Known primarily for his nearly three decades of rockin’ and rollin’ with Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars, pianist/songwriter Eric Adcock has been drawn to beats since a young age. “I was always motivated by sound and rhythm,” Adcock explained. “I was that kid standing up in the station wagon with the windshield wipers going left and right, feeling that beat.” Adcock is Louisiana roots, rock ‘n’ roll, funk, jazz and blues. He has sat behind a piano since he was five years old, and he’s proficient on the Hammond B-3 organ — both self-taught.
Born and raised in Lafayette, La., Adcock claims Abbeville, where he’s lived for 18 years, as home. “It’s such a quaint, beautiful town with great people and food, and I live on the river here, which is a source of inspiration for my songwriting.”
By 16, Adcock was the house piano player at Poets, a now closed Lafayette nightclub, but popular during its time. Around the same time, he started playing with the late Li’l Buck Sinegal — a blues mentorship was born. Adcock would find himself sneaking out of his house on Wednesday nights to gig with him. “One time, I came home to my parents smelling like cigarettes and fried pork chops because they started frying them right in the club,” he reminisced. “I owe everything to Buck.” He would soon join Roddie Romero, with whom he’d cultivate a 27-year-career as pianist and principal songwriter for Roddie Romero & the Hub City All-Stars.
The group garnered three Grammy nominations and traveled all over the world. Adcock is particularly proud of their 2016 release — “Gulfstream,” a decade’s worth of work. “I really gave that record all I had. If it had never come about, it would’ve been my greatest disappointment,” he said.
Just before the pandemic hit, Adcock was in the studio working on a new album for Michael Juan Nunez. Though it’s at a standstill, Adcock is continuing to create, collaborating with Zachary Richard and Andrina Turenne. “I think collectively as a society of musicians in South Louisiana, these tough times are really going to inspire some really beautiful, creative things to happen in the future,” he mused. “I love who we are, our culture, our music…I’ve been all over the world, and I keep coming home.”