Eric Charles "Erock" Friedman (born June 28, 1984) is an American musician, best known as the current guitarist for Tremonti and former touring guitarist and backing vocalist for Creed. He played with the band on their 2009 United States reunion tour with

Staind Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, an ...

and their 2010 Tour with

Skillet A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab ha ...

. He is the former lead guitarist for the band

Submersed Submersed (sometimes typeset as SubmerseD) is an American rock band from Stephenville, Texas. They first disbanded in 2008, reuniting in late 2021, early 2022. History Submersed was signed to Wind-up Records, and worked with Alter Bridge gu ...

and also the former lead guitarist for Daughters of Mara. Submersed and Daughters of Mara both disbanded in 2008. He also currently plays lead guitar and co writes for the rock band Hemme. At the age of thirteen Friedman was the youngest guitarist at the time to be fully endorsed by Fender. His first introduction to Mark Tremonti was at a

NAMM The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...

show where his then manager introduced them both. They subsequently jammed at one of the Rivera amp booths and noticed, that although they had different styles, (Tremonti being heavily influenced by metal and Friedman Blues), they both complemented each other.

Career

Early years

It all started for Friedman when his teenage guitar hero

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues artist. Life and career Shepherd wa ...

pulled him onstage for a jam session during his set at the Galaxy Theatre (Santa Ana, CA) in 1996. Shortly after he began playing in his own blues outfit called The Eric Friedman Band and was endorsed by Fender at the age of 13. Eric opened up for acts such as

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Several notable blues guitarists have had a significant in ...

, and

Jonny Lang Jon Gordon Langseth Jr. (born January 29, 1981), known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, and rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has made five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and has w ...

. He had a developmental record deal with

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

's label Favored Nations at 15.

Submersed

In 2000, Eric started a rock band called Blacsun that had demos produced by Brett Hestla ( Virgos, Dark New Day). In the same year, he became the lead guitarist for the band

. He performed on their debut album, ''

In Due Time ''In Due Time'' is the 2004 debut studio album by Submersed, a hard rock band from Stephenville, Texas. The album was originally titled ''All Things Becoming of the End''. The album was recorded and mixed, but eventually scrapped and renamed as ...

''. Friedman left prior to the band's second album, '' Immortal Verses'', which was released later that year before the band disbanded in 2008. He was also the guitarist for Daughters of Mara during this time, who also broke up in 2008. He then went on to play with former TNA Impact Wrestling star

Christy Hemme Christina Lee Hemme ( ; born October 28, 1980) is an American former professional wrestler, singer and model. She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling) as a ring announcer ...

along with former Submersed drummer, Garrett Whitlock.

Creed

In addition to

, Friedman is influenced by

Mark Tremonti Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is an American guitarist and singer, best known for his tenures with the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands, and has also collaborated with many other artists over ...

of Creed and

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former ba ...

and has since formed a close friendship with Tremonti, who requested for Friedman to perform as Creed's rhythm guitarist on tour. Friedman states that he grew up listening to Creed's music, particularly their debut album '' My Own Prison''. While on tour with Creed, he provides rhythm guitar and backing vocals. He also performs a guitar solo with Tremonti on "

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." He appeared as a touring member on Creed's record-breaking live DVD, '' Creed Live''. It has also been announced that Creed will reportedly be releasing a new song called "More Than This" which will feature Friedman on guitar. Friedman has also appeared in interviews and several promotional photos and videos. All of this has led to rumors of Friedman officially joining Creed, and the band has stated that they have discussed this, but nothing has been confirmed. Friedman returned to Creed in 2012 for the band's 2 Nights Tour.

Tremonti

Friedman was featured on Mark Tremonti's debut solo album, '' All I Was'', playing guitar, bass and singing background vocals. He is featured in the music video of " You Waste Your Time" He is a current member of the band and was part of the album, '' Cauterize'', that was released in June 2015, and part of ''

Dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ...

'', which was released in April 2016.

Projected

In 2012, Friedman joined the supergroup Projected, alongside

Sevendust Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lo ...

's John Connolly, Vinnie Hornsby and Creed/Alter Bridge drummer Scott Phillips. Their debut album ''

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' was released on September 18, 2012. Their recent work was '' Ignite My Insanity'' which was released under Rat Pak Records on July 21, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Eric Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists Songwriters from California Lead guitarists Rhythm guitarists 1984 births Guitarists from California Creed (band) members Projected members Tremonti (band) members 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians American male songwriters