Eric West - RIP

Reece Anderson · Post by **Reece Anderson** » 9 Sep 2011 9:55 am

I had the blessing of praying together during a phone conversation with Eric about a month ago, and I take comfort in knowing he knew the Lord.

Rex Thomas · Post by **Rex Thomas** » 10 Sep 2011 3:00 pm

Me too, Reece.
Have fun up there, Eric.

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 10 Sep 2011 9:22 pm

RIP HFLE. Gonna spin Ry Cooder's "Steel Guitar Heaven" for you tonight.

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 10 Sep 2011 11:39 pm

Eric's funeral was well attended. He is missed by many.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 12 Sep 2011 2:31 pm

So very sad to see this. My condolences to his friends and family.

I met Eric a couple times and really admired his playing and attitude. He seemed like a great guy.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 12 Sep 2011 6:20 pm

I'll bet he's grinning from ear to ear right now, showing Jesus how to use the 1 + 2 strings in a fast diatonic run...

Jon Hyde · Post by **Jon Hyde** » 13 Sep 2011 9:13 am

I didn’t know Eric beyond seeing and hearing him at the Portland area steel jams and reading his frequent posts. I always liked his irreverent attitude. At the jams he always stood out to me as one of the few guys making a concise musical statement. Rarely fancy but always succinct and on the money. I liked how he’d often open his ride playing straight octaves with a real simple line that always fit the song at hand. In person I found him to be real friendly. I just learned about his passing a couple days ago – he’ll be missed for sure.

Rick Schacter · Post by **Rick Schacter** » 14 Sep 2011 3:31 pm

I just now found out about this.

I got a chance to see Eric play one time at an Elk's Lodge in SE Portland a couple of years ago.

I enjoyed hearing him play pedal steel and 6 string guitar.

I also got a chance to talk with him on his breaks and I enjoyed his sense of humor.

I am very sorry to read this sad news.

RIP, Eric

Rick

Suzanne Parkhouse · Post by **Suzanne Parkhouse** » 16 Sep 2011 3:53 am

So glad I got to talk with Eric one more time last month....
RIP my friend. Sue.

Tommy Young · Post by **Tommy Young** » 16 Sep 2011 7:53 pm

RIP forum friend my condolences to his family ....

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 18 Sep 2011 9:03 pm

Oh I am so saddened to see this.
Eric was such a character, a BIG character, and while in your face outspoken, he also was kind hearted and friendly to all ,even if you weren't on the same JI / ET side of the fence.

RIP and keep picking in the big band in the sky pardner!

Tony Rankin · Post by **Tony Rankin** » 19 Sep 2011 6:40 am

Reece Anderson wrote:I had the blessing of praying together during a phone conversation with Eric about a month ago, and I take comfort in knowing he knew the Lord.

Thanks for sharing this Reece! I will miss Eric, but I too am comforted to know he is with our heavenly Father.

Brian McGaughey · Post by **Brian McGaughey** » 20 Sep 2011 3:42 pm

The forum will certainly be a lot less colorful without him...

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 21 Sep 2011 5:00 am

Rest in peace, Eric. I'll miss you.

Cass Broadview · Post by **Cass Broadview** » 13 Oct 2011 6:37 pm

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Eric's family. I to have exchanged emails with eric. He was a wonderful soul who loved steel guitar, and great conversation.

George Redmon
Cass Broadview

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 16 Oct 2011 5:49 pm

Sad news. Eric and I were "virtual friends" on the forum and the old Off Topic. It brings a smile to my face thinking that Eric is now in Heaven playing with his old dogs!

Rest in peace my friend...

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 19 Oct 2011 11:25 am

Again, I want to thank all of you who loved my son, Eric, for all the loving and comforting messages that have been posted here on the forum to date. I've been spending many hours "taking care" of his things, along with the tender help of Cathy (his angel sent by God), Doug Jones, Harley (Felix) James and Tony Glassman. They were sent as well:) I'm hoping Cathy and I can meet some of you at the "Jam" this Sunday. Some of his guitars and equipment will be there, as well as some of his favorite shirts - you might recognize. Eric's in Heaven - and all's as it should be. His brother and sister and I miss him a lot, but we know we'll see him again. Eric's Mom, Audrey

Archie Nicol · Post by **Archie Nicol** » 19 Oct 2011 2:09 pm

Audrey, you can tell by the number of posts here, that Eck was well liked. He'll be missed by friends and foes(just friends who like to debate) alike.

Best Wishes,

Archie.

S.M. Johnson · Post by **S.M. Johnson** » 24 Oct 2011 1:48 pm

Was Eric's BROTHER in the audience on Sunday, Oct. 23rd at the Steel Jam?

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 24 Oct 2011 6:23 pm

We set-up Eric's guitar at the PDX jam rotation on Sunday. Many old friends got to sit down, play a tune and have an Eric moment.

Dean Rankin · Post by **Dean Rankin** » 27 Oct 2011 11:10 am

Good by friend and thanks for being my friend.

Dean

Steve Hotra · Post by **Steve Hotra** » 27 Oct 2011 4:22 pm

Tony Glassman wrote:We set-up Eric's guitar at the PDX jam rotation on Sunday. Many old friends got to sit down, play a tune and have an Eric moment.

This is great to see this happening at the jam this past Sunday. While I never got to meet Eric personally, you could see that he was loved and respected by all.

Stuart Legg · Post by **Stuart Legg** » 4 Nov 2011 12:28 pm

I wish Bo and I would have been able to meet Eric in person .
We had a lot of fun razzing each other here.
Eric was very witty with deep convictions regarding most subjects.
It’s just not the same here without him.

Bernie Gonyea · Post by **Bernie Gonyea** » 5 Nov 2011 5:50 pm

I joined the forum a couple of years ago; Didn't know anyone; was often tempted to leave; for non-interest reasons. Suddenly I started reading comments and posts by our good friend, Eric. He would always give we fellow forumites something to chew on. From that day forward, I always would look for suggestions or replies from Eric , on a certain subject. We didn't always agree, but we could muster up a good conversation and debate, among other members here on he forum.. Rest in peace, my frriend. You will be missed.. Regards..Bernie

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 8 Mar 2012 9:38 pm

Dang, I haven't been on the Forum for many months, had to reactivate. With trepidation the first place I went was this Gone Home section, just 'cause I know so many great steelers are at the age where you can't take anything for granted. And here I find my old debating buddy, Eric, has been reclaimed by the infinite universe. After one of our nastiest scrapes, he got my phone number from Information and called me, and we talked for a long time and got into both our personal lives and health problems. I'm in medical research, so I knew the end was in sight for him. I'm sure he fought the good fight to the end. The Forum won't be the same without him, and neither will the rest of this ole world.

Luved ya, Eric, wherever you may be.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Eric West - RIP

A question.....................

Eric Is Now With Our Dear Lord

Been away too long