Hutchinson brings his blue-eyed soul to Rams Head Live

Eric Hutchinson’s real big break came after he thought he had already gotten it.

About three years ago, the pop singer-songwriter-musician was signed to Maverick Records, the Warner Bros.-distributed label partly founded by Madonna, whose roster included the likes of Alanis Morrissette and Michelle Branch. But just as Hutchinson was about to begin work on his major-label debut, Maverick shut down. The Takoma Park native was back where he started - making music on his own. It took nearly two years to receive a buyout from the company.

When the money finally came, Hutchinson used it to produce Sounds Like This, the artist’s second studio album, which he released this summer on his Let’s Break label. Witty, breezy blue-eyed soul reminiscent of early Billy Joel, the 10-song set became an Internet smash thanks largely to Mario Lavandeira, better known as celebrity gossip hound Perez Hilton. He raved about Sounds Like This on his popular blog.

“Eric Hutchinson has the potential to be huge,” he wrote. Soon afterward, the CD hit No.1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers charts and became highest-charting CD by an unsigned act on iTunes’ album charts, peaking at No. 5.

“I knew the Perez Hilton Web site, but I had no idea the album would get that kind of response,” says Hutchinson, who opens for the hit pop-rock band OneRepublic Thursday at Rams Head Live. “He gave me this big push. The stars were aligned, I guess. It was exciting.”

The week Sounds Like This debuted on the digital charts, Hutchinson outsold such established, multiplatinum acts as Kanye West and Kenny Chesney. It’s the kind of album the artist says he probably wouldn’t have been able to make at Maverick.

“At the label, there were a lot of hands in the soup,” says the 27-year-old performer, who last week was at his home in New York. “It was cool to follow my guts and make the songs sound like I wanted. But I was nervous, too, because if it all failed, it would be on me.”

Artistically, Sounds Like This is far from a failure. From start to finish, Hutchinson, a multi-instrumentalist, engages with exuberant, piano-based tunes glimmering with elements of reggae, gospel and soul. Think Maroon 5, minus the instrumental sleekness. The songs were mostly cut live without much studio tinkering.

“All the stuff I admire was played live,” Hutchinson says. “There’s a little bit of electronic looping in the background, but I try really hard to make the album current and familiar. The big thing was that the vocal performances had a lot of energy behind them.”

His quirky, high-pitched vocals are far up in the mix, pushing the playful arrangements. Hutchinson’s accessible, self-reflecting approach was greatly influenced by the music he heard as a kid.

“I had a normal suburban life,” the artist says. “I always had a strong interest in music, though. I listened to a lot of Billy Joel, the Beatles, Paul Simon and Michael Jackson. I credit my parents with having smart music around.”

His mother, a schoolteacher and his father, a Web designer, encouraged Hutchinson’s musical talent. The artist played in rock bands while a student at Blair High School in Silver Spring, then studied music at Emerson College in Boston. Afterward, he moved to Los Angeles to land a record deal, scoring one with Maverick not long after arriving.

“It’s been nice to live in a bunch of different places,” Hutchinson says. “It gives me a lot of different perspectives for writing.”

He says the most important aspect of making music is connecting with listeners.

“I’ve been told my music makes people happy, which you don’t hear people say much about music anymore,” Hutchinson says. “If you can reach some kind of emotion with the music, that’s a good thing. Ultimately, that’s what you want to do, anyway.”

rashod.ollison@baltsun.com

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.