Eric Nelson Thompson - Manic + Organic 25 

Hailed upon its release as “a promising debut that harkens back to Gram Parsons and the Cosmic California Country sounds of the Flying Burrito Brothers”,  Eric Nelson Thompson's “Manic + Organic” is available for the first time ever on vinyl. Originally released in 2001 and featuring David Nelson (New Riders of the Purple Sage, Garcia Acoustic Band) and Pete Grant (The Blasters, Hoyt Axton, Grateful Dead), this historic piece of Bay Area Americana is available for streaming wherever you get your music. 

ABOUT ERIC

Eric Thompson is, first and foremost, a writer. Over the course of the last twenty five years he estimates he’s written in the neighborhood of 200-300 songs, including “It’s a Guy Thing”, “Slave to Love” and “Gotta Lotta Lovin’” – many  of which have become staples on terrestrial and internet radio shows around the world. 

A Bay Area native, Eric released his seminal project “Manic + Organic”- a collection of original songs that signaled his arrival as a songwriter and harken back to the dusty Bakersfield sound and early 70’s country-infused California rock sound of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. The album features David Nelson (New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band) on guitar, who was accompanied in the studio by Pete Grant (Grateful Dead, Hoyt Axton, The Blasters) on pedal steel and dobro, where the two brought their legendary Bay Area musical roots to bear on a project that reflected the spirit of the 60s, bluegrass and country rock all at once. 

Eric has written and recorded five full length albums including “Locally World Famous”, “Unfinished Business” and the recently released “Never Too Late”.  After a hiatus from touring and performing, Eric began playing again after the pandemic and is working on his first set of local and regional shows in over 20 years. 

ASSORTED PRESS:

MANIC + ORGANIC is an impressive debut. It is obvious that Thompson has been waiting all his life to do this project, and it is just as obvious that he was ready. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from him in the future. Echoes of New Riders of the Purple Sage and Nashville Skyline-era Dylan without sounding precisely like either. And speaking of Dylan, "The Ballad of Pierre and Mademoiselle Revisited" manages to capture the mysterious atmosphere of some of his better work without sounding like a slavish imitation. Similarly, "It's a Guy Thing" could be a song that Lyle Lovett never recorded, but should. -Music Reviewer.com, April 2003 (edited)

Subtle and sleepy, gentle and resonant, Eric Thompson's shimmering take on country-rock takes Nashville's emotive vocal style, throws in a pedal steel and rootsy rock riffs, and turns out the dusty, feel-good Manic + Organic. Whether on the shuffling rock anthem "Get Back to It" or the humorous, old-school country of "It's a Guy Thing," Thompson's band uses simple arrangements to evoke a true down-home feeling. The songwriting--patterned by Gram Parsons, the Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson--shows his potential to one day make a really spectacular record. ~ Charles Spano, All Music Guide (edited)

Thompson provides a solid album that die-hard country fans should put some time into. This isn't your average million-dollar CMTV project, and believe you me, that's enough of a good thing for me. -- Kevin White, Splendid eZine (edited)

Gram Parsons called it Cosmic American Music, a term that reflected the paisley aesthetic of the late 60s. But this curious little sub-genre has managed to morph itself into various incarnations since then, from the 70s peaceful, easy California Country, to too-slick 1980s country pop, to the alt-country boom of the 90s, which was a couple of hit records from—as a friend of mine recently put it in reference to Wilco’s debut, A.M.—saving pop music. Eric Thompson is a California-bred roots artists who on Locally World Famous’s best songs corrals the best of his home state’s sound to evoke The Mavericks or Los Lobos. “Gone, Gone, Gone” could probably be the album’s hit single. It’s a buoyant song with a great rhythm, and its elliptical lyrics careen through images of loneliness, self-reflection, and even politics. The best of what Thompson does comes together in this song, with its country instrumentation, energetic pace, and blithe sensibility. Locally World Famous is a solid, if occasionally uneven, entry into its thankfully long-lived genre, of which Eric Thompson is a skilled purveyor. -Delusions of Adequacy (edited) 3/29/04 

Locally World Famous kicks off with "Gone, Gone, Gone" where Thompson's voice embodies the evocative twang of the late great Hank Williams. Some of the most enjoyable moments on this album revolve around Thompson's fluid, seemingly endlessly malleable vocals and how they adjust perfectly to fit each song's mood. A million miles away from the cookie cutter approach of today's formulaic pop bands, Eric Thompson's Locally World Famous is a joyous reminder that it's still possible to find music that doesn't sound like it came from a can. -Ink19, October 2003 (edited)

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