Erick Baker's path is guided by his heart

Photo by Saul Young // Buy this photo

Knoxville singer-songwriter Erick Baker photographed at his home on Sunday, August 22, 2010.

Photo by Saul Young

Knoxville singer-songwriter Erick Baker photographed at his home on Sunday, August 22, 2010.

KNOXVILLE — Erick Baker can barely contain his enthusiasm. Sitting in his West Knoxville home, which he shares with his wife, Mandy, and 11-month-old daughter, Annabelle, he's fresh off a tour opening for the rock band Heart. With the group, he performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and amphitheaters in Baltimore, Gilford, N.H., New York City, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Va., Raliegh, N.C., and several other cities.

"Telling you about it, it seems like a dream I had last night or something," says Baker. "The last three weeks are the best I've had in my entire career. I've played for more people in the past three weeks than I have in the last three years - solo acoustic in front of crowds of 5,000. They made me a spot on the tour bus ... I'd never even been on a tour bus before."

Baker, though, is not exactly an untested commodity. He's been making music in Knoxville for nearly a decade and over the past three years he's built up a solid regional following.

At Baker's CD release show for his album "Holding the Pieces in Place," earlier this year, he sold-out the 750 seat Bijou Theatre. Pretty good for a guy who didn't think he had any musical talent until he was in his 20s. Baker will release a recording of that last Bijou show at his performance tonight at the Bijou.

Originally from the West Tennessee town of Halls (not to be confused with Halls Crossroads), Baker says he bought a guitar while he was attending college. He bought a guitar, but he didn't learn how to play it until the summer after he graduated.

"By the end of the summer I was playing at O'Charley's with a friend, doing covers," says Baker. "If you told me at that point that I was going to make a living playing music I never would've believed you. I thought I'd have a little fun for a while and then put my (marketing) degree to use."

Soon, though, Baker's duo gig had turned into the rock band Down From Up.

"That's when I started thinking about music as a career," says Baker. "I never got close to making a living off it then, though."

It was when Baker was playing original acoustic songs at an open mike night that he got his first big break. In 2007, Ted Heinig of A.C. Entertainment caught a solo acoustic set by Baker and invited him to open for John Legend at the Tennessee.

"I went from playing for, like, 15 people to 1,500," says Baker. "I was just terrified. Normally, I couldn't get 15 people to pay attention, but that night in front of 1,500 you could've heard a pin drop. That was such a validating moment."

Baker didn't have a CD to sell or even a website. All he could do was copy off some sheets of paper with his name on it and the worlds "Album coming in the fall."

An EP, recorded with acclaimed Knoxville producer Travis Wyrick, followed.

Baker was tapped to open for Natasha Bedingfield, Nanci Griffith and James Blunt. At the Blunt show, he earned a standing ovation and sold 288 CDs after the show.

"At that point I thought, 'Man, this is going to be easy!'" says Baker with a laugh.

Admittedly, it hasn't always been easy. Months would pass between gigs. Still, at the beginning of 2010, Baker was able to stop waiting tables and concentrate on music full time.

He says his music connects with people, because it's from the heart.

"There's a lot of 'I' in my songs," says Baker. "I can't write without putting myself into it. Sometimes people ask, 'How can you sing the same songs hundreds of times?' but it's because they're so real to me. It's a joy to sing them. It's like looking back through a diary."

He wrote the song "Stay Awhile" when Mandy was sick before the two were engaged.

"It was when I realized I wanted to marry her," he says.

"I write pages from my day-to-day life. Many people think we're all so different, but I think we're all so alike. I think people are connecting to my songs because they're all about real experiences. They say, 'Hey, I've felt that myself.'"

To read an interview with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, click Check out the song herehere.

© 2010 Knoxville.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.