Troubadour Blue by Earl J. Rivard

His first-ever memory comes from age two when falling asleep to Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair.” Even at that young age, Earl J distinctly remembers the powerful emotion he experienced as he listened to the melancholy melody. Fast-forward just a few months. Sitting in a highchair at a café in New York, the young toddler stunned his parents as he sang along word-for-word, note-for-note to the Simon & Garfunkel tune that played through the restaurant’s speakers. “Wow…I can’t wait to tell Art about this one,” explained their food server -- cousin to Mr. Garfunkel himself!

Throughout his life, Earl J continued to develop and share his natural gift for song and performance. As a boy, he devoted eight years to a local boy’s choir. He sat first-chair as lead of the trumpet section in middle school. In college, his voice was heard across campus as a lead singer with one of UC Berkeley’s premier a cappella ensembles, “Artists in Resonance.”. He also sings gospel with the local church choir. This life-long exploration of music has contributed to creating the powerful and talented singer-songwriter he is today.

But there was a turning point in Earl J’s life that made the most critical impact on his musical experience, which stems from the small provincial town of Tucuman, Argentina. When Earl J was 14, he and his family spent a year in Tucuman to discover his mother’s South American roots, a culture that would forever alter the way he experienced life, love and music. “There’d be 12 kids or so that would get together for ‘Guitarriadas’ and just pass the guitar around for hours and hours,” he recalls. “It’s hard to over-emphasize how important this experience was. It was during these sessions that I really began to take shape as a musician and as a performer.” It was also this year that Earl J and his father scored an on-the-spot audition with a concert booker in Buenos Aires. As a result, the eager teen earned his first big break performing in front of over 10,000 people at the Nation’s annual “Coke N’ Rock” festival. To this day, Earl J continues to make regular trips back to what he considers his second home. His love and perpetual nostalgia for Argentina is perfectly captured in his heartbreaking song, “Flying Machine.”

Today, Earl J regularly performs his solo act throughout the Bay Area. Many also know him as the smooth bassist in another of the Bay Area’s hottest new acts, “The Highway Robbers.”

Earl J’s philosophy about performance is simple. "Music can never be done half-assed,” he explains. “Even if you're playing at a dive bar on a wet Monday to the bartender and two drunk guys. That bartender and two drunk guys get everything you have to give, no matter what, every time." It’s his respect for the power of music that drives him. “I’m perpetually amazed at how it affects other people. I’ve got the privilege and the joy to take this God-given gift and share it with others. The dreams of world domination have faded away a bit. It’s not what it’s about. It’s about loving music and having it touch people.”

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