Spring Break
Dodd abandons solo act for 'energy' of full band
ALEC WOODEN
Issue date: 1/19/07 Section: Variety
- Page 1 of 1
It's easy for a solo artist in this town to feel like a small fish in a very large and congested pond.
Pop rocker Eric Dodd just may have found a solution: swim in a group.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Tasty World,
downstairs
Cost: $5
More information: myspace.com/ericdoddband
Dodd, who began writing and performing solo in Athens, Atlanta and Milledgeville, returns to the stage of the Classic City Saturday with his full band, comprised of old friends and original high school jamming buddies Bill Peters (bass) and Tom Dupree (drums).
If Dodd has encountered any trouble in shifting from solo to a full band, he certainly hides it well.
"Solo is a lot more intimate - just an acoustic guitar and a voice - but people love the energy of the full band," Dodd said. "It's just an entirely different atmosphere."
Even with a shift in instrumentation, Dodd hasn't lost the focus of his songwriting.
"Lately, the new songs have been more leaning towards relationships. That's the underlying theme of most songs," Dodd said. "Storytelling comes to me from stories that I've heard or from friends' relationships with people."
These underlying themes in Dodd's music make immediate connections due, in large part, to Dodd's conversational abilities on stage.
"We just try to keep people involved at all times, maybe tell a story about a song just to make them feel at home," he said about the relationship between the band and the audience.
Keeping people "at home" doesn't equate to boredom or extreme relaxation when the band takes the stage.
"It's definitely an energetic show," Dodd said. "We do popular rock, originals and versatile covers. Even with the covers, we try to make them our own."
Dodd has been a whirlwind of songwriting in preparation for the band's debut full-length album, which has an expected release later this year.
"I've written 22 songs, and 11 will make the album," Dodd said.
Of the 11 cuts to be on the album, six already have been recorded, and the remaining five are in line to be recorded in Atlanta during the coming months.
The band hopes to have a CD release party in Athens sometime around May.
Pop rocker Eric Dodd just may have found a solution: swim in a group.
ERIC DODD BAND
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Tasty World,
downstairs
Cost: $5
More information: myspace.com/ericdoddband
Dodd, who began writing and performing solo in Athens, Atlanta and Milledgeville, returns to the stage of the Classic City Saturday with his full band, comprised of old friends and original high school jamming buddies Bill Peters (bass) and Tom Dupree (drums).
If Dodd has encountered any trouble in shifting from solo to a full band, he certainly hides it well.
"Solo is a lot more intimate - just an acoustic guitar and a voice - but people love the energy of the full band," Dodd said. "It's just an entirely different atmosphere."
Even with a shift in instrumentation, Dodd hasn't lost the focus of his songwriting.
"Lately, the new songs have been more leaning towards relationships. That's the underlying theme of most songs," Dodd said. "Storytelling comes to me from stories that I've heard or from friends' relationships with people."
These underlying themes in Dodd's music make immediate connections due, in large part, to Dodd's conversational abilities on stage.
"We just try to keep people involved at all times, maybe tell a story about a song just to make them feel at home," he said about the relationship between the band and the audience.
Keeping people "at home" doesn't equate to boredom or extreme relaxation when the band takes the stage.
"It's definitely an energetic show," Dodd said. "We do popular rock, originals and versatile covers. Even with the covers, we try to make them our own."
Dodd has been a whirlwind of songwriting in preparation for the band's debut full-length album, which has an expected release later this year.
"I've written 22 songs, and 11 will make the album," Dodd said.
Of the 11 cuts to be on the album, six already have been recorded, and the remaining five are in line to be recorded in Atlanta during the coming months.
The band hopes to have a CD release party in Athens sometime around May.
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