Martin was a drummer only for a while. Realizing it fit his personality better, he opted for the position of front man / lead vocalist in the next bands he was in. He played in a handful of teen rock groups such as "S.F. Bloodshy" and "Backhome" while attending Foothill High School in Sacramento, California. Eric performed in a punk band in the mid 1970s called 'The Innocents' with Connie Champagne and Ric Walz-Smith. Also in 1974–75, Eric played a lot of college clubs with Jim Preston in a band called The J.C. Michaels Band. He started to make it big when he joined a band called "Stark Raving Mad" (which also included future Winger guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor) in Santa Rosa, California. Stark Raving Mad, which also included Donavan and Brian Stark, cut a Demo with Bearsville Records that was produced by Chris Nicks, brother of Stevie Nicks.