RIYL: Goo Goo Dolls, Gavin Rossdale, Jack Johnson, Pinback
As many of you have surely noticed, it’s getting harder and harder to tell these days exactly what true country music is supposed to sound like. Granted, purists still reliably eschew any pop-leaning gentrification, but with the huge crossover success lately of artists like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland, many young artists who until now have been eager to write the next “Coat of Many Colors” may be setting their sites on a larger demographic.
Enter Eric Wilson, a budding 20-something singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas whose debut LP The Twenties is a refreshingly sure footed lesson in quality songwriting that confidently blends country, folk, and pop influences. On most of the 11 tracks, Wilson sticks to a standard but rewarding formula of acoustic guitar, piano, light percussion and layered vocals that evoke the Goo Goo Dolls’ Johnny Rzeznik in some places and Gavin Rossdale in others.
The album has a stellar start with a trio of catchy and fully realized tunes. “Smokescreen” moves with confidence from a finger picked intro and spoken word verse to a breezy riff-based chorus that perfectly blends country music with plaintive pop yearning.
“Fine Line” stays more solidly pop, with Wilson again showing a knack for crafting a great chorus and vocal hooks around a Jack Johnson-style guitar jam. He makes clever use of his high register to give the chorus a sunny feel, professing to a crush that “It’s a/ Fine Line/ Between your world and mine. ” The tempo slows for “Pass You By” but the song remains compelling with heaps of vocal harmonies, beautiful guitar picking and delicate piano chords.
The rest of The Twenties follows suit with solid songwriting, honest emotion and very little filler. Eric Wilson is a huge talent and if there’s any justice in the world you’ll be hearing a lot more of him in the future. If only we humble mortals could be similarly gifted in the art of making such beautiful music seem so effortless.
—————————
More Information
—————————
http://www.myspace.com/ericandhisonlyfriend
http://www.ewilsonmusic.com
