We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Bourassa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I couldn’t help but pursue something in the arts. I wanted to be a comic book artist, then a musician. My parents urged me to get a degree in business, and I said, “If I’m paying for college myself, I ‘m getting a degree I actually want,” so music it was. They said, “At least make it music education and be a teacher!”
“No way,” I thought, “I’m going to be a performer.”
But here I am all these years later with a music teaching business!
Fortunately, it affords me the time to continue writing/recording music and playing in bands.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My bread and butter is my music school in Fort Worth. It’s what allows me to work on my music, because as we all know, it takes time to make headway in the arts. My music is a mix of pop punk and instrumental shred guitar. I’ve always loved bands like blink-182 and New Found Glory. The energy, the riffs, the fun- but they lack one thing: screaming guitar solos!
So when I discovered the music of Joe Satriani at age 16, I thought, “I want to play like that!”
So I try to write the kind of music I most want to hear- punk rock with cool solos.
But when you take two niche genres and attempt to combine them, you create something even more niche.
So I’m definitely not out to appeal to a mass audience, but I rest easy knowing I’m creating the music I actually want to hear.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d take my visiting friends out for barbecue, Tex Mex, and probably the Fort Worth Zoo. We’d finish our trip with an afternoon in the Clearfork shopping center, eat at Grimaldi’s Pizza, and see a movie at AMC Clearfork, my favorite theater. I kind of can’t believe such an awesome theater exists so close to home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to Fort Worth artist Amy Buyers Harwood. Her art is colorful, vibrant, and inspiring. find her on Instagram @amybh.art and https://www.saatchiart.com/amybuyersharwood

Another quick shoutout to Kendi Jean, DFW country singer/songwriter https://www.kendijeanmusic.com/

Instagram: @eric_the_bourassa

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/EricBourassa/featured

Image Credits
Renee Tacheny

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