Eric Bachmann

Eric Bachmann has had a long and storied career. His last release - Dignity and Shame - got very little love, even though it was one of my favorite albums of the year. Despite fronting such bands as Crooked Fingers and Archers of Loaf, Eric finally decided to record a solo album on Saddle Creek records.

The story is as follows: Eric decided to live in the back of his tour van and used the seclusion to write most of the material for the new To the Races record. With songs like, Lonseome Warrior, the record echoes the solitude of Eric's situation, relying on simple guitar and piano riffs. Those familiar with Eric's work should be accustomed to his unique ability to relay his instrospective questions and thoughts over catchy melodies.

Although this record let's Eric step out and record music for him, when he adds the backing vocals of Miranda Brown and the violin of Devotchka's Tom Hagerman to songs, he adds the subtle touches needed to make this more than just one man's journey to find himself. He lets us all make the journey with him. I'm going to do a full review later this week, but the song, Carrboro Woman, is fantastic. A single finger picked riff + a simple emotion of love lost = a song I listened to about 14 times on my flight to NYC today.

Eric is playing Richard's on Richards on Sept. 10/06. Here's a preview of the new album, courtesy of the nice folks at Saddle Creek:
MP3:: Carrboro Woman - check this out
MP3:: Lonesome Warrior