Ericson Holt
Biography
“Even though I’ve made my living as a piano player, I’m more of a singer,” says celebrated sideman turned solo artist, Ericson Holt. “I’m all about singing and playing real music that has energy and drive,” says Holt “and the joy of entertaining a crowd.”
Holt’s debut solo album, The Blue Side, reached the Top 30 on the Americana Chart during the week of April 18th, 2005. The CD also reached #27 on the Roots Music Report, and #4 on the Roots Music Report Rock. The rootsy, bluesy, soul-dipped, leaning-towards-country The Blue Side, showcases Holt’s singing — and piano playing — to be sure, but also marks the debut of a brave, raw and insightful songwriter.
Holt’s resumé includes recordings, international tours and television appearances with Grammy winners the Mavericks, and Oscar nominee and critics’ favorite Allison Moorer. He has played alongside Lee Roy Parnell, Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, Lari White, Tracy Nelson, Phil Lee, Ricky Van Shelton, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, and Delbert McClinton, just to name a few. On many occasions he has either opened shows or performed some of his own songs during the concerts.
Before moving to Nashville, Ericson, a Virginia native, worked on the East Coast Blues and Roots Rock circuits, fronting his own bands, and playing with other popular bands such as the Meteors and Lil’ Ronnie & the Blue Beats, often opening for national acts including the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Roomful of Blues, and Delbert McClinton. As he began to write and sing his own songs, his ambition took hold. Advice from friend and mentor, guitar great Michael McAdam (Steve Earle, Radney Foster, Lee Roy Parnell), coupled with an unexpected conversation with Bruce Hornsby, convinced Ericson it was time to make the move to Music City in 1994.
On his own, Ericson has performed at B.B. King’s and the Bluebird Café in Nashville, as well as numerous other venues in the Southeast, and he has also appeared live on several radio stations, including WFPK and WPLN. He is determined to continue building his fan base throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mark Wehner of Americana Tonight writes: “As a writer and performer, he has all the magic a frontman needs to succeed. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Albums
The Blue Side (2005)
Reviews
“IF YOU'RE IN THE MOOD FOR: tales of love, heartbreak, loss and triumph delivered by a seasoned vocalist with a smooth no-nonsense tenor and a killer backup band. OF NOTE: Ericson’s record features guest vocal appearances by Raul Malo and Joy Lynn White.”
—CMT Magazine (Country Music Today)
from their CHECK THIS OUT Americana Section
“One of Nashville’s most in-demand keyboardists, Holt is known for bringing funky passion to roots-rock and down-home soul to country-oriented acts. He avoids the usual sideman-steps-out mistakes with his fine album, The Blue Side, proving to be an exceptional vocalist and an emotionally vivid songwriter. His rich-toned voice — think Jackson Browne with more swagger — holds its own in duets with powerhouses like Raul Malo and Joy Lynn White, and his tightly crafted material moves from smoking roots-rock to New Orleans jive to revved-up country shuffles.”
— Michael McCall, Nashville Scene
Eric Holt played keyboards in some of Richmond's best blues and rock bands in the '80s and early '90s before he moved to Nashville for road and session work with some of that town's best including the Mavericks, Ricky Van Shelton, the Amazing Rhythm Aces and Allison Moorer. Recently, however, with the Ericson Holt moniker, he's forging his own direction and THE BLUE SIDE is his first such solo project.
Co-produced with former Richmond keyboard maestro Kevin McKendree, Holt presents a varied collection of smartly written tunes and this collection presents a direction that might surprise some who heard him years ago. Rather than cop to blues or rock party roots as one might expect, Holt is clearly more interested in crafting songs with lyrics that hold failed relationships and tough choices up for examination. The title cut lays his soul open to a lover "with nothing to hide and nothing to prove." "You've Lost" is a gorgeous ballad about betrayal that Holt sings with heartbreaking honesty. "Heal Her Heart" takes us down another of love's lonesome roads to the girl who quit on life too soon. The mood is broken nicely midway by the country-flavored "I've Got Your Number." It hooks on catchy lines that successfully walk the line between the nauseatingly cute and the clever and it's such a simple hook a listener might ask himself, "Why didn't I think of that?" Holt also includes a classic Walter Hyatt lost love barroom lament before he fittingly ends the set with a lively cover of Taj Mahal's "Cakewalk."
Instrumentally, "Blue Side" captures a great studio band sound throughout. Mike McAdam is on hand with tasteful guitar licks and Mike Daly plays excellent slide guitar. Holt's keyboards are, of course, in evidence. But don't come to this CD for boogie piano overload. There's great playing here by one and all. But this set is about song craft, melody and what it means to live with - and learn from - love's hard lessons. It's a treat
— Ames Arnold, 9X ONLINE MAGAZINE
