While growing up in Takoma Park, Eric Hutchinson attended plenty of shows at the 9:30 Club.
The singer-songwriter enjoyed performances by James Brown, Paul Simon and, at what he says was one of the worst concerts he ever saw, Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
“I love the D.C. area and still have a lot of friends and family there,” said Hutchinson from a tour stop in Ames, Iowa. “Playing the 9:30 Club is really exciting. That was the venue I grew up going to. I use to see everybody there. It just felt like that was the place for a real musician to play, so getting to play there is really cool and exciting.”
| Onstage |
| Eric Hutchinson |
| » Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW |
| » Info: 8 p.m. doors, Saturday |
| » Info: Sold out, but tickets might be available through resellers; 930.com |
Hutchinson performs Saturday at the 9:30 Club. The show is sold out.
The 31-year-old musician is touring behind his new album “Moving Up Living Down,” which came out April 17.
“To me, it kind of means growing up, settling down but also moving up and staying true to yourself,” Hutchinson said of the title.
Plenty of influences came into play in recording Hutchinson’s most recent effort. Moving to New York City and playing shows from Australia to Dubai shaped his mindset.
“I think there’s a lot of stuff,” Hutchinson said. “Part of it just gave me a lot of perspective, getting to see all these different places. I think there was something about meeting all these people and saying goodbye to everybody in one breath that was sort of hanging around in my head while I was writing these songs.”
Hutchinson set out to record something more upbeat. He wanted more danceable tunes on the new album that translate well live.
Highlights on the album include the first single “Watching You Watch Him,” the reggae-influenced “Talk is Cheap” and the soulful “The Basement”.
“I think traveling and touring so much, you do have these moments where I wish we had a song we could play now that the audience could really get into,” he said. “I think those things were hanging around in the back of my head when I was writing.”
One of Hutchinson’s hobbies is fantasy sports, and he even recorded the theme song for ESPN’s popular Fantasy Focus podcasts. Some fans know him better for that effort than his output recording albums and touring.
“It’s like a little brotherhood I guess,” Hutchinson said. “I love fantasy sports. It gets me through some of those long traveling days.”
