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Eric Hutchinson
Profile of
Eric Hutchinson
Type(s) of Music: Pop/Rock/Folk
Full name: Eric [middle?] Hutchinson
Place of Origin: Takoma Park, MD
Year the Act Began: 1995?
Musical Influences:
Biography/History of
Eric Hutchinson
Eric
Hutchinson looks like the kind of guy you can trust – honest,
approachable, somehow familiar. There’s just something about him that
invites you to give up your innermost thoughts. And complete strangers
don’t hesitate to do so, as he wryly details in “Oh!”
Riding the subway with the scent of her hair She took out a toothbrush
started using it there She explained “I’m always sure today’s the day I
will die I wanna look good if I get to look God in the eye” And I said
“Oh!”
“Oh” is one of 10 keenly observed songs from Hutchinson’s self-released
debut album, Sounds Like This. The CD, which showcases the young
singer-songwriter’s unique brand of soul, bowed at #1 on Billboard’s
Heatseekers chart in September 2007. But “Oh!” was penned during a
dismal period of his life. His deal with Maverick Records had fallen
apart when the parent company shuttered the label. With the plug pulled
on his nascent recording sessions, Eric hit the road again. “It was all
about getting the exposure and the experience,” he says. After a
relentless touring schedule, Hutchinson, who began writing songs as a
child in the DC suburb of Takoma Park, MD, put everything he had into
making his album.
Sounds Like This was released on Hutchinson’s own label, Let’s Break
Records, at the end of August 2007. Overnight it was breaking records –
thanks largely to the efforts of a good friend. One of his high school
buddies emailed celebrity blogger Perez Hilton a link to Hutchinson’s
MySpace page. Hilton recommended it on his site and soon, Eric’s album
was ensconced in iTunes’ Top 10 alongside the latest releases from
Kanye West
and Dave
Matthews. It peaked at #5 on the iTunes album chart, becoming
the highest-charting album by an unsigned act in iTunes history. No
small accomplishment for a record that almost didn’t get made.
A flurry of press followed, including features in Billboard and the
Washington Post, which said ““Hutchinson is undeniably charismatic,
splitting his time between keyboard and guitar, crooning about stormy
romances and everyday struggles.”
Eric recorded most of Sounds Like This with producer Will Golden (Joe
Purdy, Ian Ball) in Los Angeles and two songs with Paul Kolderie
(Radiohead) in Boston. “They were both really open to letting me do my
own thing, but at the same time, were there to guide everything,” he
says. “They didn’t involve their egos at all – they just wanted to make
music they believed in.”
Although he’s been favorably compared to his early idols (Stevie
Wonder,
Billy Joel, Paul Simon), one of the most remarkable things
about Sounds Like This is the sheer breadth of musical styles Hutchinson
effortlessly encompasses. His ease is perhaps inherited from his
grandmother, who played viola in a local orchestra, backing everyone
from Tony Bennett to Aretha Franklin as they came through town. From the
buoyant album opener, “Ok, It’s Alright With Me” to the thoughtful “Back
to Where I Was,” depicting two friends at crossroads in their respective
lives, to the soulful “You’ve Got You,” the self-described student of
pop music fuses divergent styles into a sound he alone owns.
Hutchinson’s vocals veer from a gritty growl to a shimmering falsetto on
“Outside Villanova,” which gives way to the jazzy “Food Chain,” wherein
the narrator comes to terms with a relationship marred by lies and
broken expectations.
Fan favorite “Rock & Roll” follows a pair of players rolling their way
through the bar scene and ultimately into bed with one another, while
its lilting ska-inflected groove erupts into one of Hutchinson’s
rapid-fire bouts of wordplay. Eric takes pride in the raw, vintage vibe
of Sounds Like This. “I tried really hard to keep it organic,” he says.
“Music is human expression and what’s more human than to make a mistake?
So to record something and then take out all the mistakes leaves the
project with no soul to it.”
Hutchinson moved to New York last spring and, eager to tour behind
Sounds Like This, began putting together a band. With Jimmy Coleman on
drums and Tom Craskey on bass, the trio hit the road in January 2008
with OneRepublic and will be touring non-stop as Eric closes in on his
goal of playing each of the 50 states (he’s up to 40) and embarks on his
first international gigs. And, of course, he will no doubt find
inspiration in the inevitable random conversations with total strangers
along the way. He’s already writing material for the next record. “I
need to be able to road test songs before I feel comfortable putting
them on an album,” says Hutchinson, preparing to burn rubber.
Oct 14 2008 8:00P
THE LOFT w/ Jack’s Mannequin Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 15 2008 8:00P
VISULITE THEATRE w/ Jack’s Mannequin Charlotte, North Carolina
Oct 17 2008 8:00P
THE SOCIAL w/ Jack’s Mannequin Orlando, Florida
Oct 18 2008 8:00P
CITY LIMITS w/ Jack’s Mannequin Delray Beach, Florida
Oct 19 2008 8:00P
THE STATE THEATRE w/ Jack’s Mannequin St. Petersburg, Florida
Oct 21 2008 8:00P
WAREHOUSE LIVE STUDIO w/ Jack’s Mannequin Houston, Texas
Oct 22 2008 8:00P
PALLADIUM BALLROOM w/ Jack’s Mannequin Dallas, Texas
Oct 23 2008 8:00P
ANTONE’S w/ Jack’s Mannequin Austin, Texas
Oct 26 2008 8:00P
THE ROCK w/ Jack’s Mannequin Tucson, Arizona
Oct 27 2008 8:00P
TROUBADOUR w/ Jack’s Mannequin Hollywood, California
Oct 30 2008 8:00P
UCSB w/ Jack’s Mannequin Santa Barbara, California
Oct 31 2008 8:00P
HOUSE OF BLUES w/ Jack’s Mannequin San Diego, California
Nov 2 2008 8:00P
SLIM’S w/ Jack’s Mannequin San Francisco, California
Nov 3 2008 8:00P
THE NEW OASIS w/ Jack’s Mannequin Sparks, Nevada
Nov 7 2008 8:00P
HIGH DIVE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Seattle, Washington
Nov 8 2008 8:00P
BERBATI’S PAN w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Portland, Oregon
Nov 9 2008 8:00P
PLAZA CLUB w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Vancouver, British
Columbia
Nov 10 2008 8:00P
KNITTING FACTORY w/ Augustana Spokane, Washington
Nov 11 2008 8:00P
THE VENUE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Boise, Idaho
Nov 13 2008 8:00P
BLUEBIRD THEATRE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Denver, Colorado
Nov 14 2008 8:00P
AGGIE THEATRE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Ft. Collins, Colorado
Nov 15 2008 8:00P
KNICKERBOCKERS w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Lincoln, Nebraska
Nov 17 2008 8:00P
PEOPLE’S COURT w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Des Moines, Iowa
Nov 18 2008 8:00P
DOUBLE DOOR w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Chicago, Illinois
Nov 21 2008 8:00P
THE VOGUE w/ JJ Grey & Mofro Indianapolis, Indiana
Nov 23 2008 8:00P
3RD & LINDSLEY w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Nashville, Tennessee
Nov 25 2008 8:00P
THE BASEMENT w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Columbus, Ohio
Nov 28 2008 8:00P
BEACHLAND BALLROOM w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Cleveland, Ohio
Nov 29 2008 8:00P
THUNDERBIRD CAFE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
Nov 30 2008 8:00P
MOHAWK PLACE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Buffalo, New York
Dec 2 2008 8:00P
LES SAINTS w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Montreal, Quebec
Dec 3 2008 8:00P
EL MOCAMBO w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Toronto, Ontario
Dec 4 2008 8:00P
REVOLUTION HALL w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Troy, New York
Dec 5 2008 8:00P
THE STATION w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Portland, Maine
Dec 6 2008 8:00P
WEBSTER UNDERGROUND w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Hartford,
Connecticut
Dec 7 2008 8:00P
THE MIDDLE EAST w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Cambridge,
Massachusetts
Dec 9 2008 8:00P
THE 8X10 w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Baltimore, Maryland
Dec 10 2008 8:00P
BIRCHMERE w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires Alexandria, Virginia
Dec 13 2008 8:00P
BOWERY BALLROOM w/ Charlotte Sometimes & Matt Hires New York, New York
Do you want to be added as a Rising
Star? Then
click here to find out
how!
Eric Hutchinson
Eric
Hutchinson looks like the kind of guy you can trust – honest,
approachable, somehow familiar. There’s just something about him that
invites you to give up your innermost thoughts. And complete strangers
don’t hesitate to do so, as he wryly details in “Oh!” 
