User:Ericroberthansen007

Eric Hansen- A.K.A. Ericroberthansen007. Born October 6, 1956 in Highland, Indiana. By age 12, his family had moved to Chicago, where he studied classical guitar. After high school, he attended Chicago Musical College where he studied voice, classical guitar and then stumbled upon the theater dept. He left the conservatory two years later and joined Chicago’s Free Street Theater, a traveling performing arts outreach program.

After four years with Free Street, performing, writing songs, and working in schools, hospitals, and communities, he won a major role in "I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road." The show took him to New York. There he pursued a career onstage, worked in touring musicals, did bit parts in soaps: The Guiding Light, Search for Tomorrow, One Life to Live - and did Theater by the Sea in Portsmouth, NH. He toured Europe for a year with "Annie Get Your Gun" and landed the title role in "Volodya/Russian Hero" at the eclectic, world-renown La Ma Ma Experimental Theater Company. By 1995, he had decided on a career as a solo singer-songwriter and found his music was well accepted. He won two Back Stage Bistro Awards from critics. In addition, Eric worked as a visiting musician for Hospital Audiences Inc. and soon made it to the top of s roster as a most-requested performer.

In spite of his success as a solo artist, Eric found he was performing sick all the time. In June 1997, he was (finally) diagnosed with Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, a rare genetic liver disease which destroys lung function.

The condition, however, meant a lifestyle change - pacing himself, no more smoky bars. His next "gig" would reveal another side of his talent, nurtured by the children of s Hudson Guild. There, he wrote and taught the music curriculum for 140 pre-kindergarten children in the poor and working-class neighborhood of. "It was one of those life-changing experiences," he said. He discovered he had another gift – a talent for working with children. However, in 1999, after a bout with pneumonia, he decided to move to in search of better air quality, but not before recording "I Am I" with the Hudson Guild children for his CD Real Slow. The title song reflects a turning point in his life. "I was thinking about death because I was feeling so bad. I had gone through such sickness and pain. I remember the moment that I read the article about the, (to which he refers in the lyrics), and that's the moment that I chose to fight.  I stood up and said, “I want to swim in the Indian Ocean." I've been fighting for life ever since

News Flash!    'On March 21st, 2013 Eric received the gift of life by way of a double lung transplant at St''. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, AZ'''.

Eric now happily lives in Tucson, AZ. He won the 2015 ASCAP Foundation’s Jay Gorney Award for his song Hero In The Dark. Part of his song “True Friends” is in the family film “First Dog.” Two of his songs are featured Coalition to Unchain Dogs videos. Eric has written songs for the Learning A-Z educational website where his music has a been a total hit! He has produced six CDs of his own music as well as CDs for other artists in the area. He is Musical of the Sonoran Desert Center For Spiritual Living. In the past twelve years he has successfully brought his music to New Thought churches around the country. His music has been featured at spirutual retreats such as: Asilomar, The Big Sky Retreat and ANTN. His song The Holy Man won 1st place in the 2006 Unisong International Songwriting Competition. He won a Music to Life award, presented by Noel Paul and Elizabeth Stookey. He was also named a Kerrville Festival New Folk finalist 1999 and 2007. To date, Eric has recorded six CDs on his own label, Half Moon Full Star Records and he has published songs from his family CD in The Nobody Knows Songbook.

At home, Eric teaches voice and coaches singers as well as is the musical director for The Sonoran Desert Center For Spiritual Living. Eric is currently recording songs for his 7th CD. www.erichansen.net