Eric Culberson

Eric Culberson - Blues Is My Religion - 1996 - King Snake Records

REAL BLUES said that “Culberson will startle even jaded blues purists...all in all, he’s got it in spades. Kingsnake records has a big blues talent with the potential to conquer the blues world.”

Terrific straightshootin' hardcore blues-rock from the great Georgian bluesman, Eric Culberson, and played in the style of Albert and Freddie King. "Blues is My Religion" made a big impact on the National Blue's Charts on it's release, and deservedly so. This is good authentic Chicago/Texas blues rock. Eric Culberson is a great player, and he penned eleven of the tracks on this album. Try and listen to his great "No Rules to the Game" album.

TRACKS

1 Blues Is My Religion
2 Someday Baby
3 Morning Light Blues
4 Stray Minded Woman
5 I'm Gona Lose You
6 Everybody's Talking
7 Stray Bullet Blues
8 Ceiling Fan Blues
9 Funk to the City
10 Spell Is Broken
11 Dead Cat Luck
12 Wrapped Up In Love Again

All songs composed by Eric Culberson, except Track 12, by Albert King

MUSICIANS

Eric Culberson - Lead Guitar, Vocals : Acoustic Guitar on "Dead Cat Luck" : Guitar Leslie on "Stray Bullet Blues"
Warren King - Rhythm Guitar
Bob Greenlee - Bass
Jimmy Helverson - Bass on Tracks "Funk to the City", & "I'm Gona Lose You".
Dwight Champagne - Keyboards
Ronnie Foster - Drums
Bill Samuel - Tenor & Baritone Sax.
Scott Wilson - Trumpet

ABOUT ERIC CULBERSON

Every once in a while a blues artist emerges from the deep south and bursts fully mature upon the national scene. Eric Culberson is one of those bluesmen. His style is unmistakably authentic, energetic, and blessed with sex appeal and charisma. He will be a breath of fresh air for the blues. Eric hails from Savannah, Georgia, where he worked the usual small clubs. The resurrection of electric blues was apparent when demand for good music supported the creation of Savannah's first and best blues club, The Cross Roads. Eric and his band, The EROK band, were installed as the house band, and became an instant local phenomenon. Another Savannah native, agent, and club owner Tim Coy, recognized Eric's potential and got in touch with his friend Bob Greenlee, president of King Snake Records. One trip to King Snake studios in Sanford, Florida and Eric was signed and recording his first King Snake CD, "Blues is my Religion", released January 23, 1996. The band has opened for or jammed with numerous recording artists, such as Jerry Portnoy, Carey Bell, (two of Muddy Waters' harp players), Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, John Mayall, Tony Coleman ( B.B. King band) Jimmy Dawkins, Casey Jones (Albert Collins), Room Full Of Blues, Ted Nugent, J. Geils and Magic Dick, Eddie Kirkland, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Koko Taylor and Etta James. "Blues is my Religion", the title song on Eric's CD, was used in the pilot episode of the TV show "Savannah", an Aaron Spelling and Warner Brothers production shown nationwide. Music Choice Network chose eight songs off of "Blues is my Religion". This is a twenty- four hour commercial-free digital music service available through cable TV and direct TV satellite, reaching millions of subscribers daily. With the release of the CD , Eric Culberson and the Erok band are on their way to far broader recognition. They are appearing up and down the East coast, and seem poised to make the jump to stardom. And why not, combining spine-tingling guitar, soulful vocals and powerful original blues, Eric Culberson is on his way! © Ken Hohman, © Blues Revue - October, 1999. (from www.ericculberson.com)

MORE ABOUT ERIC CULBERSON

For most people, the city of Savannah, Ga., calls to mind enduring images of antebellum South: elegant old mansions, moss-covered oak trees, oppressive humidity and flirtatious belles hoop skirting their way to family inheritance. But for those who have wandered through the doors of the Savannah Blues nightclub on the right night, the lasting image of this quiescent Southern town is that an electrifying blues workhorse named Eric Culberson. Inside this restored club owned by Eric and his wife, Ginger, Culberson dazzles patrons with the fiery guitar work that has made him a rising star on the national blues scene. And these fortunate visitors should be grateful: With exposure for his newest King Snake release, No Rules to the Game, gaining momentum, Eric's performing time back home is sure to become less frequent. At least, God willing and the Savannah River don't rise, that's the way things should go for this blues guitarist who has paid his dues in spades. "When I was 10 years old," recalled Culberson, "my dad had a Harmony acoustic that I tinkered around with. I'd take the tone arm of a record player, dig the needle into the body of the guitar and make that Harmony an electric. From there I learned from watching others". But Culberson makes it sound much easier than it really was. Around the time he hit school, the blues bug bit Culberson, and from that point on it was nose to the grindstone in pursuit of his newfound passion. He did construction and demolition work on the side and developed his guitar skills at night. "I would get the neighborhood guys together at my one-room efficiency" Culberson explained. "We'd soundproof the room with duct tape and sofa cushions and then jam into the night." And jam he did. Through intense sessions with rotating members of his revolving outfit. The EROK Band (from nickname given to Culberson by his friends), Culberson acquired a strong command of the instrument. By his early20s, he had developed a sound mature enough to catch the ears of King Snake Records major demo and bassist Bob Greenlee. "A mutual friend of ours, Tim Coy sent me a tape." said Greenlee. "The tape sounded good, but it was very rough. I suggested that he come into the studio and lay down a few tracks. As soon as he played in the studio, I was a believer." Culberson's first release, Blues Is My Religion, introduces his razor sharp playing and natural, down-home voice to the world through an impressive line up of original songs. He tackled genres ranging from Memphis soul to Texas blues with the confidence of a veteran. But more than anything else, the album revealed his love for Chicago blues. It's a love he attributes to blues great Buddy Guy, among others. "It was a big rush for me seeing Buddy Guy for the first time," Culberson said. "It was right before he released Damn Right I've Got the Blues, and he just blew me away. I watched him very closely, and I could hardly sleep the night before because I couldn't stop thinking about opening the show." Another obvious influence on Culberson was the legendary Otis Rush. Like Rush, Culberson often will launch into a high falsetto, lending his songs an added intensity. BB King cannot go unmentioned. "The first time I got to talk to BB was at a festival in Tampa," said Culberson. "The way he carried himself and talked to people made a real impression on me. He was a real gentleman, and I learned alot from watching his perform." Blues Is My Religion was received warmly by critics, but like so many good blues artists who don't live in the big markets, Culberson found that the path to stardom was as slow and winding as the Georgia backroads. But that only fueled his desire. Night after night, he would set the strings on fire with The Erok Band at the local Savannah clubs like Night Flight and Cross Roads. As word of his talent spread, Eric was soon sharing the stage with such well known artists as Carey Bell, Eddie Kirkland, Johnny Copeland and Etta James when they passed through town. Over a stretch of nights a few years ago, Culberson even showed his willingness to give an arm and a leg for the blues, or at least an arm. He was locked into an arm wrestling match (one of his more unheralded talents) when his arm snapped like a twig. Does that mean the other guy won? Culberson won't say, but his career could have ended forever that night. What happened next was the stuff of local legend. Culberson immediately had his arm bandaged at a nearby hospital and, never one to miss a gig, made a beeline for the stage at a club. Recruiting two guitar players to back him up, Culberson stood his guitar upright like a cello and played with his thumb. Needless to say, it was a painful experience, but this uncomfortable style worked well enough that he went on to perform nightly. He even backed up J. Geils in the same manner before his arm was fully healed. After one show stopping set, Geils turned to Culberson and remarked, "You're damn good. I'd sure hate to see you when your arm is good." Now his arm is in great shape, as evidenced by No Rules to the Game. A virtual tour de force of fret-burning guitar work, No Rules just might be the album that vaults Eric Culberson into the national spotlight. Complemented by a soulful horn section and a stable of seasoned King Snake session players, Culberson's energy is palpable as he demonstrates equal skill on both electric and slide guitar. He has developed a mature Texas-meets-Chicago sound that generates sparks without being overwrought or flashy. And most promising of all, there isn't a weak cut on the entire album. "This album was further down the road for me personally," said Culberson. "The horns are kickin', and the entire album has a great feeling because everyone was into it." Greenlee, who plays bass on the album, also sensed a natural energy to the proceedings. "Eric likes to perform his material rather than layer it with too much production, so we just let him go for it," said Greenlee. Culberson covers a lot of ground with No Rules to the Game. He broaches the topical with "Broken Family Blues," delivers upbeat boogie rhythms on "Savannah Swine' and takes a country blues turn on the acoustic "Muddy Waters." But the centerpiece of the album is " Why Did You Lie?" in which Culberson pulls out all the pyrotechnic stops in a blazing solo. "A lot of the techniques in that song I learned from Buddy Guy's 'Stone Crazy' and Leiber and Stoller's 'I Smell a Rat,'" Culberson said. "It's an angry song. I was kicked pretty hard around then and it came out in the recording." Reviews have been glowing for "No Rules to the Game" and Eric Culberson is taking his EROK band on a sweep of the northern United States in support of the album this October. Until then, you'll find him lighting up the fretboard at midnight in the real garden of good and evil -- the Savannah Blues club on a Saturday night. © Ken Hohman, © Blues Revue - October, 1999 (from www.ericculberson.com)