ERIC HUTCHINSON

08/26/2009

Visulite Theatre (16+ must have id - under 16 with parent only)

Doors Open: 7:00 - Headliner Begins: 9:00

About 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.”

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www.erichutchinson.com