The Remedy will be providing publicity services for the World of Beer Music Tour 2012 featuring Americana-rocker Erica Blinn. The nine-tour stop will include performances in Ohio, the Carolinas, and Florida, all at World of Beer locations. The tour will also include a few special performances, as Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin will sit in with Blinn during part of her performance on July 13 in Carrollwood, FL. Also, Blinn will appear with Terry Davidson and The Gears and open for Lynyrd Skynyrd at Columbus Commons in Columbus, OH, on July 15.
The Remedy will provide publicity and media relations support and will create a tour poster and other collateral for the tour. Below is the official World of Beer Music Tour 2012 press release:
Americana rocker Erica Blinn packs her bags for first national headlining tour
Five years from now, Erica Blinn envisions cruising the country on a luxury tour bus, traveling from town to town, playing to full arenas and simply “living the dream.” But for now, Blinn continues her path down the road less traveled, and that means packing her PT Cruiser for a two-week journey that will take her from her Columbus, OH, home to the Carolinas and into the Sunshine State for her first national headlining tour.
Blinn, who kicked off the World of Beer Music Tour 2012 on Saturday, June 30, with a hometown gig, will take her act on the road with stops in Charlotte, NC, and Columbia, SC, on July 5 and 6. From there it’s five stops in Florida, beginning on July 7 in Sarasota, before returning back to Columbus for a grand finale when she opens for Lynyrd Skynyrd on July 15 at Columbus Commons.
“I’m so excited, I can’t wait to get started,” said Blinn while making her final preparations for the 430-mile trip to Charlotte. Blinn sees this as the first step of her ultimate goal of living the dream, which includes one day making the admittedly modest step up from the PT Cruiser to a touring van and, ultimately, barnstorming the country in style, writing music and performing her eclectic mix of Americana rock – a flavor of rock and roll with a side of blues, mixed with a pinch of Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, and Tom Petty — to overflowing crowds inspired by her unique melodies and moved by her from-the-heart lyrics penned by her own hand.
She’s come a long way from her first performance, sitting in with The Edge at the age of 14 and playing harmonica and guitar in front of about 200 west side Columbus bikers at a local watering hole. But she’s still not that far removed.
“I still love to play the harmonica,” Bilnn admitted. “That’s my favorite thing to do and I would do that in a heartbeat if someone asked me to come on tour with them and do only that. I express myself best through the harmonica and it’s the biggest reason I got into playing music.”
Fans attending one of Blinn’s eight stops on the World of Beer tour can expect to hear those unmistakable bluesy notes from the “harp”, along with an unforgettable performance that has wowed audiences in the Midwest for years.
But the heartland’s secret is about to be exposed.
Blinn’s most recent releases have begun to get radio air play in Ohio, and she hopes that with more people seeing her high-energy performances as she spreads her wings outside of her home base, the number of stations willing to take a chance on playing her Americana rock anthems will begin to increase. Many doors have already begun to open. For instance, Choices and Headed for Disaster, two of the more renowned songs off of her self-titled album, are being featured nationally within the music rotation at all World of Beer locations throughout the country.
But there’s nothing like seeing a live performance and falling in love with the exultation that rises from your soul. And that’s exactly what Blinn hopes will get her noticed and finally enable her to transition from living the dream to making a living. A veteran of regional tours and having already released an EP, Blinn hopes to break through the glass ceiling and make a name for herself as a female rock star. And why not? It fits her against-the-grain personality. When not performing or writing, Blinn can be found tearing the engine out of an old motorcycle to make it perform more to her liking.
“I tore the engine (883 ccs) apart and had the cylinders bored out to 1200 ccs then I re-built the engine with 1200 pistons,” she says, reminiscing about one of her more recent mechanical projects, a hobby not necessarily expected to be so cherished by a female. But neither is digging graves, which is one of the many jobs Blinn carried out while working through college as an employee of the City of Dublin (OH).
Some people fall in line. Others walk all over it. Count Blinn in the latter category.
“Some people may think my enjoying rebuilding engines and riding motorcycles is weird, but some people think it’s weird for a female to be playing rock and roll,” said Blinn. “It’s hard for females to be successful in rock and roll. That’s something my dad told me from an early age. He said it’s easier in country (music), which it is. But that’s not who I am.”
Though some have claimed that a few of Blinn’s numbers have a distinct “Nashville feel”, Blinn sees it as more of a mix of the many influences in her musical life.
“I’m not sure what a Nashville feel is,” she admitted. “What they play on the radio today, that’s not real country music, that’s more pop. So in that regard, I guess that’s why it’s been said that some of my songs have a Nashville feel. But my writing and my music have been influenced by a lot of different things that have all come together, so it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact vibe or feel.”
Speaking of influences, one who has always been behind her is her father. A former touring musician himself, Jerry Blinn knows all about the itch that has consumed his daughter. The elder Blinn has continued to be the backbone of his daughter’s career, even when others around her attempted to guide her toward a real job.
“A lot of people don’t see performing and writing music as a legitimate career goal,” she said. “They see it as just something fun to do or a hobby. They expect you to go to college, pick a career, and put the dream down. And for me it’s kind of an internal struggle with my mom and the rest of the world.”
But for the naysayers, Blinn has one message – “stay out of my way.”
After the World of Beer tour, it’s back on the road for performances in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Louisville. After that, the studio beckons, where Blinn will be working on her next release. Next summer is expected to be filled with stops at music festivals across the country, maybe even in a van, a step up from the ol’ PT Cruiser.
But soon, likely in the not-too-distant future, Blinn’s shining star will burn even brighter, illuminating the way as she entertains audiences with her unique style of Americana rock, living the dream from the comfort of a Silver Eagle and relishing her arrival via the road less traveled.
WORLD OF BEER MUSIC TOUR 2012 STARRING ERICA BLINN
Performing at the following World of Beer locations
June 30 Columbus, OH
July 5 Charlotte, NC
July 6 Columbia, SC
July 7 Sarasota, FL
July 9 Orlando, FL
July 12 South Tampa, FL
July 13 Carrollwood, FL
July 14 Downtown St. Pete, FL
July 15 Columbus, OH (special guest with Terry Davidson and The Gears, opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd at Columbus Commons)
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