Eric Carbonara is a guitarist, composer, and audio engineer currently based in Philadelphia. His reverence for raw and honest aural expression has led him far and wide, composing works that embrace noise, improvisation, and aleatoric elements for the guitar. Carbonara's work stems from the belief that music is a vehicle for self expression and universal truth, a belief shared by his teacher, Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya. His playing weaves a variety of traditional forms producing a kind of exalted pidgin style in which one can recognize influences of Hindustani slide guitar music, Andalusian Roma-Flamenco, and 20th-century guitar compositions yet find it difficult to pinpoint any singular derivative source. Carbonara has released 7 solo/duet albums and has been featured on many compilations from labels including VHF, Locust Music, Tompkins Square, and  Majumua Music, among others. In March of 2014, Carbonara released Tributes and Diatribes with harpist Jesse Sparhawk on VHF Records.  Carbonara's strengths lie in blending and juxtaposing seemingly polarized themes, revealing a more honest and thorough depiction of himself. Marc Masters in Pitchfork writes "His guitar often sounds idyllic but also filled with tension; his careful picks and strums could easily dive into darkness. Such countering themes are a product of Carbonara's approach to guitar, which is guided equally by physical technique and abstract imagery." Carbonara has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe alongside fellow guitarists such as Alexander Turnquist (VHF), Nick Schillace, William Tyler (MERGE), and Nick Millevoi (TZADIK).  When not working in the studio as an engineer/producer, he is at work composing and extending his technique and abilities.  Carbonara has been featured in Pitchfork, Washington Post, Chicago Reader, Philly Weekly, etc. and has performed live on WNYC's "Spinning on Air", WFMU, WPRB, WPSU, WNUR, among many other radio programs.  Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.