MY FRIENDSHIP WITH ERIK
A little about myself; my name is Jon Williams and at the time of this writing I'm fast approaching the age of 18. I'm the guitarist and singer for the rock band Dragonfly. I've been playing guitar since I was 9 years old, and Erik Braunn has been one of my main idols since I was 13. I was probably the only guy in my whole Middle School who knew an Iron Butterfly from a hole in the ground at that point, but it didn't matter to me. At the time, though, all I knew was that I loved his guitar playing and I thought he looked totally cool. I even had my hair cut like his for a long time...but not the first clue what he was really like.
My first brush with Erik was an indirect one; I was only about 3 when they did the 1988 reunion tour, and my father Larry went to it. He's been a die hard Buttefly fan since they were new. Before the show, dad actually ran into and talked at great length to Erik, and I'd been hearing the story of that conversation most of my life...with immense jealousy! I attended a show when I was about 15 with the then current Iron Butterfly lineup... i.e. Ron Bushy, Lee Dorman, and two new people, Eric Barnett and Larry Rust. I got to meet them after the show and was thrilled, and some time later also got to meet Mike Pinera. But it bugged me that two of their most central figures, Doug Ingle and Erik Braunn, continued to elude me.
A few years later, I was frequently checking the Iron Butterlfy message board, and it had turned into a non-stop bitch-athon between different fans. Then, out of the blue, Erik Braunn began posting! Many of the people on that board were absolutely snotty and awful towards him, but I was thrilled! I'd already met most of the Strawberry Alarm Clock via a different message board, and now here was Erik! Well, I frequently tried to post messages to him, but they were lost amidst all the hate messages different people sent to him. Erik remembered me and dad's kind words to him apparently, and it was not long after that I found myself in possession of his personal e-mail as a result!
Over the next year, he and I e-mailed back and forth practically every day. It was then that I learned of his illness and that he had new music in the works. He suggested I give him my mailing address and phone number and that he might send me somtheing. Did he ever!
Almost instantly after learning that I'm trying to make it as a musician, he set about regularly sending me music lessons and various books...and eventually he was sending me things like effect pedals for my guitar and a cassette containing excerpts from his album. Wow! To think that here I was, 17....the same age he was on the "Vida" album.... and a guitarist I'd idolized for years was taking me under his wing and shaping me into his protege`! I was absolutely beside myself!
Erik was always willing to talk at great length about his long career, telling me things that few if any other Iron Butterfly fans knew about. He frequently answered questions I had about lyrics and which guitar he used on which song...all that kind of musical talk, and he always seemed to take great interest in hearing about my life. In fact, back in May I had just gone through an absolutely brutal break up, and he knew it. To cheer me up, he actually called my house long distance from California! I damn near died when I realized who it was! That was, unfortunately, the only time we directly spoke to one another, but it was as if the sky had split open and a million dollars had landed in my lap!
Erik had a lot of inappreciation throughout his career, but he really never carried a chip on his shoulder about any of it. He encouraged me to stick with it and to pursue my music and my dreams with absolute determination. He also frequently talked about how he was getting the album near completion and how much he wanted to do a tour to promote it... we often joked that me and Dragonfly could be the opening act! One of my greatest thrills was mailing him a tape that had demos of some of my songs on it. To think that Erik Braunn was actually listening to songs that I wrote, and whats more was that he really liked it!
Erik was frequently unwell, and sometimes I wouldn't hear from him for a few days because of it, but in recent times he had seemed to be doing better. His enthusiasm for the music he was making had never been higher.
On Monday, July 28th I recieved a phone call from my dad who was at work. I could tell from his voice it was bad news. He asked if I'd heard the news, and I said no. My first thought was "Oh no, another Beatles' died." Then I heard two words that forever changed my life and brought me to immediate tears; "Erik's dead". I couldn't believe it. I was in shock; this just couldn't be right! That night I watched CNN, and sure enough, it was mentioned on there too that he had died the previous Friday from cardiac arrest. It was as if someone had come on t.v. and told me somebody in my family had died.
When I was much younger, I figured out that I was a hell of a lot younger than most of these musicians I loved, and as a result would most likely have watch all of them die in my lifetime. This had already happened several times; Roy Orbison, Freddie Mercury, George Harrison, John Entwistle..... but this was something different altogether. When I lost Erik, I not only lost a guitar hero of mine; first and foremost, I lost a friend.
Erik was a truly unique and wonderful human being. I've been changed enormously by his presence in my life, and felt a real connection with him... my friends who see his picture even tell me I look just like him (something he himself said at one point). The fact that I got to be his friend and student for the last year and a half of his life is an honor and a memory that I will hold in my heart forever. Even though I still miss Erik greatly, I'm glad to know he is in a better place, and all I can do is hope that one day I'm up there with him in the great rock'n'roll band in heaven. After all, Erik...it's about time someone arrived up there who might be able to give Jimi Hendrix a run for his money!
'Till we meet again Big Bro',
Jon Williams