Eric Lafon Heatherly (born February 21, 1970) is an American singer. In 2000, he debuted with a cover of

The Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers fo ...

' "

Flowers on the Wall "Flowers on the Wall" is a song made famous by American country music group The Statler Brothers. Written and composed by Lew DeWitt, the group's original tenor vocalist, the song peaked in popularity in January 1966, spending four weeks at number ...

", the first of three singles from his debut album ''

Swimming in Champagne ''Swimming in Champagne'' is the debut studio album by American singer Eric Heatherly, released in 2000. The album contains a cover of "Flowers on the Wall", originally recorded by the Statler Brothers in 1965. Heatherly's cover was released a ...

'', which was issued in 2000 on

Mercury Nashville Records Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

. A second album for Mercury was planned in 2001 but not released, due to the label's restructuring. By 2002, he had signed to

DreamWorks Nashville DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 2003 ...

, 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.

Biography

Eric Heatherly was born February 21, 1970, in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. Influenced at an early age by

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

acts such as

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

, Eric wrote his first song at 8. Throughout his teenage years, Heatherly played guitar in several bands in the Chattanooga area. He later moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, where he gained a following as a musician, as well as endorsements for guitar manufacturers

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment, however it is best known for its ...

and

Takamine Guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer based in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan. Takamine is known for its steel-string acoustic guitars. The company was founded in 1959, being renamed as "Takamine Gakki Ltd." in 1962. In 1978 they were one of the first co ...

. At the 1997

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...

awards show, Heatherly also played lead guitar in

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

's band.

Musical career

In 2000, Heatherly was signed to

as a recording artist. His debut single was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

' 1965 debut single "

". Heatherly's rendition was a Top Ten hit on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, peaking at #6 in mid-2000. The song served as the first single from his debut album. Entitled ''

'', the album was co-produced by

Keith Stegall Robert Keith Stegall (born November 1, 1955) is an American country music recording artist and record producer. Active since 1980, Stegall has recorded two major-label studio albums: 1985's ''Keith Stegall'' and 1996's ''Passages'', although he ...

. Due to a restructuring of Mercury Nashville's parent company, ''Swimming in Champagne'' received minimal promotion; its second and third singles peaked at #46 and at #32 on the chart. Heatherly had also recorded a second album for Mercury, but it was not released, and Heatherly was dropped from the label by 2002. A month after parting ways with Mercury, Heatherly signed to

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...

' Nashville division. His third album, to be titled ''Sometimes It's Just Your Time'', was to have been released in late 2002. Its lead-off single ("The Last Man Committed") entered the country music chart; although promotional advance copies of the album, ''Sometimes It's Just Your Time'', had been issued, it was ultimately unreleased as well. Three years after his departure from DreamWorks's roster, he founded a personal label named NashVegas Records, with

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

serving as distributor. 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. 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 ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

''. He has also recorded another album, ''2 High 2 Cry'', released in 2009. A second self-released album, ''Painkillers'', followed in 2010.

Discography

Albums

;Notes *A ^ ''Swimming in Champagne'' also peaked at number 6 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Albums chart in Canada.

Singles

;Notes *A ^ "Flowers on the Wall" also peaked at number 3 on the ''

'' Country Tracks chart in Canada.

Music videos

External links

AGR Television Records
International Record Label of Eric Heatherly (multi-lingual)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heatherly, Eric 1970 births American country guitarists American country rock singers American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Chattanooga, Tennessee Mercury Records artists DreamWorks Records artists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Guitarists from Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists American male singer-songwriters American rockabilly guitarists