ERIN HAY: Somebody's Angel

Erin Hay

Somebody's Angel

© 2003 Westwood Int'l. Records (634479006722)

CD OUT OF STOCK for re-production. Expect long delays.

If you want us to email you the minute this CD arrives, enter your name and email address here. We will not give or sell your info to anyone, and will not use it for any other reason than to tell you when it arrives.

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

"When it's too country for everyone else, it's just right for me." - Erin Hay - 3rd cd by one of the top independent country artists in the world.

notes

Erin was born and raised in Southern California. Born to Edward (who sadly passed away from Cancer when Erin was only six years old) and Patricia Hay on November 25, 1970, she has always been a performer and has always loved music. In fact, if you listen to her mom, she'll tell you Erin "sang" her first song at 3 months old. She was exposed to all kinds of music growing up, from her mother's Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and Judy Garland albums to her two older brothers (Joe and Ken) playing Rock and Roll to her Dad's favorite, Marty Robbins. But at age seven, when Erin heard Dolly Parton sing for the first time, her love and admiration for traditional Country Music began to grow. She discovered Loretta Lynn after the film Coal Miner's Daughter came out and soon after discovered Tammy Wynette. These great ladies, along with the likes of George Jones, Jack Greene and Roy Acuff, became her influences, and it was through them that Erin was introduced to stories of Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. She quickly took to the music and to the tradition. This is what she loves to sing.

Although singing was a great love of hers, it seemed acting was more of a calling throughout school. In 1987, Erin entered the Fountain Valley Jr. Miss Pageant and won the Performing Arts Award for performing a comedic monologue from Lily Tomlin's one woman show, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe." Erin had plans of attending UCLA as a Theatre Arts major. She had aspirations of following in the footsteps of her two other idols, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. This, of course, never happened. While attending college in California, Erin realized she did not take the acting craft as seriously as everyone else did. What she did take seriously was her music. Erin knew in her heart that Nashville was where she wanted to be. The real turning point came after a visit backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and a meeting with Mr. Roy Acuff. That was the environment she longed for. She wanted to sing on that stage and knew she had some dues to pay.

Erin moved to Nashville in 1991 with her mother to attend Belmont University as a Music Business major. Since the move, she has interned at RCA Records and Sony Music, recorded many demos for Nashville songwriters and performed at many Nashville clubs. Erin recorded her first independent album in 1992 with the help of producer and songwriter, Lonnie Ratliff. It was a cassette tape compiled mostly of demo recordings and included a song called "Somebody's Angel," which she recently re-recorded. Erin graduated from Belmont in 1995 and was hired by a film production company in Nashville, working with such artists as Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Janet Jackson in the behind the scenes aspects of live concert TV production and music videos for almost 7 years, but Erin's first love is still her music. She completed her second independent album, Honky Tonk Heaven, in October of 2000. It received great reviews around the world and was a #6 import CD in the UK in April of 2000. Erin released her third independent album, The Circle, in 2001-fourteen cuts of the music she loves, music she hopes would have made Mr. Acuff proud. She is proud to have two duets on that album with Grand Ole Opry stars Ernie Ashworth ("Gotta Travel On") and Jack Greene ( Tommy Collins' song, "High On A Hilltop.") Erin is also very proud of the liner note her idol, Loretta Lynn, graced her with for the project-"Erin is a great singer. Maybe the Opry will find that out someday. I love her singing." This album became a #3 import CD in the UK in February 2002. She has just released her fourth independent album titled Somebody's Angel and is hoping it will be as well received as the others. One of the singles off the album, a song written by Bill Jackson called "The Tree," has already given Erin her biggest overseas chart success to date. A great start for a true Country album!
Erin has also enjoyed a lot of success on mp3.com, a website devoted to independent artists, and has obtained a wide following in the European/overseas market (largely due to the mp3.com exposure,) being dubbed the "New Queen of the Honky Tonk Angels." Erin's song, "I Got the Blues Again," is one of the most downloaded Country songs to date on mp3.com, and it was featured in the Robert Altman/Alan Rudolph film, Trixie, in 2000. She is very grateful to the people of mp3.com and to the overseas and US disc jockeys playing her music. Erin is definitely having fun on her road to the Grand Ole Opry, and if she is destined to sing on that great stage some day, it will be the pinnacle in her singing career not just a stepping stone.






"When it's too Country for everyone else, it's JUST RIGHT for me!" - Erin Hay

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • Always Great CD's
    author: Cliff Dawe

    Another great CD album by Erin Hay all her CD's are great and deserve 5 stars! I have listened to her music before on the MP3.COM web-site when it was promoting new artists and she has always been great, she can also belt out Country Blues very, very well too! The "Grande Olle Opry", would do themselves proud by making Erin a regular member, such a great traditionalist you'd think they'd welcome with open arms! I would like to see Erin become an Icon for Country Music, she definitely has the talent, the quality and deserves that honor when it comes to A Country singer who really can deliver the art of providing fans with Country Music!

  • author: Kyangel

    I love both of my cd of Erin Hay my farovites songs are somebody and Mirror Mirror. Thank you very much

  • Fantastic album - country as it should be!
    author: Wolf Gottfried

    Another beautiful release from Erin - I bought this along with her other 2 CD's having only heard one song from it, and have listened to the whole thing repeatedly. The production level is even better than on "Honky Tonk Heaven" (and thats a high standard to beat), Erin's voice can make you smile and cry at the same time. The instrumentation and arrangements compliment Erin's crystal clear voice perfectly. Great classic country sound end to end, why this isn't being played on every country station is beyond me. Country fans should be clicking ORDER NOW if you havn't already. You won't be disappointed.

  • Really Country
    author: Paul W. Dennis

    Wow ! I recently purchased THE CIRCLE and SOMEBODY'S ANGEL and both are just too good for today's country radio. Her voice and the instrumentation are pure country and the song selection is great. So good is this album that I can even forgive her recording only the 1st & 3rd verses of my all-time favorite song "Walking The Floor Over You"

  • Erin Hay is a singer who hasn’t grabbed at the quick promise of fame
    author: George Peden

    Erin Hay: Somebody’s Angel Album Review by George Peden In the testing world of country music, there are those who think they can cut it as easily as Garth and as musically as Shania. They quickly grab a hat, snare an agent, book some recording time, link to a compilation label and then barnstorm the radio stations, all in the hope of stardom. It’s a jerky chase. It can lead to miserable results. Let’s reintroduce Erin Hay. She’s a singer who hasn’t grabbed at the quick promise of fame. She, like Garth and Canada’s most celebrated navel, has spent time forging a quality career. Hay first gained our notice when we reviewed her CD, The Circle. That review highlighted her musical progression. We learned of her arrival in Nashville in ‘91. We noted her meeting and ongoing partnership with respected producer Lonnie Ratliff and their eventual recording of three albums. The time spent, the lessons learned, and the Ratliff association has all contributed to Hay’s current popularity. A popularity now rewarded by being one of the Internet’s most downloaded country artists. Somebody’s Angel (Westwood International Records), with its 10 covers and 6 originals, picks up on the earlier efforts of The Circle. Angel, while showcasing Hay’s clear, pitch-perfect vocals, is a reliable mix of traditional influences and chart possibilities. It’s a winning combination. It’s hard not to locate a favorite track here. From the fiddles heard on the opening cut, the Haggard-penned and recorded, "Big City", to John Denver’s memory-soaked "Take Me Home, Country Roads", to Ernest Tubb’s 1942 gold-selling "Walkin’ The Floor Over You", to the smash for Patsy Cline, "Faded Love", every song grabs. "Fool #1", a hit for Billboard’s Most Programmable Female Vocalist in the early 60's, Brenda Lee, is part of the lineup. The song, carried with just the right amount of heart tug and lover’s ache is pure, rich, and country. Not unlike "Givin’ Old Memories Away". This somber tale of worthless love is, again, a vocal signature to Hay’s seal on traditional country. The title track carries some history. "Somebody’s Angel" is a reworking of a song off Hay’s ’92 industry demo cassette. Having recorded this latest version in one emotional take, she claims the song is one of her all-time favorites. Given the feeling and vocal passion on offer, it's easy to hear why. Music veteran Ernie Ashworth, a 1964 inductee into the Grand Ole Opry, shares microphone duty on "Poor Folks". Ashworth, who still tours and claims recognition as one of the most played indie acts in Europe, is a counterbalance to Hay’s strong and convincing vocal. The tune is a musical pairing respecting the duo’s talents. Also in the album’s memory mix, we hear the cold chills of country classic "Ode To Billy Joe". Bobbie Gentry did a winning version of her self-penned tune. Hay’s rendition is on a par. With a mixture of a slap-brushed snare, Dobro and steel, the track is the listening reward it’s always been. Some of the new tracks could be hits-in-waiting. "Cry Like Memphis", a Gary Duffy and Ron Wallace-penned effort, is something Trisha Yearwood could make money on. The emotion felt by the absence of a departed lover, kindled by the strains of "Love Me Tender" heard through an open truck window, and how our heroine will cry like Memphis on the day the King died, makes it an album standout. The Lonnie Ratliff and Tom Mitchell-penned "Seed Catalog" is another tune of creative interest. The track, which is enjoying international air play, tells of a mother’s hurt as she waits for family mail that doesn’t come. Waiting with keen expectation, Mother finds comfort in the regular mail. A seed catalog. The kids do eventually get in touch – when they return for her funeral. A life lesson clearly spelled out. Erin Hay is one of the vibrant new possibilities in country music. On this album, the song choice is first rate, the production values high, and the voice is true. She’s taken her time, but, then, possible stardom is not a jerky chase – it’s a journey of talented persistence.

  • Erin Hay is a singer who hasn’t grabbed at the quick promise of fame
    author: George Peden

    Erin Hay: Somebody’s Angel Album Review by George Peden In the testing world of country music, there are those who think they can cut it as easily as Garth and as musically as Shania. They quickly grab a hat, snare an agent, book some recording time, link to a compilation label and then barnstorm the radio stations, all in the hope of stardom. It’s a jerky chase. It can lead to miserable results. Let’s reintroduce Erin Hay. She’s a singer who hasn’t grabbed at the quick promise of fame. She, like Garth and Canada’s most celebrated navel, has spent time forging a quality career. Hay first gained our notice when we reviewed her CD, The Circle. That review highlighted her musical progression. We learned of her arrival in Nashville in ‘91. We noted her meeting and ongoing partnership with respected producer Lonnie Ratliff and their eventual recording of three albums. The time spent, the lessons learned, and the Ratliff association has all contributed to Hay’s current popularity. A popularity now rewarded by being one of the Internet’s most downloaded country artists. Somebody’s Angel (Westwood International Records), with its 10 covers and 6 originals, picks up on the earlier efforts of The Circle. Angel, while showcasing Hay’s clear, pitch-perfect vocals, is a reliable mix of traditional influences and chart possibilities. It’s a winning combination. It’s hard not to locate a favorite track here. From the fiddles heard on the opening cut, the Haggard-penned and recorded, "Big City", to John Denver’s memory-soaked "Take Me Home, Country Roads", to Ernest Tubb’s 1942 gold-selling "Walkin’ The Floor Over You", to the smash for Patsy Cline, "Faded Love", every song grabs. "Fool #1", a hit for Billboard’s Most Programmable Female Vocalist in the early 60's, Brenda Lee, is part of the lineup. The song, carried with just the right amount of heart tug and lover’s ache is pure, rich, and country. Not unlike "Givin’ Old Memories Away". This somber tale of worthless love is, again, a vocal signature to Hay’s seal on traditional country. The title track carries some history. "Somebody’s Angel" is a reworking of a song off Hay’s ’92 industry demo cassette. Having recorded this latest version in one emotional take, she claims the song is one of her all-time favorites. Given the feeling and vocal passion on offer, it's easy to hear why. Music veteran Ernie Ashworth, a 1964 inductee into the Grand Ole Opry, shares microphone duty on "Poor Folks". Ashworth, who still tours and claims recognition as one of the most played indie acts in Europe, is a counterbalance to Hay’s strong and convincing vocal. The tune is a musical pairing respecting the duo’s talents. Also in the album’s memory mix, we hear the cold chills of country classic "Ode To Billy Joe". Bobbie Gentry did a winning version of her self-penned tune. Hay’s rendition is on a par. With a mixture of a slap-brushed snare, Dobro and steel, the track is the listening reward it’s always been. Some of the new tracks could be hits-in-waiting. "Cry Like Memphis", a Gary Duffy and Ron Wallace-penned effort, is something Trisha Yearwood could make money on. The emotion felt by the absence of a departed lover, kindled by the strains of "Love Me Tender" heard through an open truck window, and how our heroine will cry like Memphis on the day the King died, makes it an album standout. The Lonnie Ratliff and Tom Mitchell-penned "Seed Catalog" is another tune of creative interest. The track, which is enjoying international air play, tells of a mother’s hurt as she waits for family mail that doesn’t come. Waiting with keen expectation, Mother finds comfort in the regular mail. A seed catalog. The kids do eventually get in touch – when they return for her funeral. A life lesson clearly spelled out. Erin Hay is one of the vibrant new possibilities in country music. On this album, the song choice is first rate, the production values high, and the voice is true. She’s taken her time, but, then, possible stardom is not a jerky chase – it’s a journey of talented persistence.

  • Pure Country, again!
    author: Doug Morris, IMAG

    This latest album by Erin is a continuation of the same style as you'll find on the "Honky Tonk Heaven" album, plain, solid, good ol' country songs, only this album is better because there are 16 tracks instead of 14. They're all covers of some of the best loved traditional songs in Nashville. She does songs by Merle Haggard, Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, and even John Denver. My favorite tracks are "Fool #1", "Big City", "Faded Love", "Among My Souvenirs", & Marty Robbins' "Don't Worry." Like I said, the lady sings country!!

email

Please log in to email this artist.