Eric gigs in Dunkeld

May 20 2008

VETERAN American troubadour Eric Andersen will play a rare show in Highland Perthshire this weekend.

The Pittsburgh-born singer-songwriter, whose work has been covered by the likes of Judy Collins, Fairport Convention, Peter Paul and Mary, Rick Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, The Grateful Dead and Francoise Hardy, will be appearing at the Taybank Hotel in Dunkeld on Sunday.

It’s the latest in a series of Perthshire shows featuring top US talents put together by Goldrush Records supremo John Thomson.

Andersen’s gig follows on from recent performances by Katy Moffatt and Michael Fracasso at the Taybank and the Pitcairngreen Inn - and it’s one John can’t wait for.

“Eric Andersen is a living legend,” he told Music Scene.

“His career started in the heady days of early ‘60s Greenwich Village, alongside Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton.

“He has since worked with Lou Reed and Patti Smith and was a major influence on Bob Dylan putting together the famous Rolling Thunder Review.

“Leonard Cohen also acknowledges Eric as inspiring him to write and perform songs. This man is a major talent indeed and it is an unbelievable honour to have him perform in Dunkeld.”

Andersen’s 1989 comeback album, ‘Ghosts Upon the Road’ was widely considered to be one of the greatest LPs of the 1980s by critics.

He’s steadily built on his reputation since then, and his most recent set ‘Waves’ (2005) featured some unique cover versions, with songs by Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Phil Ochs beside original Andersen material.

Sunday’s Taybank show will be followed by a performance from RB Morris at the Dunkeld venue on Saturday, May 31.