Eric Heatherly (born 21 February 1970 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is an American country music artist. In 2000, he debuted with a cover of The Statler Brothers' "Flowers on the Wall", the first of three singles from his debut album Swimming in Champagne, which was issued in 2000 on Mercury Nashville Records. A second album for Mercury was planned in 2001 but not released, due to the label's restructuring at the time.
By 2002, he had signed to DreamWorks Nashville, where he recorded a third studio album which was also unreleased. His fourth overall album, and second to be released, was 2005's The Lower East Side of Life, issued on his own NashVegas Records label.Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Musical career 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 4 References 5 External links
[edit] Biography This section requires expansion with: More biographical info.
Eric Heatherly was born February 21, 1970 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Influenced at an early age by country rock acts such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric wrote his first song at age eight.[1] Throughout his teenage years, Heatherly played guitar in several bands in the Chattanooga area.
He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he gained a following as a musician, as well as endorsements for guitar manufacturers Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Takamine Guitars.[1] At the 1997 Country Music Association awards show, Heatherly also played lead guitar in Shania Twain's band.[1]
[edit] Musical career
In 2000, Heatherly was signed to Mercury Nashville Records as a recording artist. His debut single was a cover of "Flowers on the Wall", which was also the debut single for The Statler Brothers in 1965.[2] Heatherly's renedition was a Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, peaking at #6 in mid-2000.
The song served as the first single from his debut album. Entitled Swimming in Champagne, the album was co-produced by Keith Stegall. Due to a restructuring of Mercury Nashville's parent company, however, Swimming in Champagne received minimal promotion;[1] its second and third singles peaked at #46 and #32, respectively, on the charts. A second album had also been recorded for Mercury, but it was not released, and Heatherly was dropped from the label by 2002.[1][3]
A month after parting ways with Mercury, Heatherly signed to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division.[4] His third album, to be titled Sometimes It's Just Your Time, was to have been released in late 2002. Although its lead-off single (titled "The Last Man Committed") entered the country music charts, and although promotional advance copies of the album had been issued, Sometimes It's Just Your Time was ultimately unreleased as well.[1]
Three years after his departure from DreamWorks' roster, he founded a personal label named NashVegas Records, with Koch Records serving as distributor.[1] His fourth album overall (but only the second to be released), The Lower East Side of Life, was issued in 2005, though no singles were released from it. The album sold well in Europe, however.[5]
After The Lower East Side of Life, Heatherly continued to tour, in addition to manufacturing custom-made guitar straps. Through the help of songwriter and producer Carson Chamberlain, Heatherly recorded a song called "Unforgettable", which appeared in an episode of Grey's Anatomy.[5] He has also recorded another album, 2 High 2 Cry, slated for a mid-2009 release.[5]
[edit] Discography
[edit] AlbumsYear Album Chart Positions Label US Country US 200 CAN Country 2000 Swimming in Champagne 17 157 6 Mercury Nashville 2002 Sometimes It's Just Your Time Unreleased DreamWorks Nashville 2005 The Lower East Side of Life NashVegas/Koch Nashville
[edit] SinglesYear Title Chart Positions Album US Country US CAN Country 2000 "Flowers on the Wall" 6 50 3 Swimming in Champagne "Swimming in Champagne" 46 — 2001 "Wrong Five O'Clock" 32 — 2002 "The Last Man Committed" 36 — Sometimes It's Just Your Time "Sometimes It's Just Your Time" — — — 2003 "When a Heart Begins to Drift" — — —
[edit] References ^ a b c d e f g Phares, Heather. "allmusic ((( Eric Heatherly > Biography )))". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. ^ ""Flowers on the Wall" Blooms Again". CMT.com. 2000-02-03. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. ^ "Heatherly Parts With Mercury". CMT.com. 2002-04-11. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. ^ "Heatherly Signs With DreamWorks". CMT.com. 2002-03-12. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. ^ a b c Hollabaugh, Lorie (2009-05-11). "In Bloom Once Again". Country Weekly 16 (13): 50.
