website: www.yofishboy.com
myspace: www.myspace.com/fishboy
mp3: Taqueria Girl

hhbtm discography:
hhbtm089 "Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll" CD [2007]
hhbtm088 "HHBTM Vol. 4" CD [2007]

non-hhbtm discography:
Little D CD [2005]
Zipbangboom CD [2003]
Tim Flies Cause He's Having Fun CD-R [2000]

The story of Fishboy began on a memorable 7th grade field trip to the Dallas Aquarium back in the mid-1990's. A young Eric Michener made good on a dare to pluck a fish from one of the tanks and swallowed it whole. This stunt earned him a spot on the nightly news, two weeks of in-school suspension, and the new moniker "Fishboy", which has followed him through high school, college, and an impressive budding music career.

Fishboy first began releasing solo songs on homemade demo tapes and burned cd's during High School. Based on the quality on these early works, he was invited to join the Austin, TX based Business Deal record label run by a group of musicians including among others, recording artist Gene Defcon. ZipBangBoom, the first officially pressed album, was released in August of 2003. It received a significant amount of critical acclaim in several DFW metroplex publications, and became a local success in both Austin and Denton, Texas. The mounting popularity of Fishboy's music at this time came largely as a result of his unique and impressive stage shows. After recruiting three fellow band members and adding drums, horns, keyboards, kazoos, tambourines, and a variety of other specially selected novelty instruments, the group's sound fully matured into complex and exciting songs to get the feet tapping, heads bopping, and fans singing along. Based on the momentum of these shows, he was asked to perform on the Edge's Adventure Club as well as other local radio shows, and ZipBangBoom was nominated for Album of the Year 2003 in the Dallas Observer.

The band wasted no time in starting to record a new album titled "Little D" as a tribute to the musical city of Denton, where Fishboy is currently living. The new cd was released in the summer of 2005 and is by far the most polished and impressive yet. It includes a duet with Corn Mo, brilliant production by Mark Sonnabaum, and instrumental assistance by well over a dozen talented musicians. Immediately after its release, the band embarked on a tour of the east coast where they played a show stopping performance at the 3rd annual Athens Pop Festival resulting in a partnership with Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records to release a forthcoming album with release date TBA. 2005 ended with "Little D" being named #1 in the top ten local albums of the year in The Dallas Morning News and "the most love-filled album you'll hear in 2005" by the Dallas Observer as well accolades from several other publications and websites.

What the folks in Georgia witnessed was nothing more than a common occurrence to the people of north Texas. Fishboy concerts always bring out a crowd because it seems that no two shows are alike, or sometimes even similar. I've witnessed interactive sing-alongs, creative costumes, puppets, mid-show surprises, and a drummer who somehow manages to lose control of his equipment and send half his kit flying across the stage without missing a beat. While the musicians he plays alongside with may come and go, Eric is always working on new songs and ideas. As someone who has followed his career for several years now, I look forward to future shows and albums because it's apparent to me that there's no stopping a young man with so much honest and good music to share.