Eric Tesmer

Jenny's Song

Ashburn

Austin-based guitar great Eric Tessmer has teamed up with Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer Nancy Wilson to record a set of genre-bending covers, the first of which premieres Friday March 13, 2020. Originally a synthpop smash for Depeche Mode, Policy of Truth gets a dramatic sonic makeover from Tessmer and Wilson, who share vocals on the guitar-heavy track.
Tessmer - who Guitar World magazine ranks among its “best kept six string secrets” - first met Wilson after performing a private benefit show in 2017. “It was a mind blowing, jaw dropping thing to watch Eric for the first time,” Wilson recalls. “Eric was tapping into a pure rock-and-roll thing I can really appreciate.” The pair immediately bonded, and vowed to stay in touch and explore doing a project together.
Though they were eager to get in the studio, Tessmer says they “weren’t interested in sending tracks back and forth or constructing a sound on a screen.” Wilson puts it this way: “There’s a more recent way of playing music, that’s more like putting music together. It sounds compartmentalized,” she explains. “That’s why I had to come here - we’ve gotta be in the same room.”
The opportunity finally came in March 2019, when Wilson traveled to Austin to join Eric at The Clubhouse, a studio near South Congress. There in a one-room space they worked with producer/keyboardist David Rice, bassist Chris Maresh, and A&amp;F DrumCo founder/drummer Ramy Antoun.  The single was mixed by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, David Bowie).

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Eric Tessmer

The random bits of life and live performances in the day-to-day existence of a working band, told through sporadic videos.

She loves playing and singing. She doesn&#39;t need the spotlight to have fun.

She loves playing and singing. She doesn't need the spotlight to have fun.

Always loved Nancys playing and singing...oh yeh...and good looks too!

My biggest crush when I was fifteen. I can look back now and proudly say that I had impeccable taste.

Nancy is so talented I love her voice💜

Nancy Wilson total package Talented guitar player, Drop dead gorgeous, and voice to boot. My compliments for sharing the music with us

Nancy Wilson loves what she is doing, and it shows.... It&#39;s wonderful to watch her live life.....

Nancy Wilson loves what she is doing, and it shows.... It's wonderful to watch her live life.....

Hum...is that a bel canto voice I see and hear? Yep Nancy Wilson is a bel canto singer...great voice Nancy!

While a GREAT guitarist and not a bad vocalist, her sister ANN, just has the RIGHT PIPES to rip out these tunes from her awesome lungs! What a voice! Unique, like Nancy&#39;s guitar skill. They were two unique talents, together.

While a GREAT guitarist and not a bad vocalist, her sister ANN, just has the RIGHT PIPES to rip out these tunes from her awesome lungs! What a voice! Unique, like Nancy's guitar skill. They were two unique talents, together.

Love the Wilson sisters.  I know Ann was pretty much always the voice of heart, but there’s no denying that Nancy has a fabulous voice too. Oh and still such a beautiful woman. Ageing like a very fine wine. Very fine indeed.

This might be my favorite song and I&#39;m old.

This might be my favorite song and I'm old.

This song kept me sober.  One day at a time.

I saw Eric last night <br>he was invited out to join Gary Clark JR for his encore at the Fonda Theater, Hollywood, CA   Fantastic Player!

I saw Eric last night 
he was invited out to join Gary Clark JR for his encore at the Fonda Theater, Hollywood, CA   Fantastic Player!

My son introduced me to Eric about 15 years ago and he was tearing it up then, I for one can say that he has progressed through his own trials and tribulations and is still rocking, on his own terms, you go boy!

The drama and emotion in this performance is riveting no matter how many times I listen to it. The solo&#39;s have the kind of emotional intensity of a Gilmour solo, and it don&#39;t get much better than that. The second solo kind of comes unexpectedly the first time you hear it as it seems to be winding down.  Tessmer&#39;s a tremendous player. My son&#39;s a really good blues rock player, he turned me on to this song along with some Philip Sayce stuff.

The drama and emotion in this performance is riveting no matter how many times I listen to it. The solo's have the kind of emotional intensity of a Gilmour solo, and it don't get much better than that. The second solo kind of comes unexpectedly the first time you hear it as it seems to be winding down.  Tessmer's a tremendous player. My son's a really good blues rock player, he turned me on to this song along with some Philip Sayce stuff.

Not bad. Clear, understandable vocals, a melody, a progression, dynamics, balanced presentation. He can play guitar well and can perform. If he has more songs like this, he will have a career as long as he wants one.

Sick! Glad I stumbled upon your video on reverb, now you have a fan for life!

This was when I first heard you, opening up for Slash. I was pretty far back, but I didn’t want you to stop playing because you sounded so good! Best opening band ever...

Eric hails from my hometown. I&#39;ve had the honor of being on stage with him and his father, Bruce, another bonafide blues master. He now tours (sometimes) with Nancy Wilson, from heart... Keep an eye on this guy... great things to come.

Eric hails from my hometown. I've had the honor of being on stage with him and his father, Bruce, another bonafide blues master. He now tours (sometimes) with Nancy Wilson, from heart... Keep an eye on this guy... great things to come.

My momma never played me no lullaby like that....or maybe she did and that&#39;s why I love this guitar so much...


My momma never played me no lullaby like that....or maybe she did and that's why I love this guitar so much...


awesome band seen them in austin when out there in oct  unbelievable

Damn I&#39;m discovering one great blues guitar player after the next fantastic stuff

Damn I'm discovering one great blues guitar player after the next fantastic stuff

Outrageous!  Fully righteous!   I would love to see Tessmer play with Tia Carrera.

the riff is bad ass by the way. amazing band.

A day in Los Angeles spent in Alan Marino's studio...and then headed to the show at The Mint.  Nancy Wilson from Heart and Eric Tessmer sing 'Even It Up' - by Heart

Thank you to GigTown.
Thank you to Flow NonFiction.  
Thank you to PlanetTen.

Nancy Wilson- vocals and guitar
Eric Tessmer-vocals and guitar
Marc Redix-drums
Jason Rathman-bass

Nancy Wilson and Eric Tessmer- Even It Up-2.3.18

Live at Stubb's, Austin, TX, 9/24/18.
"Good So Bad" - digital release 10/26/18 on all major platforms.

Filmed by ProductionFor
Chris Blankenship: Producer/Camera Operator
Nathan Daughdrill: Editor/Camera Operator
Clint Howell: Camera Operator
Fabian Rey: Camera Operator
Meilinne Hancock: Camera Operator
Audio Mastered by Sean Beavan

Guitar/vocals: Eric Tessmer
Drums/vocals: Marc Redix
Keys: Sammy Powell
Bass: Jason Rathman

Eric Tessmer - "Good So Bad" (Live at Stubb's)

Eric Tessmer Band performing "Lullaby" for "Infynit Hour" in Austin, TX. 8.6.13

Eric Tessmer Band - Lullaby

Eric Tessmer performs "Love Is Taking Its Toll', by Anders Osborne, live at The Clubhouse in Austin, TX for Flow|NonFiction. 10.09.17

Eric Tessmer: Guitar, vocals
Gian Ortiz: Bass, vocals
Marc Redix: Drums, vocals

David Rice: Executive Producer
Ryan Gould: Director of Photography
Matt Hirst: Editor, Camera Operator

Eric Tessmer - Love Is Taking Its Toll - Live at The Clubhouse - 10.09.17

Eric Tessmer performs 'Little Wing', live at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX on 11.3.17

Eric Tessmer: Guitar, Vocals
Gian Ortiz: Bass, Vocals
Marc Redix, Drums, Vocals
Sammy Powell: Keys

Solomon Bachman: Producer 
Ken Miller: Camera Operator
Nate Daughdrill: Editor, Camera Operator
Louis Lorencez: Camera Operator

Eric Tessmer -  Little Wing - Tessmer At The Track 11.3.17

Behind the scenes with Austin guitar great Eric Tessmer who has teamed up with Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer Nancy Wilson to record a set of genre-bending covers, the first of which premieres Friday, March 13, 2020 on streaming platforms worldwide.

Originally a synthpop smash for Depeche Mode, Policy of Truth 
gets a dramatic sonic makeover from Tessmer and Wilson, who share vocals on the guitar-heavy track...the rest of the tracks are still to be released.  

Directed by Matt Hirst for Flow Studios
Executive Producers Jenni Ronan and David Rice
Produced by David Rice and Recorded by Billy West at The Clubhouse, Austin TX
Mixed by Tim Palmer
Drums: Ramy Antoun
Bass: Chris Maresh
Piano/B3/Keys: David Rice
Guitar and Voice: Eric Tessmer
Acoustic Guitar and Voice: Nancy Wilson

In the studio with Eric Tessmer and Nancy Wilson...

Eric Tessmer performs 'See You Tonight', live at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX on 11.3.17

Eric Tessmer: Guitar, Vocals
Gian Ortiz: Bass, Vocals
Marc Redix: Drums, Vocals
Sammy Powell: Keys 

Solomon Bachman: Producer
Ken Miller: Camera Operator
Nate Daughdrill: Editor, Camera Operator
Louis Lorencez: Camera Operator
Thank you ProductionFor!

"See You Tonight" (Daniell/Tessmer)
Available on EP1 - iTunes, Spotify, etc.

Eric Tessmer - See You Tonight - Live at COTA - 11.03.17

Had to remove a chunk of wang bar from the ‘59 at soundcheck tonight in Fort Worth. Hope it helps, y’all... 

Camera: Dane Gudde

Eric Tessmer - Removing A Broken Wang Bar From A Old Strat.

Written by Eric Tessmer
Produced & Recorded by Sean Beavan

There’s a scene in Barbet Schroeder’s 1987 film "Barfly" where Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke’s alcoholic characters drunkenly stumble through a cornfield, snatching green ears to cook for dinner. When the cops inevitably show up, the two race through the basement of Dunaway’s dilapidated apartment building and ride the elevator up to her shabby unit. Feeling victorious, Dunaway boils a pot of water to cook the corn—but her triumph turns to devastation when she realizes the corn is inedible. “Nothing in this life ever works out,” she says through tears as she hurls the ear against a wall and collapses in a fit of anguish and self-loathing.

Eric Tessmer watched 'Barfly" less than a month before he quit drinking. He recognized Dunaway’s outburst all too well. “It dredged up all these feelings in me—just constantly feeling like you’re in that cycle, but all you know to do is keep drinking,” the Austin-based guitarist says. “It’s the only thing you know that can make you feel good, and you want to feel good so bad.”

Tessmer put down the bottle for good in September of 2015. His struggle with addiction inspired “Good So Bad,” the first single off his forthcoming EP II. Languid guitar chords give way to Tessmer’s gloomy assessment of his past life: “Seems like every day’s the same/ I want everything but me to change/ I don’t want to be the way I am.”

“Once I had that first line done I was like, ‘Okay, just don’t f– up the rest of this song,’” Tessmer jokes. He started workshopping “Good So Bad” while writing songs for EP I, which he released in 2016. “I would mess around with it and put it on the shelf,” he says. “It was the one song I didn’t want to do unless it sounded exactly right.”

Tessmer finally finished the song and achieved his sonic vision with the help of multiplatinum producer Sean Beavan (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson). “Good So Bad” is a radical departure from the guitarist’s earliest recordings—bone-dry live performances showcasing the six-string wizardry that first earned him attention when he crash-landed in Austin 15 years ago. Tessmer still flexes his furious fretwork on “Good So Bad,” but the song’s slinky hooks come primarily from a different instrument: his voice.

“Sean got the best vocal performances out of me that I have on record, because he was like, ‘Don’t do anything to your voice; just relax and sing the song,’” Tessmer says. The starkly confessional tone of “Good So Bad” also shows how far he’s come as a lyricist. “It got me thinking about being the elephant in the room,” Tessmer says. “Oh gosh, why am I always drunk all the time? I’m just a musician. That’s just what we do. But no, it’s not, really.”

The mournful, stuck-in-a-rut Tessmer of “Good So Bad” is far removed from the real-life Tessmer, whose sobriety lent him a newfound clarity while writing. “It just opened my eyes to s–” he says. “I wasn’t hiding behind anything.”

Faye Dunaway’s character in "Barfly" got it wrong during her corn-inspired breakdown. Life hurts, sure, but sometimes it does work out—as long as you’re willing to show up and put in the work to get the results. Eric Tessmer wanted to be good so bad. This is his journey.
-Bryan Rolli

Eric Tessmer - "Good So Bad" (Official Audio)

Eric Tessmer Band performing "Stray Dog" for "Infynit Hour" in Austin, TX. 8.6.13

Eric Tessmer Band - Stray Dog

Eric Tessmer & friends perform 'Reconsider Baby' by Lowell Fulson

Eric Tessmer - Guitar/Vocals
Johnny Bradley - Bass
Damien Llanes - Drums
Sam Powell - Keys

David Rice: Executive Producer
Ryan Gould: Director of Photography
Matt Hirst: Editor, Camera Operator

Recorded live at the Clubhouse in Austin, TX for shits n' grins on a Tuesday night.

Eric Tessmer - Reconsider Baby - Live at The Clubhouse - 11.21.17

Gary Clark Jr sings Little Wing with the Eric Tessmer Band

Eric Tessmer Band performing "Buttons & Threads" for "Infynit Hour" in Austin, TX. 8.6.13

Eric Tessmer Band - Buttons and Threads

Very fast rundown of the board. 
Big shoutout to Relic Pedalboards in LA, GOMC Cases and Cactus Cables in Llano, TX!
We know the rundown moves quick, here's the signal chain:

Tuner
   |
Fuzz 1 (Analogman Sundial NKT 275 red dot)
   |
Fuzz 2 (Fuzz Face)
   |
Tube Screamer
   |
Micro-Synth
   |
POG 1 (organ tone)
   |
POG 2 (lead tone)
   |
Bypass Loop pedal --- Uni Vibe (God Vibe)
   |
Vox Wah
              \
             Radial ABY Splitter Box
              /                                     \           
Memory Man Deluxe                 MXR Carbon Copy
   |                                                       |   
   |                                                Electric Mistress         
   |                                                       |
Stereo Split Bank 1                   Stereo Split Bank 2
   |                      |                                 |                       |
VibroKing 1   VibroKing 2          Ewell 150       Aux Amp out

Eric Tessmer -  Pedalboard Rundown

Eric Tessmer Band performing "Draw" for "Infynit Hour" in Austin, TX. 8.6.13

Eric Tessmer Band - Draw

Eric Tessmer - Live at Stubbs 09.24.18

Finished out rejuvenating Elliott's old wah pedal with some zesty transistors and a tweak to the vocal resistor. Tried it out with a bunch of different inductors as well. 

Check out Elliott's Instagram profile @elliottbrown_6 and give him a follow and listen to what he does with the pedal. 

Please note: filming the parts while auditioning wah components is very difficult, especially the overhead shots while varying the vocal resistor, since many differences are subtle and many of the changes I made today could best be said to change the feel of the pedal and its sensitivity. Watch the travel of the pedal and how tight the sweep is or isn't in relation to the sound. This video is mostly to show you how to do this to your own wah, since there's no universal 'right answer' for all wahs. 

PS: Recent studies show that only extremely attractive people like videos like this. Subscribers to this channel were described as 'nothing short of breath-taking'.

Eric Tessmer - Wah Pedal Upgrades - Pt. 2: Transistors & Inductors

Follow along as we resurrect this tired old wah into a talkative trumpet of tone.

Check out Elliott's Instagram profile @elliottbrown_6 and give him a follow (Sorry I spelled your name wrong in the video caption, dude). 

I read y'all's comments on the other workbench videos, so enjoy the audio clips for comparison/reference and the awkward talking. Also, some of my tunes over the workbench stuff as suggested. 

PS: Recent studies show that only extremely attractive people like videos like this. Subscribers to this channel were described as 'nothing short of breath-taking'.

Music links:
'Policy Of Truth' 
Eric Tessmer feat. Nancy Wilson of Heart
Released 2020 as a single - Depeche Mode cover
https://open.spotify.com/album/6FUliyr1iPH8i7dxnLej5M

'Love Is Taking It's Toll'
Eric Tessmer
Released 2019 on 'EP 2'  - Anders Osborne cover
https://open.spotify.com/album/6P3z7MA4EFR2nC3JLBtesD

Eric Tessmer - Wah Pedal Upgrades - Pt. 1: The Basics

“Coronavirus! Quarantine World Tour 2020” has me burning through a piled-up plethora of back-logged repairs on my touring rig, maintenance work on guitars & pedals and just my normal habits of chasing whatever sonic dumbassery my lopsided mind concocts to subject my gear to. 
————–——————–——————–——
There’s a cult-following of these funky 60s Danelectro-built Masonite guitars (I’m in that cult) and for a good reason: they sound KILLER! 
If you know which end of a soldering iron to hold, you can easily experiment with a hefty array of tonal possibilities for these guitars without too much effort and no drilling (though I’d suggest drilling ONE hole inside to ground the pickup circuit to the bridge to cut down on hum).
The most common setback on these ‘economical’ guitars is the playability, but with a competent luthier and some elbow grease you can tweak these to be real sleepers. 
Here's some further journeys on 'Perry Masonite'. In this bench session I end up having to add some shielding. I'm surprised I made it this far (almost two years and countless shows) without shielding it at all. The originals had a laughable enclosure made from copper tape, and secured by masking tape, that doesn't age or stand up to service very well. I don't know if I'll have to go that far with this one, I'm impressed with the differene copper clad made already.

Eric Tessmer - Workbench Cam - Silvertone Modness Pt. 2 - Silvertone 1449 Switching Experiments

“Coronavirus! Quarantine World Tour 2020” has me burning through a piled-up plethora of back-logged repairs on my touring rig, maintenance work on guitars & pedals and just my normal habits of chasing whatever sonic dumbassery my lopsided mind concocts to subject my gear to. 
————–——————–——————–——
There’s a cult-following of these funky 60s Danelectro-built Masonite guitars (I’m in that cult) and for a good reason: they sound KILLER! 
If you know which end of a soldering iron to hold, you can easily experiment with a hefty array of tonal possibilities for these guitars without too much effort and no drilling (though I’d suggest drilling ONE hole inside to ground the pickup circuit to the bridge to cut down on hum).
The most common setback on these ‘economical’ guitars is the playability, but with a competent luthier and some elbow grease you can tweak these to be real sleepers.

Eric Tessmer - Workbench Cam - Silvertone Modness Pt. 1 - Silvertone 1449

We took the whole crew up to Nashville to spread a little Luck around during  Americanafest, in September 2019. For the fourth consecutive year Luck opened the doors of the East Nashville Luck Mansion to host a podcast studio; video booth; parlor room performances; and serve as the official AmericanaFest Press Lounge.
'Fortune Teller' was captured solo in the photo booth prior to Eric's Mansion Session.

Eric Tessmer  - Luck Mansion Sessions 2019

“Coronavirus! Quarantine World Tour 2020” has me burning through a piled-up plethora of back-logged repairs on my touring rig, maintenance work on guitars & pedals and just my normal habits of chasing whatever sonic dumbassery my lopsided mind concocts to subject my gear to. 
————–——————–——————–——
Swapping traditional Strat pickups is a pretty straight forward process. Deleting the treble bleed cap here so I can get used to the guitar’s characteristics without it for a while before moving forward to experimenting with different cap values.

Eric Tessmer - Workbench Cam - Strat Bridge Pickup Swap & Treble Bleed Delete

Quarantine has me burning through a veritable cornucopia of back-logged repairs on my touring rig, maintenance work on guitars & pedals and just my normal habits of chasing whatever sonic dumbassery my lopsided mind concocts to subject my gear to. 
————–——————–——————–——
I made this fuzz tester a year or two ago (I forget at this point). I wanted something I could plug any pair of positive ground transistors into and within minutes, adjust the circuit on the fly until I dug what I heard, then pull the transistors, populate a board with components with corresponding identical values and, BOOM! -new fuzz pedal. It’s been a fun little toy to play with and it’s “built” a few fantastic pedals for me and for a while we even took it on the road with us since I could tune my fuzz tone quickly to any room/temp/humidity/cosmic debris quotient/etc. 
Any fuzz-ambitious individual will recognize that, with such a test circuit, many random transistors found in the massive expanse of consumer electronics can be worked into a fuzz circuit. Not only that, but many thousands of dollars are to be saved by the ‘player’ by achieving optimal fuzz results without paying astronomical ‘collector’ prices for vintage effects with the same basic circuit. 
————–——————–——————–——
I apologize that I didn’t delve into sound clips of this device in action, nor did I attempt to explain how a fuzz pedal works. There are plenty of websites that can explain the basic function of a fuzz circuit in relation to transistor manipulation far better than I could and my intent here was to scratch off items on my to-do list, while showing how simple the construction of a simple fuzz circuit tester can be. 
Be safe, wash your hands!
~e

Eric Tessmer - Workbench Cam - Fuzz Tester: Basic Build Walk-Through & Adding Test Probe Points

Quarantine has me burning through tons of back-logged repairs on my touring rig, maintenance work on guitars and pedals and just the normal habit of chasing whatever ridiculous ideas I want to try on my guitars, pedals, amps, etc.  
A friend gave me this early-90s Les Paul Studio last year (thanks, Michael!) after I had given another friend my old early-90s Les Paul Studio (it’s in good hands, Joel!). Crazy how the universe works sometimes. Anyway, I like Les Pauls even though I’m not at all known for playing them. Mostly because I have never completely gotten used to humbuckers, so P90s all around!!
Geppetto makes all my pickups (except for the old Strats with the original pups) and so he twisted up these humbucker-sized P90s so I wouldn’t have to bother routing out guitars. Geppetto does amazing work, known for his PAF-style pickups (my Gibson friends RAVE ABOUT THEM). He also makes a signature ‘Eric Tessmer Armadillo Strat’ single coil set that we’ve been working on for a while. I’m sure you could request a set if you’re looking for pickups! Check them out at www.geppettoguitars.com. 

Unfortunately the pickups sold before I even finished writing this video description... (enjoy, ‘John P’!)

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