"A big strapper from Georgia, Erik Viel gives us a very subtle album, with bucolic aspects, between country blues, folk and for our pleasure southern rock...and what southern rock my friends....recommended strongly."
- Jacques Dersigny
www.Road to Jacksonville.com
Translation from French
"Off The Beaten Path" is a very versatile CD. Partly because of the many guest vocalists and also because of the variety of styles, from folk, to blues to country oriented songs, but always with that Southern stamp, sometimes it can go into real Allman Brothers / Marshall Tucker Band style. Southern Rock, as in the beautiful "I'll be Loving You", or the jazzy ode to the North Country in "Bard of Ontario", an extremely attractive instrumental. The blues shuffle "Wanderin Blues" features guest vocalist Andrew Black as a singer, which proves that blues is his thing. On organ, Chris Corso shines, and that together make it one of my favorite songs.."
- RootsTime Belgium
www.rootstime.be
Translation from Dutch
"I'll be Loving You" has a groove that would make any Deadhead dance. This album includes a great rendition of John Prine's "Please Don't Bury Me" that definitely got my toes tapping....Viel incorporates a lot of influences in these thirteen songs, from folk to blues and country. These songs are very rich and well-constructed. The vocals are never strained and the instrumentals are all very easy to listen to. This is a quality CD by a top-notch singer-songwriter. I expect a lot of good things from Erik Viel.
-Gary Schwind
AntiMusic.Com
"Erik Viel is a talented writer and arranger of both instrumental and vocal Southern-style Americana, and he has a traditionalist’s taste in covers, too. Off the Beaten Path is a fulfilling trip."
-Chip Withrow
The Muse's Muse Music Reviews
"Off the Beaten Path explores special, personal havens. Erik’s ability to share the intangible through his music carries you along secretive paths. One of those mystic places is Saranac – a mountain lake in upstate New York. The panoramic breathing room separating guitars and organ on Badlands is hypnotic. The buffet of genres digitally encrypted on the plastic disc feel good together . . . like your favorite flannel shirt on a crisp autumn day . . . as comforting as soul food."
-Black Jack Ketchum
WRFG/89.3 FM – Good Morning Blues
Atlanta Radio Personality
"This guy goes from flat-out Southern Rock, to jangly guitar driven folk to blues to guitar driven acoustic instrumentals and pulls it all off very well. He's backed by some very fine musicians. This is Southern Americana music all the way".
-Dave Pyles
Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
"Off the Beaten Path finds Viel creating a seamless scrapbook of both people and places…Highlights include the driving country rock of “Southern Highway,†the refreshingly jazzy ode to the North Country, “Bard of Ontario,†and “Wanderin’ Blues,†a superb slow blues with fine vocals from Black, and fat, greasy organ fills from the talented Chris Corso. Equally impressive are the instrumentals, "New River Waltz," "The Kenai," "Saranac," and "Doriando… They're some of the finest moments here, finding Viel wrapping his tasteful guitar work around a series of thoughtful, stripped down performances with just a touch of bass, organ, or percussion where needed. The scorching "Badlands" that wraps up the album, serves as an impressive showcase for Viel's outstanding electric guitar work and he admirably tears things up with some of his finest playing on the album."
- Rob Lehrian
Supporting the Blues
Erik's musical background is varied and covers twenty-five years of live performance. He has had the good fortune of being instructed by guitar masters Steve Greene, Carlos Manobianco and Rick Balestra while growing up in Rochester, NY. He has performed up and down the east coast playing Americana, Blues, Rock, Jazz and Folk with Frostbit Blue, After Hours, Ron Cooley and Hard Times, Ronnie Leach and Along for the Ride, Ramblin' Soul and Levity.
Erik has just released a new album on July 24th, 2007. "Off the Beaten Path", his solo debut, is another significant step forward, presenting Erik not only in the role of talented team player with an all-star set of friends, but as producer, arranger, well-rounded songwriter-and even, for the first time, as an engaging lead singer. Ten of the thirteen songs on the album are Erik’s original compositions. He coins the musical style as "Southern Americana"...a mixture of rock, blues, folk and acoustic music. "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.
Erik has also begun work on establishing himself as an Artist in Residence for the State of Georgia, allowing him to incorporate music with his previous work as an educator. Erik was a full-time Instructor of Social Science for 4 years at Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, N.Y. from 1992-1996.
