Drummer Eric Gaffney co-founded the indie rock band Sebadoh in 1989. He left Sebadoh in 1993, and was replaced by Bob Fay. Since 1998 Eric Gaffney has been performing and recording with his own project, Fields of Gaffney.



Eric Gaffney's music biography, in his own words:



Preface; 1st Drum Set; 1973 red sparkle muppet-style 3-piece (no floor tom)w. one cymbal that i have to this day and sounds trashy and good, short decay. I broke the pedal in '76, wrote my first lyrics, and started playing drums with earphones to LP records around '79 when I got a silver sparkle-70's Slingerland snare as a present from my dad. my set up era 1980; brass timbales on precarious cowbell stand, old broken kick drum as a floor tom, chinese woodblocks, 60's zildjians, ludwig hi-hat stand... w. christmas lights on it.



1st Show: I was first listed on a bill in May, 1978 as part of the Asparagus Valley Music Ensemble... (a family affair) I sat in the audience instead... there was a John Cage piece w. radios in the set that night.



1st acoustic Christmas '79...by 1980 i had gradually tuned the strings so high i broke the bridge off and tried to glue it back down.



1st Electric; 1981. Sears 60's no-name sunburst, cool shape/cutaway, played terribly. $50 off the wall at Tepper's in N'ton (now Pleasant St. Video)I accumulated lots of stickers on it. Now in the Mill River, Florence, MA.



1st amp also acquired in 1981; 1959 Sears Silvertone No. 1432, (Chicago blues amp)



1st Performance; July 16, 1983 at the'Guiding Star' Grange Hall,Greenfield, MA. with Adrenalin O.D. from NJ. (find their "Suburbia" single-ep..massive guitar sound) + local W.Mass hardcore bands...w. Grey Matter, (Daniel Hartling, Andy Darby, Lisa Fusco, + me) a unique band I started a year previous that started as thrash and slowed down and became melodic and interesting over the course of five months. I played drums and wrote most of the lyrics. Befor our second show, we acquired a girl bass player and started to sound alot better, but played less than 10 more shows and it was over. Last show was w. Jerry's Kids who used our bass player's amp and blew the speaker and our bass player quit after that. We had a tape out which is when i started selling my tapes + zine at Main Street Records. We also recorded 5 songs in a Northampton, MA. studio but it was never officially released. (oh, it was on "Welcome to 1984" cassette tape)



Zine; I had a 50-cent fanzine, Withdrawal, 3 issues, from '83-84, with interviews, drawings, news clippings, letters. I got letters from all over the place including one from "Donny The Punk."



Maximum Rock N Roll



I also wrote a few Western Mass. scene reports w. photos, for Maximum Rock and Roll 1983-85.



I played drums in lots of other bands through the 80's, one of which was B.I.U.,(with Tom Chasteen (now a Hip Hop producer) and John Kimbrough, who years later started Walt Mink.) I first played guitar onstage at a local hardcore band day show, Summer, 1984 with Catharsis.



Then in 1986; "The Gracefully Aging Hippy Soloists" a duo, electric guitar and drums, with the late Charles Ondras (of Boss Hog), high school friend and neighbor. I put out a 90-minute tape, all live recordings. I sang and played a G&L and SG along with an early 80's Moog synth that generated messed-up noize most of the time, and a cheap mic, all plugged into a Fender Champ which we had to plugged into the barn ceiling light fixture.



Sebadoh; In Jan 1987, Lou Barlow and I began practicing for shows I local shows I booked for "Sentridoh," which was Lou and his songs and ukelele and me on various percussion.



Summer 1987, cross country Greyhound bus ride, then to WDC/Arlington, VA. for a month, lived and practiced with GOBBLEHOOF w. Tim Aaron, Jens Jurgeson, 'Doug' our singer, and then re-formed in Northampton with J Mascis on drums, Jan. 1988. I ended up playing bass and singing and we played 2 shows at Hampshire College after which I moved out and focused on 4-track recordings that would become "The Freed Man" original 30-minute cassette.



Sebadoh Incarnation: Lou and I mixed, then assembled "The Freed Man" cassette (30 min. Radio Shack lo-noise tape) the following summer which was a collaborative effort with songs we were writing on 4-track.



I duplicated these at home, and sold them at Main Street Records in Northampton, MA. for $1.00 each in a box covered with Dr. Seuss artwork. We sent a tape to Sonic Youth, Gerard Cosloy, who favorably reviewed it in Conflict and signed us to a 3-record deal Homestead in Feb. 1989.



My first record was on Sonic Life, split-single with Big Stick, then Freed Man LP, Sept, 1989, then the Magic Ribbons (Leopard Gecko) box set, red vinyl, followed by the Vertical single-EP... Jason joined in 1989. Recorded Sebadoh III March, 1991.



In '92 signed with Sub Pop, Domino, and City Slang in 1992, put out EP's and records, toured 91..92..93...including shows with Firehose in '91, UK dates and a European tour w. The Wedding Present through spring '92, Pavement/Sonic Youth '92, and Glastonbury, England and 2 U.S. tours inc. Lollapalooza '93 I left a few months before 'Bakesale' and then Kurt Cobain died."



After which, I bought a 4-track and instruments, played solo shows in the northeast (NY and MA)recorded, bought a 4-track and guitars, nearly signed to Sub Pop, Atlantic, and Domino but didn't. Instead I ended up putting out my music myself, eventually.



I started "Fields of Gaffney" in 1998 with Jeff Halpin on drums, and Janice, (my ex-wife) on guitar after I had released "Lights Up & Spins Around," a cassette of new material, mid 1998. We played CMJ, 2 shows w. Royal Trux, a show w. Buffalo Tom, one with Major Stars, Danielson Family...and a few more shows.



In September, 1999, ten years to the date of Freed Man LP release, Atlanta-based label Old Gold released "Brilliant Concert Numbers", a collection of solo 4-track and studio recordings spanning the 90's.



Favorable reviews followed in Alternative Press and Magnet, among others, and the record made top 20 lists on college radio (including KAOS, Olympia and WMBR, Cambridge)



January, 2000, Sub Pop's first release was a 'Singles Club' limited 7" featuring "Cold Weather" and "Twilight," recorded at Slaughterhouse (where 1/2 of Smash yr Head and 1/2 of Bubble was recorded)



Moved to San Francisco in 2000; re-started the group in January, 2002 with Richard Marshall (played guitar in Alice Donut) on bass and a cast of rotating drummers (inc. Brendan from New Zealand's Subliminals, Flying Nun)



A new line up began in July, 2002, with Richard switching to drums + Jessica Cowley (Pillows, Run For Cover Lovers) joined us on bass guitar and vocal accompaniment.



In March, 2003, we played Noise Pop at Cafe Du Nord, S.F., then released "Nature Walk" CD to coincide with a performance at SXSW and tour of Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and California. Two Northwest tours followed, including stops in Eureka, Eugene, Portland, Olympia, Seattle, and Arcata.



Fields Of Gaffney '98-2004 (on Guitar/vocals); Jessica Cowley (Pillows) - Bass/vocals, Richard Marshall (Alice Donut) - Drums, vocals, Brendan (Subliminals) - drums for one show, 2002-2004 Janice Gaffney - guitar, Jeff Halpin - drums, Jim Elliott (St. Johnny) - bass summer '99 + 2001.



JUAN CANARY 1993 (on guitar) ; w. Salem Saloom, Jeff Halpin, Jason Loewenstein



Sebadoh 1987-1993 (on guitar/vocals/drums) w. Jason Loewenstein, Lou Barlow



Gobblehoof 1987(bass/lead singer) w. Tim Aaron, Jens Jurgeson, J Mascis



Gracefully Aging Hippy Soloists With Fountains Turned Backwards 1986-87 (on guitar/vocal/moog synth/drums) w. Charles Ondras



No Preservatives 1984 (lead singer) w. Andy Darby, Stuart Wright, Bernie Gratowski



Grey Matter 1983 (drummer/songwriter) w. Danny Hartling, Andy Darby, Lisa Fusco, Dan Chaos