We head to Happy Valley for our latest “Local Song of the Week,” and shine the spotlight on State College-based singer, songwriter and performer Eric Ian Farmer, with his song “When You (Side)Walked Into The Room.” A State College native raised in North Carolina, Eric creates and shares songs about relationships, finding one’s path, love, social awareness and more. His nuanced singing style and cadence result in spellbinding live performances, where Eric often can bring audiences to total silence just to hear his emotion, soulfulness, clarity and detail. Besides his original songs, Eric also performs numbers from legends such as Bob Marley, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye, Fleetwood Mac and others. You can see Eric in action on Saturday, July 29 as he kicks off the music at 12:30 p.m. during the Blair County African American Heritage Festival at downtown Altoona’s Heritage Plaza; he will also perform at 5 p.m. the following day, Sunday, July 30 at the Millheim Fire Company fairgrounds (“Elk Creekside”) during the annual Millheim Summerfest!
This song was performed and recorded in October, 2017 at Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park for WPSU-TV’s “Metronome” program. Josh Troup plays the drums.
