Eric Hutchinson was at the dinner table with his daughter while singing the classic nursey rhyme “The Wheels On The Bus.” While they both joyfully were caroling along in unison, Hutchinson took notice of the gleaming sparkle shining from his child’s eyes and the enthusiastic clapping.  It struck Hutchinson that if we stop to think about it, our first musical instruments are our hands and our voices.  This in turn led to him to ponder about what our takeaways are from singing in a group.  With all this combined, Hutchinson began piecing together an idea of creating music for everybody to sing along with. 

SING ALONG! with Eric Hutchinson (set for release August 5^th) features six tracks influenced by gospel, folk elements that come off instantly timeless.  “I believe that anybody with a voice can sing,” Eric says. “Using your voice is powerful and the fun of making music and singing together in harmony can be universally healing and unifying. It’s been a hard few years for everyone. Since I was a kid, what I’ve always done to heal in any times of distress, was to sing.”

In support of the upcoming album announcement, Hutchinson has shared the single “Hey Look I Found It! (My Inner Peace)” along with an accompanying video.  “I’ve written a thousand songs but this is the first one where the lyrics are 100% positive and joyful. Only took me about 20 years of songwriting to get there.”

SING ALONG! with Eric Hutchinson is the artist’s eighth studio release and his first new work since the fierce global reckoning with racism that was illuminated by the historic actions of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I grew up in a diverse suburb of Washington D.C., surrounded by people of all colors, speaking multiple languages,” Eric says. “So I was ashamed to learn how many blind spots I still have. The past few years have opened my eyes, in new ways, to how so many people, especially those of color, are marginalized and robbed of their basic civic rights.”

The songwriting and musicianship of SING ALONG! continues Eric’s recent trend of exploring across musical genres, as he tries to make sense of the world around him. After his early pop escapades, including his 2008 debut Sounds Like This, (which featured his gold record single “Rock & Roll”) and 2014’s Pure Fiction, his more recent releases have experimented with Americana-soul (2018’s Modern Happiness), alternative rock (2020’s Class of 98), and jazz (2021’s Before & After Life). “I love all kinds of music,” Eric says. “I think every genre has something interesting and special to celebrate.”

Eric hopes that his new songs and his own examination of his place in this world will inspire others to look inward and at the community around them. “I don’t claim to have the answers and I know that my music won’t solve our problems,” he says. “But I am hopeful these songs will lift the listener, and invite the listener to celebrate diversity, look around at the injustices currently present in life, and question how he, she or they might make even the smallest difference in the name of good.”

Photo Courtesy: Alex Kabundji