Eric Davidson

I’ve been a freelance writer/editor for nearly three decades, starting in print magazines in Ohio and up through numerous websites once I moved to New York City in 2004. But during that time, I was also the singer/songwriter for the punk band, New Bomb Turks. We released 10-plus albums of work, and toured across North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan many times. That led to extended experience in event and tour planning, band management, and marketing/branding. So I’m proud of the fact that, as a pop cultural journalist, I have not only written about making art, but I’ve created it myself, and worked it from the hype end too.

Eventually, I was Associate Editor and then Managing Editor at CMJ.com (previously College Music Journal magazine) in Manhattan where I assigned, scheduled, wrote, edited, and posted daily content, mainly utilizing WordPress. I also helped plan events and speaker panels during our huge, yearly CMJ Music Marathon festival. (Unfortunately, after a new owner ran CMJ into the ground around 2016, the website was scrubbed. But ask anyone in the music industry, and they can tell you how CMJ Music Marathon was a precursor to SXSW, one of the largest music festivals in the world, and the only devoted to predominantly unsigned bands.)

In 2010, I had my first book published — We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001 (Backbeat Books) — the first comprehensive history of underground garage rock of the 1990s. That led to book tours, with appearances at high-brow museums to low-rent dives throughout the world. Along the way I’ve written catalog copy, band bios, press releases, and interviewed hundreds of artists and professionals of varying industries. I also DJ around town too.

I’m currently self-employed as a full-time freelance writer/editor, always on the lookout for more interesting places to work with, while expanding my life experiences further.