- By
Perucci Ferraiuolo
Rumor is that
when Eric Heatherly does what he does best in
Nashville's honky-tonk district, you'll find
Vanderbilt college coeds jitterbuggin with
hard-core winos, alternative rockers dancin on the
bar alongside hookers, music-biz millionaires
boppin with working-class hillbillies, and
otherwise grounded, bourgeois newspaper reporters
rockin in awe like star-struck pubescent
bobbysoxers. Ponytails and poodle skirts
optional.
When
Heatherly kick starts his gig, he's like a churnin
urn of burnin funk-a-licious rockabilly. And he
ain't dumb, neither. "With me, what you see is what
you get," he attacks. "This record is all about
spontaneity. I just want it to jump out of the
speakers...maybe blow some too."
Speakers
aside, he might just blow your mind. Looking like
the reincarnation of all things retro, his music
has that unmistakable smack of Eddie Cochran meets
Eddie and the Cruisers, but your ears tell you
more. Okay, his big hit so far was the remake of
the the Statler Brothers' charmer, "Flowers on the
Wall," but if you think all Heatherly has is
remakes and cover tunes, back up jack. He's
original without being cliché, and fresh
enough to actually (gasp) give an audience the
first glimpse of either a superstar or a cult
legend. Never mind which one. The "E" man doesn't
seem to care as long as his string twisting mondo
licks invade the listener like the
Borg!
It's kinda of
obvious when you spin his breakout CD, Swimming
in Champagne, that this guy ain't no schnauzer.
A cross between The Ventures, Elvis, Carl Perkins,
and James Dean (sportin a 'tude), Heatherly can
turn audiences from watchers to zealots faster than
you can say, "hey, two-tone shoes." Okay, sometimes
he wears black ones with leopard skin
panels.
Armed with
"the look," the sideburns, a Fender strat to die
for, and vintage hep cat clothes, this guy is for
real and he's suckin in both suits and after 2 am
barroom crawlers with tunes that say it
all.
Take the
vintage-styled, new millennium second cut, "I Just
Break 'Em," about irreverence being both cool and a
tool. "Whenever I see a line I've got to cross it,"
he belts. "You can take that stop sign, mister, and
toss it. Put me in a nine to five, I won't come
back alive. Show me roads not taken and I'll
take'em. I don't make the rules, I just break
'em."
Watch out,
America, this son of a son of the South is a
kick-butt showman. And he's comin your way. All you
gotta do is watch, wait, and listen. Now ain't that
callin you baby? Maybe?
