Episode 524 – Guitarist Erik Himel, Kids Not Playing Music, And AI Headphones Cocktail Party Effect

My guest this week is Erik Himel, who expanded his touring guitar career into hosting the hottest jam night in Hollywood, to producing a Las Vegas show, to custom music programming for private and corporate events. Erik’s credits include Powerman 5000, the Russian supergroup Mumiy Troll, Alan Parsons, Eagles Of Death Metal, Puddle of Mudd, Candlebox, Robby Krieger, Michael des Barres, and many more. He was the longtime host of The Sunset Jam, which was the longest running residency show at the world famous Viper Room in Hollywood, grossing a million+ dollars and showcasing over 1500 performers and numerous sponsorship collaborations. He’s also been a co-producer of 27 - A Musical Adventure, which is retrospective concert honoring the music icons gone too early at the age of 27. The show had a multi-year residency at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas with over 120 performances. During our interview we talked about playing music with lyrics you can’t understand, the hack he used to get his first tour, his unique approach to running a jam night, creating a corporate event music business, moving to Paris and what the music scene is like there, and so much more. I spoke with Erik via zoom from his home in Los Angeles.  On the intro I looked at how kids may be losing their love of music, and a new Ai headphone that nails the “cocktail party effect” . var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 102907123, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };