not just the fact that it can be called music and is successful.

At first, I took whatever opportunities arose that allowed me to work, but over time, I’ve learned that I can say no to things that don’t align with my musical and personal values.

It’s my mission to create music that encapsulates the beauty of life and the truth as I’ve experienced it. Another way to say it is music with spirit and truth, full of righteousness and praise.

These are the elements that music can contain, and I’m passionate about helping people make music that strives to communicate our higher purposes.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I have found connection to be the most rewarding aspect of music.

I am grateful for that smile shared with an artist as we hear a new idea come to life that we love, for that grunt of shared joy at a groovy bassline I’m getting to record, or the audience and band reciprocal love-fest that is a sold-out live show.

A popular Swedish saying is that “shared joy is double joy”.

Sharing music with collaborators and audiences is my reward for following this path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://erikcoveney.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikcove
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/4ZK0zJ456KXi5GsYP5jKi3?si=6jNeggyKQgqFwF-5PRk4TQ

  ^A link to my original artist project.

Image Credits

Rebecah Edwards
Evan Nickels