Eric Dash Gets His Shot at Musical Dream

Sometimes a shot in the dark is all you need.

After more than a year of trying to make it in the New York music scene, Cherry Hill native Eric Dash had tried everything the usual way: While juggling two internships, he searched Craigslist for shows and toted his guitar to venues all over the city, trying to find a break.

But with the prospect of having to head home without ever realizing his dream hanging ominously above him, Dash worked out a deal with his family: If he could get interest from a big producer, they’d help him keep that dream going.

It turned out to be almost that simple.

Dash, who styles himself a bit like John Mayer, pulled together an iPhone video of himself performing and fired it off to the West Coast, to Ocean Way Recording, with the hopes it might get seen by the one man Dash thought might fit that big producer bill—the man who produced Mayer’s second album, Jack Joseph Puig.

“A week later I got a call from California—I thought it was Time Warner cable, so I let it go to voicemail,” Dash said.

Instead, it turned out to be Puig.

And he was interested.

After a whirlwind back-and-forth with the Grammy-winning producer, Dash found himself in Los Angeles with Puig last summer, getting set to record his first few songs for a then-untitled album.

“Jack is unbelievable—it’s amazing that one person can have that much talent,” Dash said. “He hears things no one else hears. Jack has been a mentor of sorts, and made me so much better—before, I thought I had everything figured out.”

But after time with some session musicians and some studio finesse, Dash said Puig’s guidance proved essential—simply playing a guitar and singing well wasn’t enough.

“Those little pieces make such a big difference,” Dash said.

The album—now called My Own Island—was far from the final step in Dash’s musical journey. While the first single is scheduled to release at the end of this month, there’s been plenty to do in the six months since he was in the studio.

That’s meant pulling together a full-time band, playing more live shows in New York and Philadelphia and even harnessing the power of the internet—the plan is to build a buzz around what he’s calling Dashday, a regular release of videos covering others’ work ahead of his original music’s release.

“We’ll see where it goes,” he said. “It’s a hustle, it’s a grind…and everything is going in the right direction right now.”

Wherever it ends up, Dash said it wouldn’t be possible without his parents, who have been his toughest critics, and that extra support and push to take the shot with Puig.

“Leaving college, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “I had some expectations—I wanted things to happen right away. To where I am now—I attribute it a lot to my parents and the support from my family.”