(PR) Eric Hutchinson's full-length debut, Sounds Like This, bowed at No.1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart in September 2007. Now - two years later - Sounds Like This is back on the Heatseekers chart, where it was last week's Greatest Gainer. The album has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide to date and this week sales of the album on the iTunes store surged, increasing 17% after Hutchinson's playlist was posted on iTunes' homepage and Pop page. Sounds Like This still has the distinction of being the highest-charting album ever by an unsigned act on iTunes. (Hutchinson self-released the record initially, then signed with Warner Bros. Records in 2008.)
He has been touring non-stop since the album's release, mixing headlining dates with supporting stints for artists such as Jason Mraz, One Republic, O.A.R., Jack's Mannequin and, currently, Kelly Clarkson. When Clarkson was forced to cancel her performance at the Minnesota State Fair last Saturday night, Hutchinson played a full, 70-minute set for the 8,000+ audience - and improvised a song to answer the question that was on everyone's mind, "Who is Eric Hutchinson?"
"Rock & Roll," the first single from Sounds Like This, topped the Triple A radio chart last December, making Hutchinson the only new artist to score a No. 1 single at the format in 2008. The song also hit No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand and Norway. "OK, It's Alright With Me" followed, becoming at Top 5 smash at Triple A radio. It is currently climbing the Hot AC chart.
Hutchinson has performed on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "The Bonnie Hunt Show" and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." He's been praised by The Washington Post ("undeniably charismatic"), Boston Globe ("soulful"), popmatters.com ("refreshingly inventive") USA Today ("a knack for hooks and melody") and named as a VH1 "You Oughta Know" Artist, "One To Watch" (MSN), "About to Pop" (AOL) and a Yahoo! "Who's Next" artist.
Eric Hutchinson Tour Dates:
9/3 Allentown, PA The Great Allentown Fair opening for Kelly Clarkson
9/5 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival
9/6 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre headlining
9/9 Troy, NY Revolution Hall "
9/10 Utica, NY Mohawk Valley Community College Theatre "
9/11 York, PA York Fair opening for Kelly Clarkson
9/19 San Diego, CA KPRI Summer Splashdown
9/23 Kansas City, MO The Beaumont Club
9/24 Columbia, MO University of Missouri headlining
9/25 St. Louis, MO St. Louis University "
9/26 Valparaiso, IN Valparaiso University "
9/28 Baltimore, MD Ram's Head Live "
10/9 Des Moines, IA Drake University "
10/10 St. Paul, MN University of St. Thomas "
10/13 Spartanburg, SC University of South Carolina "
10/23 Denver, CO The Ridgeline at Pepsi Center "
11/6 Vincennes, IN Vincennes University "
