This week, Eric Himan, along with a slate of very talented musicians will perform at the Independent Music Festival in North Park. It has been two years since Himan has performed in San Diego.

Since his move to Oklahoma, Himan has settled down with his partner, developed his band Eric and the Adams,and inspired a whole new generation of GLBT youth. His last album, Resonate, was a hit and moved in a new direction in terms of sound. Himan explains his reasons for this and much more in his interview with the Gay and Lesbian Times.

Gay & Lesbian Times: It’s been two years since you’ve been to San Diego. Why haven’t you been to San Diego in so long?

Eric Himan: I put out Resonate last March, and I thought, take things back and see how it was when I wasn’t on the road.

GLT: How has the band affected your sound?

EH: It takes it to a different place. If you’ve heard my acoustic stuff, [or] if you’ve heard my CD, [you know] I kind of write in that pop-rock genre. To be able to play electric guitar and have the drums and bass, [makes] my music the way it was meant to be.

GLT: What can we expect from your next album?

EH: I’m still deciding if I’m going to put out a CD by myself or in a rock genre with The Adams. I’m trying to figure out how to make the transition between just me – to being this band. I’ll probably release it next March or early spring.

GLT: What kind of sound would we expect?

EH: I’ll probably have an acoustic song in there at some point. Switching from acoustic to electric has given me a chance to expand my sound and do some new things that I haven’t been able to do on CDs in the past. I think it would be a hard-edge sound, but I wouldn’t forget my acoustic roots.

GLT: Have the rewards of being your own manager and doing your own booking and publicity been sweeter?

EH: I do find it to be sweeter. It’s hard to set up and do everything that I need to do at venues [with] merchandise. At least I know how to do it myself. It gives me a chance to know the playing field before somebody has the opportunity to take advantage of me. [It’s good] when you know how to do it on the ground floor, so when it does get bigger you still have that advantage to know if somebody is overstepping or if somebody could do more. It’s your future, how can you not want to know what’s going on when it comes to your money and your rights and your licenses?

GLT: How have social networking sites like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook helped you as an artist?

EH: People can respond now. You do all this work and you show up to the show and you realize what songs people are liking or what people wanna see. With all these social networking sites, you’re getting all this feedback right away. It gives you a chance to know what people want instead of waiting and wondering or guessing.

GLT: Do you have your line-up for the show this weekend already ready?

EH: Oh yeah. I’ve got four shows this week. I’m flying to Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tampa and to San Diego and then flying right back. I try to do everything as much as I can in advance so there’s no guessing.

GLT: You’ve said other artists ask why you cover songs. Why do you like to cover songs?

EH: I like to cover things. I can only listen to so much original music at one time.

GLT: Your cover of Sugarland’s ‘Stay’ was awesome. What was the response to that?

EH: When we put on ‘Stay’ people were like ‘I love that song!’ Of course I know now that when I’m at a show that song will do really well. We did that for Ellen’s ‘Bathroom Concert Series’ and we’re waiting to see if it will pop up. We had a lot of fun just playing in a bathroom.

GLT: Did you receive a response from Sugarland?

EH: I had somebody write me and say I’m really good friends with Jennifer Nettles, the lead singer of Sugarland. He was like, ‘I really hate when people cover Sugarland, but I love your version of it.’ It’s things like that that make you go, ‘this is why I keep doing this.’ I was like, ‘tell Jennifer Nettles I said hi.’

GLT: Little Boy Blue was about a transgender boy you met while on tour. Tell readers more about that inspiration.

EH: One kid walked up to me in a confrontational manner and said, ‘who are you; what are you doing here?’ [He was] very confrontational. Throughout the course of the day, this kid, who was very guarded, became one of my best friends in that place. It was really neat to earn somebody’s trust like that. I learned so much from this 15-year-old boy who was in this LGBT center [and was] kicked out of his house.

GLT: How did he affect your album Resonate?

EH: When I was writing Resonate, I was thinking about the experience and going back to the people who I met who have made an impression on me. I wrote this song about him. I was nervous because I never talked to him after that day. I played in Seattle and he showed up. He works for that community center and is giving back to the community. He loves the song and was proud of it.

GLT: How have other GLBT youth affected you?

EH: I’d like to be able to go back to all of these places [and perform]. Some of them are closed. It’s not about ego; it’s not about money. It’s not about those things. For me, it’s about going in there to meet new people and to meet these kids. I thought it was cool to meet all these kids who were out at such a younger age than I was. I thought it was cool to learn how life was treating them. I was proud to see them be able to come out in high school.

GLT: What would you be doing if you were not a musician?

EH: I always thought that if I wasn’t a musician I would be a teacher. I graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Psychology. [Being around GLBT youth] reminds you why you’re putting yourself out there when there’s so much rejection. When you get down to it there’s that human connection with you and someone who wants to get to know you.

GLT: What artists have inspired you?

EH: I’ve learned a lot from Patty Griffin and Ani DiFranco. I can’t even tell you how much they inspired me from their song writing. When I was young, their stories really inspired me.

GLT: You live in Oklahoma. What is it like as a gay man in the country?

EH: People are like why the hell would you live there? I tell them if every gay person moved out of here, God only knows what Oklahoma would be like. You can’t just do that.

GLT: How do you feel about Proposition 8?

EH: It’s just out of pure ignorance and hatred and has nothing to do with their relationship. Why shouldn’t gays and lesbians have the opportunity to get married just like they have the opportunity to vote?

GLT: What are some of the lyrics from ‘Protest Song’?

EH: I added an extra verse at election time that said “election day is coming up around the bend, here comes those bigots with their propositions and their big red pens, who are they to say who I marry when so many straight folks got it wrong, give me and my man the same damn chance and we’ll show you how it’s done.”

GLT: Your election edition of ‘Protest Song’ has ‘resonated’ with many people. What reaction do you get from it?

EH: [The song] gets a huge reaction everywhere I go. With having a song like that and an election like that, I couldn’t do anything but address it.

GLT: Do you plan on marrying your partner any time soon?

EH: I want to take that step and get married. I want it to be when it’s legal and when its expected.