Rhythm Syndicate

Eric Olson - Drums

Eric owes any of his musical talent to his mother, who started him off at a very early age on the piano. Ruthlessly, Eric sent his classical piano teacher packing in the sixth grade (much to mom’s dismay), picked up the drumsticks, and started a rock band that played Rush, Kiss, Van Halen and Iron Maiden (much to his neighbors’ dismay).

Eric sends a great big shout out to his first drum teacher, Jeff Byington, who consistently continued his lessons well past the scheduled ending time and gave Eric confidence in his abilities at an early age. Jeff taught with as much joy and excitement as he had proficiency on and knowledge of the instrument.

In 1988, Eric moved to Houston, TX, where he studied music a bit at Rice University and later had the great honor of touring the states and Europe with the late blues guitar man Joe “Guitar” Hughes. He also toured with Carolyn Wonderland, Hadden Sayers, and the Hightailers, among many others. He sends a shout out to Shakespeare’s Pub, Spare Time Murray, Doug Black, the Last Concert Café, Little Screamin’ Kenny, Calvin Hall, and Dogman.

In the late 90s, Eric taught drumming at the Houston Music Institute and was endorsed by Yamaha drums and Zildjian cymbals. He did one cruise ship gig (first and last). Also during this time, Eric studied Cuban and Latin drumming with Todd Harrison, jazz drumming with Sebastian Whitaker, and hand technique a bit with Jim Chapin.
In 2000, Eric moved to Seattle and has played with Show Brazil, MangoSon , and with members of Rockin’ Teenage Combo.

With Rhythm Syndicate, Eric gets to stretch out on the kit with an all star cast capable of playing in many different genres and styles. Always danceable rhythms from Cuba, Brazil, Panama, New Orleans, London, Detroit, New York and all points in between keep the drumming and the dancing fresh all night long. Eric feels extremely blessed to have found such talented musicians of similar mind and hopes to see the Syndicate last and prosper for many many years to come.

In addition to playing the drums, Eric gets his rocks off playing the bass and singing with his other band, Rocks Off. The band plays exclusively Rolling Stones material, largely from the album Exile on Main Street. Yes, yes, the band is much better now that Brad is singing more. Check out www.myspace.com/rocksoffseattle for more.