Nashville.com Artist of the Week: Eric Lee Beddingfield

Jerry Holthouse
Contact:  Jerry@Nashville.com

Eric Lee Beddingfield is a singer, songwriter and entertainer whose destiny could lead him nowhere else except on stage singing his unique brand of country and Southern rock songs about the life he’s lived and witnessed. The Augusta, Georgia-born artist credits George Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Merle Haggard with the influences of his swampy, southern-rockin’, hard-core country style.

“My music is the bastard child of Southern rock and what country used to be,” Eric asserts.

A football scholarship lead Beddingfield to Georgia Southern University, but a career-ending neck injury cut short his long-term goal to play football. Knowing he needed to make new plans, he turned to the only other passion he knew – music. Performing acoustic songs in coffee houses and small dives in and around Statesboro, Georgia built confidence in his voice and his songs. He soon put a full band together and quickly became an in-demand act at campus parties and local clubs. It didn’t take long for word to spread about this new talent, and he began traveling throughout the Southeast.
He first caught the attention of the Country Music charts and song spinners with his self-titled debut album in 2007. By 2008, Beddingfield was named by New Music Weekly as one of the top ten artists to watch, and three singles from the album released to country radio all entered the Music Row Chart top 40. Without a penny of promotion behind the single, Beddingfield’s “Nowhere USA” earned itself a #1 independent release ranking in October of 2008 on Power Source Magazine’s top country chart.
Beddingfield recently headed back into studio to start work on his second album with Grammy-nominated producer and guitarist Kent Wells (Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn) at the production helm. Eric again has written or co-written all of the songs on the new album, which is slated for an early 2010 release. Working with Wells, who produced Parton’s Backwoods Barbie album – the highest debuting album of her career – has had a profound influence on Eric. The relationship they have developed over the years has created a respectful atmosphere where the two can collaborate and encourage Eric’s artistic influence on his own music. “If a producer’s telling you what to do then you’re just another cookie-cutter artist. I’m lucky to have the connection that I do with such a respected producer.”
And don’t be surprised if some well-known talent shows up on the new album. In fact, on Beddingfield’s first album, he sings “Train, Train” with Dolly, accompanied by renowned guitarist Ricky Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame.

One of the stand-out tracks on the new album, “The Gospel According to Jones,” is an ode to the late-night life of a country star. The song was inspired by the man who many say helped set the standard for modern country music – George Jones. “If you look in the dictionary for the definition of country music, you’ll see a picture of George Jones,” Eric said referring to one of his musical heroes. “You can’t always make it to church on Sunday mornings when you’re out spreading your own word late on Saturday nights.”

If you are an artist or know of an artist that would benefit from the global reach and distribution of Nashville.com, Contact:  Jerry@Nashville.com