A Phillyist Fave at the North Star

It's no secret that we love Eric Hutchinson (MySpace). And the more time passes, the more people seem to join us in that love. Eric's killer 2007 album, Sounds Like This got major-label release in 2008. (This Phillyist wonders if that means I should put it on my Top 10 Albums of 2008, even though it already appeared on last year's list.) He's now a VH1 "You Oughta Know" artist, and the video for "Rock & Roll" has been getting heavy airplay on VH1. Or rather, getting as heavy airplay as can be expected on a station that devotes most of its time to feeding our guilty pleasures with television triumphs like Rock of Love and The Pick-Up Artist.

At any rate, it's in the top 10 of the VH1 video countdown.

And with good reason. Hutchinson's brand of soul-pop, which blends a whole lot of familiar sounds but carries Eric's own interesting perspective on life, is utterly infectious. So is his live performance—he's one of those dynamic, funny performers who genuinely puts on a show. Of course, we can't really say more than we've already said (repeatedly) on this site, so we'll just get to the point: Eric's going to be playing at the North Star Bar on Sunday night, and you really should do everything in your power to be there. This will be our third time seeing Eric this year. It's kind of unusual for an artist to come to Philadelphia three times in one year; it's even more unusual for us to want to see that artist all three times. But Eric Hutchinson is just that good. Hit the North Star Sunday night, and you'll see for yourself.

Eric Hutchinson, with Meaghan Smith and Matt Hires
Sun., 12/14/08
7:00 p.m., all ages
North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar Street (map)
Tickets: $12 ($15 day of show)