Eric Hutchinson

“Sounds Like This” 15th Anniversary Tour

Singer/songwriter Eric Hutchinson is feeling nostalgic as he prepares to spend 2023, and into 2024, celebrating the 15th anniversary of his debut album, Sounds Like This. “It’s a special record for me – one that changed my life, my career, and introduced my music to a new audience I could only have dreamt of,” the Takoma Park, MD native reflects. To commemorate the anniversary, Eric has announced that he will be playing shows all year long, performing the album in its entirety. He’s also revealed that Sounds Like This will finally be available on vinyl for the first time ever. Furthering the deep-dive into his past, Eric also released a new single, “Sad Songs”, a forgotten pop tune he wrote and performed regularly on tour in 2008 but never got the chance to record until now.

“I’m thrilled to spend 2023 reflecting on how my life and the world has changed in 15 years,”  Eric says. “I hope people will join me on the trip down memory lane. Maybe bring a long-lost college friend to one of my concerts, or give Sounds Like This a re-listen for the first time in forever and remember what life was like back in 2008 – when Barack Obama was elected president, BlackBerrys were all the rage, and watching Netflix meant getting little red DVD packages in the mail.” 

Sounds Like This ended up being a chart-topping album released by Warner Bros. Records, but it almost never happened. Just before Eric recorded those songs, he says he was a frustrated kid who was seriously considering quitting music. “I had spent several years toiling away on the road, playing tragically low-attended shows, and recording several failed albums that were not ready for prime time,” Eric remembers. But as discouraged as he was at the time, Eric says he hated the idea of telling his friends and family that he had quit music. “I decided to dig down deep and make one last-ditch attempt to record a professional debut that lived up to the legacies of my musical heroes like Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Michael Jackson,” Eric recalls. “I went for broke, literally, to capture the music that I was hearing in my head – the songs that represented me at that time. I could never have imagined where those songs would take me.”

Today, Eric is a seasoned musician and touring artist who’s released eight albums, performed in all 50 states and experimented with diverse kinds of musical genres like pop, folk, reggae, alternative rock, and jazz. Still, more often than not, Eric says if people are familiar with his music, they know the songs from Sounds Like This. “I love getting to hear stories from so many people who remember growing up with the music,” Eric says. “I’ll meet people and they’ll tell me about watching the music video for “Rock & Roll” on VH1 while getting ready for school, or listening to “Food Chain” on a burned mix CD that an older sister made to celebrate getting her driver’s license, or singing “Ok, It’s Alright With Me” in their college a capella group. I’m proud of this album I made many years ago, but I’m even more gratified by the part my music got to play in so many other people’s lives. I’m hoping I get to celebrate Sounds Like This with all those people on this tour.”