Soul in the Suburbs
When you grow up in a town that’s biggest claim to fame is that Michael Moore went to High School there, it’s difficult to carve out a musical niche. It’s equally as difficult to fall into a geographic, musical cliché. This is true of Davison’s Eric Quimby. It isn’t Florida where everyone expects musicians to be fast, radio clean pop rock, and it isn’t the New York underground where you have to be a noisy hardcore band. There’s no musical status quo, giving Quimby the chance to create his own sound, and be the musician he wants to be.
Talking to Eric Quimby isn’t quite what you’d expect of someone with the voice and presence that he exhibits in front of a microphone. He’s friendly, goofy, and to be honest, sometimes awkward. He never knows exactly what to say, and he seems embarrassed by compliments. Humble is an understatement when thinking of his general attitude toward the whole thing. Quimby manages the perfect balance of knowing he’s talented, giving him the confidence to sell himself, and being modest so that he’s likable. A testimony to his humble nature is the fact that he claims that the biggest compliment he’s ever received was when a group of girls recognized him at a gas station in Grand Blanc.
The same geographic blank slate Quimby gets from growing up in the suburbs of Mid-Michigan works to his advantage when drawing his influences. Being the tender age of 18, he’s a child of the 1990’s so that’s where he pulls the majority of his musical references from. He says that his greatest personal influence is probably Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas because he’s endured the kind of success he’d like to attain while still making a unique style. When you hear him, you get a refreshing drink of that mid nineties pop-rock that is rare in the current era of hyper active studio production and repetitive nothingness that makes up today’s radio pop. The soulful, world weary call of John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls melts effortlessly into the crisp, dark baritone of Diswalla’s J.R. Richards. Quimby’s vocals and musicianship are beyond his years, combining both a natural ear for music and a finely honed craft.
With a heart of gold, a pocketful of dreams, and a handful of other clichés Eric Quimby embodies something that everyone experiences. Dreams. Hopes. Some of us lose them along the way but Eric has the courage to fight for what he wants. Keep your eye on that boy… he’s going places.
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