Eric Beaumont is a musician, DJ, paralegal and writer living in Milwaukee.  His literary criticism has appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, African American Review, Milwaukee JournalSentinel and ShepherdExpress.  As Eric Blowtorch, he has written, performed, and arranged six albums, seven singles and numerous songs on compilations and soundtracks, frequently collaborating with Jamaican musicians.  As a solo singer/guitarist and bandleader, he has played across America and in England, Canada and Jamaica, where he performed with the Alpha Boys Band.  Beaumont has lectured on Jamaican music and history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  His published interviews include those with George McGovern, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, KRS-ONE, Wayne Kramer, Linton Kwesi Johnson, De La Soul, Manic Street Preachers, Heather Ann Thompson and filmmaker Karyn Kusama.  Beaumont’s historical research was recently cited in the New York Times.