Eric Avery was a founding member and bassist for the band Jane’s Addiction and is a long-time friend of ours. Avery’s distinctive bass playing is widely credited as the backbone of the signature Jane’s sound. Avery has kept a fairly low profile since the break up of Jane’s Addiction, collaborating on the Deconstruction project with Dave Navarro immediately afterwards. Since then, Avery has declined all invitations for Jane’s reunions choosing instead to move forward, saying to Filter magazine, ” I didn’t want to do a worse job of being my 20 year old self. There was no way that we could make a great record. So what are we doing it for?” Avery then went on to front the band Polarbear, and has now decided to focus on his solo work. Eric will release his solo debut, Help Wanted, this spring. The album features guest contributions from Shirley Manson of Garbage, the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on trumpet.