Shelter Island Musician Makes Next Round in Radio Contest

Shelter Island musician Erich Collins Carey is one step closer to realizing his dream.

Carey has made it to the next round in a contest sponsored by Long Island radio station WEHM 92.9 and 96.9 FM, which has chosen a track from his album for a Battle of the Bands contest sponsored by the station.

Recently, listeners were asked to vote for the Top 5 finalists, who are invited to a Battle of the Bands playoff at Bobbique in Patchogue on Saturday -- and Carey took a top spot in the round.

The winner will be featured to play at the Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue in July.

"After 17 years of playing music, it was awesome to finally have one of my songs played on FM radio, and on one of my favorite stations, no less," Carey said. 

The final round of the contest will take place on Saturday, June 29, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

"I'm thrilled to advance to the final round of WEHM FM & Bobbique's Summer 2013 Real Band Battle," Collins said Monday. "It was a small feat just to hear my name on the radio. Since the last round was an active participation among listeners by way of online voting, I'm extremely grateful for what this represents: a showing of support among friends and family, with, hopefully, those groups growing just a little bit as a result of our collective effort."

Carey sent his thanks to everyone who voted for him. "I appreciate how much competition there is for attention these days. Nonetheless, I very much hope to do right by everyone in the final round," he said. "I'm also grateful for the opportunity to now turn to the live performance aspect of the competition; as a musician, that's what you live for."

While Carey admits to "butterflies," he said, " I'm up for the challenge. I very much have my eyes on the prize and would be elated to advance in the contest and perform at the Great South Bay Music Festival. After many years of hard work, it would be an awesome accomplishment, and a very fitting one at that, given my Long Island roots. It would truly make for a most unforgettable rock-and-roll summer for a dedicated local musician."

Carey, a practicing attorney by day in New York City, has long had music in his soul.

The musician, 32, has deep roots in Shelter Island soil. His sense of home is so fierce that he released his new album "Could've Gone Either Way"  -- which he recorded with friend and Grammy winner Matt Shane in New York and locally -- on his own label, Route 114 Music and Records, named after 114,  Shelter Island's main thoroughfare.

"I am very proud of my album and am doing my best to get my independent music out to the local community in a grass roots fashion," Carey said.

Carey -- whose late grandfather, former New York State Governor Hugh Carey, recently had the Battery Tunnel renamed in his honor -- has loved music since his world began.

"Some of my earliest memories relate to music. I had a little Fisher Price record player when I was a kid and however it worked out, I wound up with two records in my collection: one by the Beach Boys and one by Billy Idol. I had a Hawaiian shirt and a tough little snarl to match, depending on which I was listening to," he said.

And from that tender age, music took hold of his soul. "I can remember getting lost in the sound; it’s a feeling I can still very much identify with. There’s a continuity there, all these years later.  Music can just take you to another place and it still very much has the same effect for me."

As a musician, Carey said his style leans toward folk rock. "But I’ve got a lot of influences in there: blues, early rock n’ roll, alternative, even Irish traditional. The emphasis is on keeping it honest, organic, and homegrown. The aim is to appeal to the head, the heart, the soul -- and maybe get people moving and dancing just a little bit. When you put it all together it’s a unique blend that my father has affectionately dubbed 'barefoot rock n’ roll.' Still figuring out what exactly that means, but I think it’s an accurate description nonetheless. Best way to find out is to listen."