(Folk Reel) Eric Blakely grew up in Berkely, CA., and in his teens during the 80's played new wave and power pop around the Bay area. In 1989, he moved to Austin and dove right into the music scene there, running an open mic night at the Austin Outhouse, as well as recording other artists at his Folk Reel studios. He soaked up the sounds of Austin, and his own music moved in a rootsier direction, combining the sounds of folk, country and rock. He released three albums, Uncle John's Farm (the video for the title track landing on CMT), Growing Into My Father's Clothes, and Levity. Helping him out on these albums include luminaries such as Marcia Ball, Guy Forsyth, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, John Inmon, Lisa Mednick, Jesse 'Guitar' Taylor and Tom Pitman.

The Payne Anthology culls tracks from each of these albums. Eric's songs revolve around family and his life experience, and though he infuses his songs with wit and often takes a lighthearted approach, his songs are also honest and sometimes candid tales of unfulfilled life experiences.

His songs of family range from reminiscences of his childhood, as in "Uncle John's Farm" and "Grandma Likes A Tin Roof," and the cold hard truth of the difficulties that run through families, as in the rustic "Her Reflection In The Water" or growing up only to follow in an alcoholic father's footsteps in the country/blues "Growing Into My Father's Clothes." An unfulfilled love life has the character fantasizing about one night stands with the driving up-tempo country "Waiting On Marie" and the waltzing ballad "First Night In Paris." A lost love taken for granted is reflected on in the lovely acoustic "Like A Wheel," while in the fiddle driven "Don't Tread On Me," he's searching to find love.

All is not always lost, and he does sing about 'love gone right.' There's the humorous sarcasm in the rocking "A Lot Better Off," about how the woman he married has made his life so much better- by getting rid of all his bad habits. The topic is handled straight up about the joys of being in love in "This Is Now" and "Hell Or High" water. 

Eric addresses unfulfilled expectations of one's life in the piano driven "Build Myself A Castle," the rocking honky tonker "The Bottle Knocked You Over" and the rocker "Lemon Tree." The outstanding "Late Last Night" is a haunting ballad reflecting on the lonely life and death of a 'loser,' and how someone ends up that way.

Eric Blakely marries the SoCal country-rock sound to a grittier Austin sound. He has a clarity to his voice that will bring other SoCal luminaries such as Chris Hillman to mind, where even on the upbeat songs in which his lyrics often go deep into darker subject matter, it keeps the songs from being weighed down. He infuses his songs with a good measure of wit, and varies the melodies that run the full Americana gamut of acoustic ballads, country-blues, piano driven rockers and rustic country mountain music. Given that The Payne Anthology is a compilation from his previous releases, this one would be a good place to start for anyone not already familiar with Eric Blakely. 

http://www.ericblakely.com