Eric Gnezda
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Eric Gnezda | |
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| Born | March 5, 1957 |
| Nationality | American |
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Eric Walter Gnezda (NEZZ-da) (born March 5, 1957) [1] is an American author, television producer, award-winning singer-songwriter and the creator and host of Songs at the Center, a TV series, now in its 11th season, that airs on over 400 PBS stations across the U.S [2]. He writes and performs a wide range of songs, both serious and humorous - from inspirational anthems and love songs that touch the heart and soul to country tearjerkers, bluegrass and comedic/satirical numbers. Gnezda accompanies himself on the piano.
Based in Columbus, Ohio, Gnezda is a recipient of the 2006 Ohioana Citation for Music Composition [3] joining Michael Feinstein (American Songbook), Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane), and Chip Davis (Mannheim Steamroller) and was named "Best Satirist of the Year" by Columbus Monthly magazine which described him as “A skeptic without being too much of a cynic. Witty and caustic without being cruel. A clever man and a pretty good musician.” [4]. His bluegrass song, Unfinished Bridges, written with Mark Brinkman, reached number one on the Mountain Bluegrass with David Pugh radio charts, and his song, Daddy’s Wheels won a Philby award as the number one song of 2021 by Phil Maq on Detroit-area radio, WHFR-FM [5].Eric has also been commissioned to write a number of anthems, including Everyone Wins has which had been used nationally to promote the Special Olympics [6], and "Blossoms of Hope" which has been a favorite among cancer survivors.
Gnezda has entertained and inspired with his music and humor at such notable venues as Nashville's Bluebird Café[7], whose singer-songwriters 'in-the-round' format was the inspiration that led to the creation of the Songs at the Center TV series [8]. He has also performed and spoken in countless concert halls, before corporations, service groups and charities, and was commissioned to write songs for some of them. A Voices of Hope Chorus that Gnezda organized has performed at cancer survivor events across the country. [9]
Gnezda and his musical works have been featured on such broad media as ESPN, Entertainment Tonight and NPR's All Things Considered and Car Talk.[10] Gnezda earned an MFA in creative writing from the Rainer Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University. [11]
Childhood through His 20s and early 30s
Music and writing have been passions of Gnezda's for most of his life, beginning in childhood. He was heavily influenced by his father’s disability due to multiple sclerosis. He sang in school choirs, played lead roles in high school musicals, and, as a teenager, began taking joy in writing lyrics for music that he created at the piano.
At 23, Gnezda began recording spoken radio commentaries for Columbus' NPR station every Friday.[12] Soon after starting, he began incorporating satirical songs into his show - one of which landed him on Entertainment Tonight. [13] While still in his 20s, Gnezda was also a columnist for The Columbus Dispatch and a TV personality and producer on PM Magazine. [14]
After leaving radio and the columnist position, he began writing more serious songs. Bouyed by a positive initial response, he added serious songs and stories to his performance repertoire.[15]
Recent Years to Present
Guests of Songs at the Center have included: John Oates, Rodney Crowell, Gretchen Peters, Molly Tuttle, Beth Nielson Chapman, Kim Richey, Maia Sharp, Suzy Boggus, Janis Ian, Mike Reid, Tom Douglas, Marc Cohn, Peter Asher, Albert Lee, Tom Russell, Don Schlitz, Tony Arata, Delbert McClinton, Ray Stevens and Jeff Daniels, among many others.[16]
Educator Eric was a visiting senior lecturer in public speaking at his alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University, from January, 2005-May, 2017.[17]
Discography[edit] Two Sides of a Clown, Songs of Hope in a Changing World
Singles: Swinger of Mine, Is This America, Separation, Let’s Do It, The Air I Breathe is You, North of 50, A Christmas Song, In Another Place and Time, Humble Lives
Awards and Nominations
Emmy Award nomination, 1988,[18], National Television Arts and Sciences (Ohio Valley Chapter), for retrospective on the ’72 Munich Olympics massacre [19] Ohioana Citation for Music, 2006[20] Daddy’s Wheels Top Song of 2021 WHFR[21]
References
- ↑ https://ohioresidentdatabase.com
- ↑ https://www.netaonline.org
- ↑ https://www.ohioana.org/programs/ohioana-book-awards/other-awards/
- ↑ Columbus Monthly, July, 1984, p.44)
- ↑ "WHFR Audio Stream".
- ↑ https://specialolympics.org
- ↑ https://nhpbs.org
- ↑ https://songsatthecenter.tv
- ↑ https://voicesofhopecc.com
- ↑ https://wcspeakers.com
- ↑ https:owu.edu
- ↑ https://wosu.org
- ↑ https://wcspeakers.com
- ↑ https://nbc4i.com
- ↑ https://gnezda.com
- ↑ https://songsatthecenter.tv
- ↑ https://owu.edu
- ↑ https:wcspeakers.com
- ↑ https://[email protected]
- ↑ https.//ohioana.org
- ↑ https://whfr.fm
External links
This article "Eric Gnezda" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.