![]() He put the phone down, pulled his chair up to the mixing board and started in on the record.”Įric finished the album and shortly after moved to New York City in 2007. Then Neal got a phone call from his wife that the check had cleared. Neal and I just sat there, waiting in his mixing studio. He handed it to his wife and she took it directly to the bank. ![]() I remember on the first day of mixing, he asked for his check and I gave it to him. I sent him a message on Myspace asking if he’d want to work with me and I couldn’t believe it when he actually wrote back and said yes! I was some random unknown guy. “He had mixed OutKast, Citizen Cope, Stevie Wonder - some of my favorite artists and inspirations. “I was so lucky to have Neal work on the record,” Eric remembers. From there, the tracks went to mixing engineer Neal Pogue. They taught me so much about how to find the groove and the vibe for a song in the studio.” The makeshift band recorded upbeat soul-funk songs like “You Don’t Have To Believe Me” and “Outside Villanova” - tracks that are now well known to Eric’s listeners. They were pros, but they were very generous and patient with me. I remember Gary and Chris coming in - they had played with acts like Alanis Morisette, Sara Bareilles, and Shakira. “Back then, I was touring exclusively as a solo acoustic artist out of necessity - I didn’t know how to lead or play with a band yet and I was still learning how to make a record. “I have such crisp memories of seeing those songs take shape in the studio, “ Eric says. He set up shop at New Monkey Studio in Van Nuys, CA and enlisted the help of producer Will Golden, as well as accomplished session players like Gary Novak on drums, Chris Chaney on bass, and Deron Johnson on keys. ![]() I could never have imagined where those songs would take me.”Įric connected with some big-league producers and engineers and convinced them to work with him. “I went for broke, literally, to capture the music that I was hearing in my head - the songs that represented me at that time. “I decided to dig down deep and make one last-ditch attempt to record a professional debut that lived up to the legacies of my musical heroes like Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Michael Jackson,” Eric recalls. But as discouraged as he was at the time, Eric says he hated the idea of telling his friends and family that he had quit music. “I had spent several years toiling away on the road, playing tragically low-attended shows, and recording several failed albums that were not ready for prime time,” Eric remembers. Just before Eric recorded those songs, he says he was a frustrated kid who was seriously considering quitting music. Sounds Like This ended up being a chart-topping album released by Warner Bros. Maybe bring a long-lost college friend to one of my concerts, or give Sounds Like This a re-listen for the first time in forever and remember what life was like back in 2008 - when Barack Obama was elected president, BlackBerrys were all the rage, and watching Netflix meant getting little red DVD packages in the mail.” “I hope people will join me on the trip down memory lane. “I’m thrilled to spend 2023 reflecting on how my life and the world has changed in 15 years,” Eric says. Furthering the deep-dive into his past, Eric will also release a new single, “Sad Songs”, a forgotten pop tune he wrote and performed regularly on tour in 2008 but never got the chance to record until now. ![]() He’s also revealed that Sounds Like This will finally be available on vinyl for the first time ever. To commemorate the anniversary, Eric has announced that he will be playing shows all year long, performing the album in its entirety. “It’s a special record for me - one that changed my life, my career, and introduced my music to a new audience I could only have dreamt of,” the Takoma Park, MD native reflects. ![]() Singer/songwriter Eric Hutchinson is feeling nostalgic as he prepares to spend 2023 celebrating the 15th anniversary of his debut album, Sounds Like This. ![]()
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