Ericson Holt’s Broken Beauty

In the musical paradise of Key West, Florida, many talented performers excel at playing music and at writing it as well. Even in this stellar crowd, Ericson Holt stands out.

Holt plays blues-tinged Americana on piano and guitar with an easy grace, telling tales of forlorn lovers, down-and-out drinkers, and randy young rascals. His original songs resonate. They seem so true. And they hurt, even when they are funny. This is especially true of the songs on Holt’s new, all-original CD, Broken Beauty.    

Many of his talented musical friends from Key West, Nashville, and beyond, have joined Holt in this effort. Listen for the drums of Richard Crooks, guitars of Michael McAdam, Dave Coleman, Matt Backer, and Chris Clifton, harmony vocals of the Carter Brothers, bass of Geoffrey Lowe and Drake Leonard, and more.  

The title track is an exploration of love between two wary souls. Other standouts are Started in Staying Out, about a young man’s conversations with his mom and dad about his late nights, where  dad learns that “you can’t compete with a blonde-haired beauty and a long back seat” and Life of the Party, which tells the tale of a girl who “never met a stranger she didn’t already know.”  Another, Buy Me a Drink, contains one side of a plaintive barstool conversation. 

Ericson Holt loves what he is doing. Playing his music and enjoying his listeners’ reactions, he makes that obvious. Watching his hands on the piano and his smile as he delivers the lyrics, his audience cannot help but feel Holt is into the music as much as they are. 

If you cannot come to Key West to enjoy Holt in person, pick up a copy of Broken Beauty. His new CD will make you smile, and maybe make you a little sad, but it won’t make you sorry for listening.