Born in Burlington, Vermont, Syd might as well have been born backstage at a festival or a music venue.

Growing up surrounded by art, words, music and theater at home, he often accompanied his father Don to work at various high-level tour and production management gigs where he’d watch legends like Bonnie Raitt and BB King from sidestage at festivals like Newport Folk and New Orleans Jazz Fest.

It was only natural when his grandfather’s drum kit landed in his possession as a teenager that it would provide a creative catapult for a young Erin, who quickly made a name for himself as Syd playing parties and coffee shops in high school. 

The stages only got bigger when he moved to Boston to attend Emerson College and started securing festival gigs at colleges throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States opening for the likes of Taylor Swift and Hanson, sharing festival stages with John Mayer and Jason Mraz, and independently making records that garnered over 500,000 plays on mp3.com with a band that included the likes of Sam Smith, seen most often recently behind the kit with Ben Folds.

But after several Syd records and countless miles on the road, his finely tuned knack for guiding his tourmates and collaborators to find their voices began to land him in the producer’s chair more often than the driver’s seat. 

In 2009 he produced an acclaimed album for childhood friend Gregory Douglass that features, among others, fellow Vermonters Grace Potter and Anais Mitchell. A 2011 tour with Mia Dyson led to co-production duties on what Rolling Stone called “her career defining album,” 2012’s ARIA-nominated The Moment, teaming up with Lee Pardini (Dawes) to form a powerhouse band in the studio and on the road. 

The Moment debuted at #1 on the AIR Independent Album Charts in Australia, and that same year saw the release of another Sidney co-production, the first of many records by Zac Clark (Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Jack’s Mannequin) to feature his production, playing and songwriting. 

And once again, time spent at the mix console led back to that old 50s Gretsch kit, and whether producing and working with Dyson, Clark, or participating in his own projects like Hotels & Highways, Radio Skies or The Pullmen, these records and artists pulled him back to the stage, and ultimately around the world, digging deep into the rhythm of his own life through the core of the songs, playing an instrument whose magic has echoed through generations.

-Zachary Alan Clark