BLUES FARM PRESS


The opener on the Blues Farm CD, “Ball and Chain,” has a slow, moody, funky backdrop with some terrific understated guitar work. “Know Who You Are” is more upbeat, almost blues/rock with Hovey’s ragged but right guitar, and features some tasty harmonica from Andy Blumenthal and keyboards from Tom Gary. “Soda Pop Girl” is a gentle swinger about a girl who drives our protagonist around town while he drinks, and “Patchouli” is highlighted by Hovey’s stinging guitar fills.
Other highlights include the atmospheric “Runnin’ With A Full Moon,” the jazzy workout, “Fight That Monkey,” “Missing Part,” and the guitar-driven shuffle, “I’m Through.” Hovey’s a fine guitarist and his vocals are solid and suit the material well, and he gets excellent support from Blumenthal (harmonica), Gary (keys), Jeff Foreman (drums), Dan Lodden (bass), and Heather Kelly (vocals). This is a pretty solid set of Midwest blues that will please most blues fans.
Graham Clarke / Blues Bytes / MS, USA


Erick Hovey • BLUES FARM • Self released
Low down and dirty; blues played as it was originally intended to sound like
Based in the wonderfully named Fort Dodge in Iowa, Erick Hovey learnt the basic blues scale when he was only eight years old. Erick has improved on this in such a stupendous way that this album makes you wonder why you haven’t come across his name before? Out of these dozen tunes, the delightful Patchouli certainly grabbed my attention. It is songs like this which make you yearn for an extended version as this groove never becomes tiresome. Fight That Monkey opens with guitar but this is soon joined by vocals which blew me away. Pronounced by Real Blues Magazine as being among their top
hundred new releases for 2009, I would urge others to follow their and my own advice to try their utmost to track down a copy of this very distinguished
record. Russell Hill / Maverick Magazine / UK


I am curious as to how Erick Hovey in his daily life as a farmer he is able to find time at night to make masterpieces.
On the Blues Farm CD, you’ll be tossed from the JJ Cale-like Know Who You Are to the Jazzy Soda Pop Girl to the bluesy song Patchouli to the laid back jazzy tearjerker Missing Part, then to a jump-blues tune I’m Through, followed with ease by the reggae styled Talkin Bout Love.
I can play Erick’s cd at a higher volume at home because my better half appreciates Erick’s music greatly.
It’s unbelievable that this artist is still unknown in the Netherlands. He would not go amiss in many theaters.
Jan van Eck / VanEckBlues / Netherlands


Erick Hovey’s cd Blues Farm is on Learshot top 10 for the week ending March 2, 2010


Erick: On Wednesday, September 21, I will be playing Part 1 of my 5th Annual Best of Fringe Toast. I selected "Ball and Chain" as one of the Best Music tracks I have discovered in the past 50 weeks. The 25 singer-songwriter tracks were taken from approximately 3,000 tracks that I downloaded over this period. I actually probably listened to about 10,000 tracks in total
Dr. Andrew Bargerstock / KRUU / Fairfield, IA



I got to listen to a bunch of new music this week but the one album that stood out for me was the album by Eric Hovey “Blues Farm”. Im a big blues guitar fan and this album is filled with it, GOOOD FIND!!
WYBF / PA


Erick Hovey - Blues Farm
Erick Hovey debuts today on our radio, songs from his latest CD. The album title has a close relationship with his daily activities, since it is already the fifth-generation farmer operating a family farm in Fort Dodge, Iowa. This CD is the fourth in his artistic achievements. Erick is perfectly able to reconcile the work of the farmer and musician. He has already accumulated a large group of fans. His cheerful sounding tones are instantly well received.
delta.art.pl / Poland


Erick, I listened to Blues Farm and let me tell you that I really enjoyed it, your music sounds very very good!
I'm going to include the albums in our playlists. We have a Blues festival in Bogota that takes place every year. I think that may be you can get a chance to perform here in Colombia.
Miguel Ortiz / Javeriana Estereo 91.1 FM / Columbia


"I received the cds. Had time to listen / prep "Blues Farm". Very impressed! Professional package."
- Swede / FatCat Radio


Blues guitarist, very personal, who mixes rock and roots, with strong influences by JJ Cale, Eric Clapton and Larry Carlton: that is soul, style and technique. Blues Farm is not the first album, he already has some behind him, his music is original, direct and pleasant.
Caru / Gallarate, Italy


Greetings, Erick, and the best of the new year to you! Music from Blues Farm is about to hit the airwaves of my syndicated blues radio show, At the Crossroads.
I am truly enjoying the album, by the way, and more music from it will appear in the program. Thanks, Erick!
Brant Zwicker / At the Crossroads, Canada


Dear Erick,
I'm Jim Greaves and I write for Blues In Britain magazine and the review appeared in November issue. I enjoyed both CDs but particularly Blues Farm - it's good to hear a guitarist who doesn't play at a million notes a minute! I'm a big fan of Peter Green and the less is more school of play.
Cheers, Jim


Hey man - you are good. Listening to Soda Pop Girl and Know Who You Are from the Blues Farm album. I like it. Your music is at least as good as the best independent stuff we have received. I wish you well, hope you get lot's of airplay and I'll play your songs on my morning show as well in our regular mix.
Ric / AM1670 KCRJ / Jerome, AZ


Blues Farm is listed among the top 100 new releases.
Real Blues Magazine


Erick Hovey has managed to build his own blues style….you will discover some new elements on the Blues Farm cd that will surprise you Miaden Loncar, soundgaurdian, Croatia, 8-09



Blues Farm is a soulful groove! *****
I thought the production details on Blues Farm were stellar, as well as great care taken to the lyrics and music
Can’t say enough about Erick and his music, which I have followed for many years now. Those of you who don’t know this fifth-generation Fort Dodge, IA farmer/musician will be dutifully impressed –
The songwriting, lyrics, production, and arrangements on Blues Farm will have you hitting the replay button often. The great care in details – guitar tones, the homage to different eras of blues and blues-rock recording, insightful lyrics – all combine for a heady mix of meaty, soulful grooves. Just goes to show you that Iowa boys play their music card decks close to the vest until delivery – no boasting, no grandstanding, just deliver the musical goods when needed.
And boy, this delivers!
iTunes review By Mick Polich – July 8,2009


Erick Hovey’s song Missing Part from the Blues Farm cd, made the June 09 top 20 Latin Ballroom Swing Chart on Greg Parmerton’s Beachmusic45, Turtle Bay on Manhattan Island


Erick Hovey ‘Blues Farm’
Its just less than 40 years since the release of JJ Cale’s ‘Naturally’. And while it took rock fans a few years more to catch up on to the septuagenarian’s understated take on the blues, he perfected a style that is as enduring as it is influential all these years later.

Of course for every JJ Cale there’s a coterie of guitarists of a similar persuasion who prefer to eschew volume and speed and blend together the more intricate parts of the blues tapestry. Mid-Western blues guitarist Erick Hovey is undoubtedly one of a kind, a player who celebrates the virtues of space, time and presence. His latest ‘Blues Farm’ cd bears a title that is almost the perfect metaphor for a hot house of the blues, developing the subtler seeds of the genre in between the cracks.

More than that, Erick is someone who is at ease with himself as he lets his guitar do all the talking for him holding an exquisite bluesy tinged conversation over some smouldering fluid grooves and well crafted songs. Erick is a master of rich tones and textures, sweet melodies, expressive phrasing, real feel and always the blues.

And as he explores the blues in a sultry meandering way he’s unafraid to take on board disparate influences from the almost Skanking feel of ‘Baby Come Home’ to the Latino/Bossa beat of ‘Running With A Full Moon’ as well as lovely diversions though shuffles and muscular funk (‘Going Down’) to the belated twin guitar intro on the cd’s’ outro. ‘Can’t Fall Down’ is a succinct concluding guitar blow out that suggests he can jam with the best of them.

‘Blues Farm’ is an understated work of elegance and poise and fluency. Where others overstate their abilities or resort to cliché Hovey treads his own path. He may growl on ‘Know Who You Are’, he may add a contrasting piercing guitar line to the laid back shuffling stroll of ‘Patchouli’ and he may slip in a contrasting tone on the gentle shuffle rhythm of ‘Missing Part’, but there’s a signature sound at play here. Erick Hovey’s playing embodies a discernable voice and a real unique feel for the blues that will surely gain him plenty more fans.

**** (4/5) © getreadytorock / UK
Review by Pete Feenstra 7-5-10



Erick Hovey’s Blues Farm cd.
Like the blues, but want something new? This is the album for you. Original material, extremely well done, great to listen to.

Variety of tempos on different songs lets this CD stay in the player so it repeats several times before I go to the next one. It is really nice to understand the vocal tracks, the mix doesn't overpower them. In fact the sonics are excellant and worth listening to because of the great mixing.

So far my favorites on this CD are Patchouli and Soda Pop Girl, but only by a slim margin. Track 10-Talkin about Love has me guessing if he was going for cajun or reggae rythym- both my feet are tappin in time so it could be both.

I have his other three albums and can recommend them as well.
Amazon review by Dave in WA


Erick Hovey has a double release on the market with the discs Blues Farm and Recycled Souls.
I am curious as to how in his daily life as a farmer he is able to find time at night to make masterpieces.
These CDs take you on a trip through a landscape of music: blues, folk, jazz, pop, latin, and reggae.
On the Blues Farm CD, you’ll be tossed from the JJ Cale-like Know Who You Are to the Jazzy Soda Pop Girl to the bluesy song Patchouli to the laid back jazzy tearjerker Missing Part, then to a jump-blues tune I’m Through, followed with ease by the reggae styled Talkin Bout Love.
The same variation also appears on Recycled Souls which is on a whole of a more robust nature.
These CDs I can play at a higher volume at home because my better half appreciates Erick’s music greatly.
It’s unbelievable that this artist is still unknown in the Netherlands. He would not go amiss in many theaters.
Jan van Eck / VanEckBlues / Netherlands