Search - Eric Heatherly :: Swimming in Champagne

Heatherly's footstomping debut

04/26/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On his first album, Eric Heatherly treads on musical ground that's been visited many times before. There's ample slices of roadhouse stomp, honkytonk twang, aching ballads and even a dash of rockabilly in the final cut. It all may sound kind of familiar, but thanks to Heatherly's conviction and Keith Steagall's production, it also sounds very good. The ballads, though never haunting, are always engaing. The uptempo numbers, which Heatherly excels at, rock with more conviction than most of the feeble country music that's being pumped out by Nashville's major labels. This cd may not be an essential country recording, but it is a helluva lot of fun and bears repeated listening. All in all it's a very impressive debut for Heatherly."

Eric Heatherly could be the next big name

Justin Bernard | 05/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought the CD just today. I did play a couple of the hits and they are what the country needs instead of another crossover singer like Faith Hill and Shania Twain. If I would have to choose the one song to get is the New version of the Statler Brothers Classic "Flowers on the Wall!" It is worth the price of the album alone."

He's Hot!

Justin Bernard | 07/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't decide whether I'm most ipressed by Heatherly's guitar playing, vocals, lyrics or musical sensibilities. I recognized his mug from surfing past The Nashville Network, which I rarely watch, because I'm not a bubblegum-country fan. Somehow, between CNBC and Bravo, I kept seeing the same final 30 seconds of this cat's rendition of "Flowers on the Wall," the addictive Statler Brothers' tune, repopularized by the film Pulp Fiction. Heatherly handles his rendition to perfection, retaining the original tempo and melody, while adding a country twang to complement his Texarcana drawal. Fortunately, this is Heatherly's only cover on "Swimming in Champagne." Fortunate, because this kid can write. He's also a great guitar slinger, with nods to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian Setzer and Mark Knopfler, each of whom he credits in his extensive liner notes. At the risk of denying Heatherly credit as a fresh country musician/singer/song writer, this dude's all over the map with his Fender guitars. From bee-bop and rocakabily to elcectric funk and Southern blues, Heatherly is not your typcial pigeon-hold Country-Pop wannabee. He doesn't wear cowboy boots, or a ridiculous black Stetson, and he doesn't rely on a studio-seasoned lead guitarist to back him up. To paraphrase his own lyrics, Heatherly didn't make the rules, he just breaks 'em. "Wrong Five O'Clock" is a witty, fast-paced tribute to acoustic country western roots, with an electric-outlaw flavor, while "Didn't Mean a Thing" leads with a Neil Young-like, grungy sort of guitar intro. Heatherly's vocal range gets tested on the ballad, "One Night," and although he pushes his cords to their limits, he's mature enough to know when to hold back. "Why Don't Cha" conjures up a tribute to Rodney Crowell, one of the few artists Heatherly does not thank in his liner notes. On "She's So Hot," Heatherly manages to combine a jazzy acoustic-bass riff with a 50s-style swing beat, and he pulls it all together with simple country lyrics like, "She's got legs for a country mile." Tell you what, this kid is hot."