SUMMIT DAILY NEWS

ERIC STUART BAND to rock

Breck's Sherpa & Yeti's

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2000

BRECKENRIDGE - Saturday marks the Breckenridge debut of New York City's Eric Stuart Band.

The band is touring to promote it's new CD "Blue, Dressed in Black" on it's own independent label, Widow's Peak Records. If you run out of money at the show, or have trouble finding the disc at your favorite record store, you can get it at ericstuart.com, a site that received over 600,000 hits in 16 months.

Eric Stuart first came to my attention in the summer of 1997, when as a solo acoustic act, he opened for Ringo Starr & His All-Starrs at Fiddler's Green, one of 28 tour dates.

Stuart walked out, dressed all in black, with black hair to boot, carrying his acoustic guitar to the microphone. I thought to myself, "Great, a Johnny Cash wanna-be." But when Stuart began to perform, I gave him my attention, and I'm glad I did. Stuart has a commanding powerful voice, and the dark, well-thought-out lyrics impressed me infinitely. Not since I saw Vinnie James in 1990 had I seen a solo acoustic artist win over such a large crowd. This compelled me to search out and buy his disc.

Later that night Ginger Baker joined the All-Starrs: (Jack Bruce of Cream, Peter Frampton of Humble Pie, Gary Brooker of Procul Harum, and Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company) for a run-through of "White Room." When such legends of rock ask you to open their show, that is indeed a testament of your talent.

Word got out about these shows, and after the Ringo tour was over, Stuart was picked to open for the Paul Rodgers/Kenny Wayne Shepherd/Lynyrd Skynyrd North American Tour of 1997, which enabled me to catch Stuart a second time that summer.

Durring the All-Starr Band tour, Peter Frampton befriended Stuart, and Frampton happened to be looking for a new artist to produce. They both ended up in Nashville, where Frampton now resides, in a recording studio where they laid down six tracks, and picked four to appear on a demo CD ep in 1998. The demo was meant to entice a major label, but so far no one has made Stuart an offer he can't refuse, so Stuart has sold 15,000 copies of the demo disc on his Web site and at shows.

Frampton once again tapped the talents of Stuart in 1999, when he asked the band to lead off for him on his North American Tour. When the man who recorded one of the biggest selling live albums of all times asks you to tour with him, you say "yes."

Starting July 1st, the Eric Stuart Band was back on tour with Frampton until the past Monday, when they jumped off the tour to do a four-date Rocky Mountain Ski Tour that ends at Sherpa & Yeti's Saturday. Then it's back with Frampton for the last three dates dates of his U.S. Tour.

As far as CD's, Stuart released a rough-cut acoustically oriented disc, "Curiosity" in 1996. The 15-song disc is good, but I recommend his later works more highly. My personal favorite is 1997's six song ep, "Picture Perfect World." The title track opens with one of my favorite lines:

"Whoever said, "if you love somthing, set it free," probably died alone in some motel room." Dark, yes, but reality based wordsmithing? I think so.

Stuart cites some of his influences as: Bruce Springsteen, Cat Stevens, and Buddy Holly. Others I can see are Bob Seager, Jim Croce, and Harry Chapin. Stuart's songs are often story-like a la Bad Company's "Shooting Star."

For 2000, Stuart has collected the four songs from his excellent four-song demo ep, along with the two other songs from that Frampton produced Nashville session. He has added six more songs record in 1999 in New York City, produced by John Regan (Frampton's long-time bass player), and Harvey Jay Goldberg (who has produced projects by the Dave Matthews Band and Sting). Stuart has grouped all 12 songs together and put it out as his third official disc entitled "Blue, Dressed in Black", which I also recommend, but since I've only heard it twice so far, I still prefer "Picture Perfect World." I have a feeling the new disc will grow on me.

The Eric Stuart Band has been together since 1998 and consists of Bryan Gardenour on drums and Mason Swearingen on bass. Various guitarists have contributed to Stuart's three studio discs, and the band toured as a four piece in 1999. For 2000, Stuart has added two permanent guitarists, Phil Nix and Benny Landa, so that the live show will have a bigger 'rock' feel. In fact, when pressed for a description on the band's sound most people use the oxymoron 'brand new classic rock." Go figure.

The Rock 'n Roll Soldier

Special To The Daily