BIO

Singer/songwriter Ed Kaercher, Jr., a self-taught musician in the acoustic folk/blues tradition has been singing, writing and playing since he was a teenager.

Throughout his career Ed has performed with and opened for Richie Havens, Jonathan Edwards, Tom Paxton, Donovan, John Prine, Paul Butterfield, Jorma Kaukonen, and The Band, with whom he toured for a year, playing major concert halls and venues across the United States.

For thirteen years, Ed toured with Rick Danko throughout the United States and Europe. He co-wrote “Change Is Good” with Danko, which was recorded with Joe Walsh.

Born in New York on Christmas Day, Kaercher, a loyal and eager disciple of the then-burgeoning Greenwich Village coffeehouse folk scene, began playing folk music in high school. His early influences included Peter, Paul & Mary, Richie Havens, James Taylor, Bob Dylan and Elvis.

Ed played the college campus circuit as well as popular Village clubs like Gerde’s Folk City and the Bitter End throughout the 60’s and in his college years he performed both solo and with a succession of groups including The Trip and The Loved Ones.

After brief stints in law school and in the Air Force, Ed decided to devote himself to music full-time and toured and performed throughout the 70’s and 80’s as a solo act and in a duo with flutist and harmonica player Stan Behrens.

Traveling extensively throughout the country, Ed played in the streets and clubs of Key West, New Orleans and San Francisco, fine-tuning his guitar playing and honing his songwriting skills. Ed spent several years in Jamaica, both writing and performing songs to support himself.

His love for, and skill in acoustic blues and roots-oriented music can be heard in his many original songs. A prolific lyricist, Ed’s songs feature rich imagery of the world he has seen. “My songs and my music were basically a reflection of my life’s experiences at the time,” he says.

As a musician, Ed prides himself on his unique style of simultaneous flat-picking and finger-picking, which, he laughs, “is pretty hard to imitate.” His playing he says “is something that just flows through my fingers.

If I had to teach it to someone else, I don’t know that I could.”

Taking a break from the music scene to devote time to raising his son, Ed managed a Long Island nightclub for several years and performed with many of the featured bands.

In Norway in 2008, Ed recorded two of his songs for Hallvard Bjorgum and Friends “Peace Will Come.” His vocals were backed by Blondie Chaplin and Lisa Fisher on the tracks. While in Norway, Ed recorded a number of his original songs and a few favorite covers, which are included on his “The Norway Sessions” CD.

The 2009 releases of “Peace Will Come,” and the independent release of  “The Norway Sessions,” mark Ed Kaercher’s return to his musical roots as a writer and performer.

Copyright 2010 Ed Kaercher, Jr.

Web Design by Melissa Sornik