Nice Things Said

“Moonlighting Chicago playwright Eric Ziegenhagen revelled in the small turnout, which suited the rec-room intimacy of his performance style. His self-effacing between-song banter was just as entertaining as the tunes he crooned, accompanying himself on his lap-strummed acoustic guitar…A festival highlight.”
–Tim Perlich, NOW (Toronto weekly), NXNE 2002 wrap-up

“His own lyrics are imaginative, as you might expect…He sings a lot about cold and snow, as is appropriate for a Great Lakes guy, using inclement weather to launch into a sort of atmospheric poetry of extremity in which the characters dodge monsters and love each other in the same kind of dreamy haze.” – Monica Kendrick, Chicago Reader

“He plays a battered, four-string acoustic and sings spare, intimate little ditties that are low-key but just as witty as his pals.” – Tom Hallett, Pulse of the Twin Cities

“On the hit side are the more gentle acoustic tracks, such as Zapruder Point's softly-sung "Protection" or the tabloid-pastiche of Eric Ziegenhagen's ‘Degredator’.” – Splendid E-Zine, reviewing “Open Mike: A Tribute to the Songs of Mike Merz”