Southern Americana At Its Best

Date: Aug 01, 2007

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http://www.erikviel.com



"Southern Americana". Erik Viel coins the musical style as a mixture of rock, blues, folk and acoustic music. The songs on the album are performed by some of the finest, experienced musicians in the Southeast. Erik has been honing his craft for nearly 25 years and the songs on the album are a reflection of his diverse musical background. Erik plays all acoustic and electric guitars on the album and also serves as the producer. "Off the Beaten Path" is an album written about the remote regions of our country and the people who reside within them...the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, the New River Gorge in West Virginia, the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, the Cascade Loop in Washington, the Badlands in South Dakota and the North Georgia Mountains. 10 of the songs on the album are Erik’s original compositions. There are also 3 versions of songs written by Gregg Allman, John Prine and Toy Caldwell respectively.
Other Artists on the Album Include:
-Chris Corso (Keyboards) has toured the United States, Europe, and Asia as keyboardist-vocalist with the Dave Mason band. Along the years he has also played with many other notable artists such as John Denver, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Temptations, The Coasters, and Phoebe Snow. He is currently a member of the popular Atlanta show band, Kid Brothers, plays retro-jazz piano with his own group of jazz artists known as the Gentlemen of Swing. He also holds down the keyboard chair for several classic oldies bands including the Temptations, The Drifters, the Platters, Marvelettes, Mitch Ryder, and Peggy March. Chris is a former Music for Media and Recording instructor for New York's Center for the Media Arts, and the New School.
-George Sandler (Percussion) has toured, played live and/or done studio work with: Derek St. Holmes (formerly with Ted Nugent), TV Strain, Lou’s Blues Revue, Tom Grose and The Varsity, Mike Kennebrew, Sunday Drive, Sammy Blue to name a few. He has played on hundreds of CD's, mostly in the Gospel genre, including CDs by Church In The Now, Tim Greene (DOVE award winner),The Greenes (DOVE award winner), Seth Condray, Buddy Mullins and many others. He has also taught privately and in group settings for 15+ years.
-Nick Gravelding (Vocals) has played with the long standing New York act Frostbit Blue for 20 years. He has played live with Dickey Betts, ZZ Top, Government Mule, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Charlie Daniels and the Marshall Tucker Band. Nick is also a second generation musician.

Distributed By:
Upstate Strong Recordings
3035 Heather Stone Way
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

www.erikviel.com