Erika Hughes & The Well Mannered

Erika Hughes and the Well Mannered formed in November of 2011, and have been touring Ohio and surrounding areas since 2012, filling venues with their full-bodied Americana sound. The five piece features Erika Hughes (of course) on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Trevor Edge plays lead guitar, Robin Brubaker is on Upright Base, and Shane Fry adds drums and back up vocals. Margot Baird rounds out the group with additional backing vocals and percussion.

The group will be releasing their new EP, Give Up the Ghost this Friday night, July 11th, at Woodlands Tavern. The show will start at 8:30pm with openers Jesse Henry & The Kits. Tickets are $10.

Give Up The Ghost features five tracks from the band, including “On The Run,” the title track, “Evelyn Gale,” “Calling Out My Name,” and “Homeward Bound.” These tracks make for a well-rounded, pleasant listening experience.

“On The Run” opens with a good beat and rich harmonies. It’s a guitar driven tune about leaving town and having nothing to lose, which will have you tapping your toes in no time.

“Give Up The Ghost,” opens with a much different sound. Funky guitar licks usher in this more somber, yet still sassy sounding tune. This track showcases guitarist Trevor Edge’s quick fingers, as well as Hughes vocal talent.

The EP’s slowest track follows. “Evelyn Gale” is a simple, wandering tune. “Callin’ Out My Name,” follows that with a quicker tempo and hopeful feel as Erika sings of following her heart.

The EP closes on a high note with “Homeward Bound,” a bouncing, fun track that will leave you wishing there was more.

The EP promises a bright future for the group and they have tight schedule of upcoming shows where you’ll be able to hear more from them. For all fans of the Americana, country rock sound, this group is one to keep an eye, or an ear, on.
-Miranda Rife - Columbus Underground

By Andy Downing
From the July 10, 2014 edition

Andy Downing
Woodlands Tavern

8 p.m. Friday, July 11

1200 W. Third Ave., Grandview

woodlandstavern.com

“I don’t want to lose that burning flame,” sings Erika Hughes at the onset of the band’s most recent EP, Give Up the Ghost, which it will celebrate with a release show at Woodlands Tavern on Friday, July 11.

The singer needn’t have worried; the album’s five roots-leaning tracks give off a steady heat, like glowing embers of a campfire. Hughes spins a long-dead relationship into an evocative ghost story on the album’s waltzing title track, and details a character’s desire to ditch his or her dreary 9-to-5 existence in favor of the open road on “Callin’ Out My Name.” “My heart is saying go, go, go,” she sings, as a country-fried guitar urges the narrator out the door and down the highway, and there’s never a doubt Hughes is following her muse down a similar path here. - Columbus Alive