Eric Thompson is a guitarist and longtime figure in the Bay Area bluegrass and traditional music community. He began playing guitar as a teenager in Palo Alto in the early 1960s and was an early musical collaborator of Jerry Garcia, performing with Garcia and David Nelson in the Black Mountain Boys.
In the summer of 1964, Thompson joined Garcia and Jody Stecher to form the Asphalt Mountain Jungle Boys, an acoustic trio that performed around the Palo Alto area. His association with Garcia was brief, as he soon left for New York, where he became involved with the New York Ramblers and continued developing his reputation as an accomplished flatpicking guitarist.
Thompson went on to a long career exploring bluegrass, old-time, Irish, Cajun, and other traditional styles. He has performed and recorded with numerous musicians and has also been an influential guitar teacher and author of instructional material.
