Fade Away by Erik Knear is an example of acoustic rock that is packed with hooks and will have you humming to the tune for hours after hearing it. It is taken from the Votive Sound album from Erik who is really happy with the sound quality. And rightly so. In this post, I am reviewing Fade Away. I will say what I think of this song and also where I think Erik can make any improvements. Thank you for your interest in Fade Away (A Million Miles Away) by Erik Knear.
Who is Erik Knear?
Erik Knear is a music artist from California. You can really hear those Californian carefree tones in Fade Away.
As a songwriter, Erik states in his Spotify bio that he is uncomfortable. However, this is not apparent in Fade Away. It sounds as though he is highly accomplished and comfortable as a songwriter.
After writing six autobiographical albums, Erik Knear decided that he was going to write something for fun. That is where Votive Sound stepped in. It is the newest and most recent of Erik’s albums. Fade Away is taken from this album and it is the fourth song on the album.
Erik Knear is also an exceptional visual artist as well as a musician. He has handpainted the Votive Sound album artwork and he has also autographed the Votive Sound cover. These albums really are collectors items. There are 25 different album covers that will feature Erik’s painting ability.
Who Do I Think Fade Away Sounds Like?
There is definitely some 1990s acoustic rock influence in Erik’s music. One thing that Erik and I have in common is our age. Erik is 47 and I will be 47 later on this month. Therefore, we will have similar music memories. The songs that I remember will probably be similar to those that Erik will remember.
However, I want to take you back to the 70s first in the soundalike artists of Erik Knear. This is to a time that Californian music was all about Simon and Garfunkel. This is the first soundalike that I wanted to point out. The acoustic sound of both Erik Knear and Simon and Garfunkel is similar.
Another soundalike act for me would be Soul Asylum’s Runaway Train. There is a similar weight to the music. Both songs are heavy with acoustic guitars, but not heavy rock. They are both very light rock. Both songs are very entertaining. As I said earlier, Fade Away (A Million Miles Away) is packed with hooks. Well, Runaway Train was too
There are literally hundreds of acts I could mention here. However, I am going to leave you with just one more. To me, Fade Away (A Million Miles Away) sounds close to Del Amitri’s sound. You could pick many of Del Amitri’s song of a soundalike of Erik Knear. As a big fan of Del Amitri, I would liken Fade Away (A Million Miles Away) to Nothing Ever Happens.
The Story Behind Fade Away (A Million Miles Away)
This song came from a strange idea Erik had when he was 23 years old. He wanted to write a song as as a young man, but sing it to himself as an older man. He still wants to keep true to the carefree ideas he had when he was young so, as a 47 year old man, he sang it and put it on this album.
Erik found the most cryptic chords and lyrics in an old notebook of his and started to delve deep into his subconscious. Erik found it weird to revisit his old writing style, but it all came back to him. He just hopes that young man can hear this song and is smiling somewhere.
Where Do I Think Erik Knear Can Improve Fade Away (A Million Miles Away)?
I really enjoy the sounds that Erik Knear has put together in Fade Away (A Million Miles Away). However, as with every song, the music can be improved. I believe Erik Knear is not a strong vocalist and I would suspect that Erik himself would probably agree. The song in itself is excellent and offers the right amounts of vocals vs instrumentals. I also love the carefree chord structure.
I also believe that Erik Knear can do much better on Spotify than he has. Being a successful musician is just as much about timing and luck than it is about skill and talent. In fact, it is probably more about the former. The artist needs to find the right opportunities and then pray that they got it right and that their music is well received.
At the time that this post goes live, Erik has only 5 monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of writing, but his talent deserves far, far more support than he actually gets. I just hope that this post only helps to achieve more streams for Erik Knear.
On YouTube, Erik has been more successful with the current count of 310 YouTube subscribers on his channel. That is much better. You can find Erik Knear’s YouTube channel here.
Perhaps Erik should use Hypeddit as a way to increase his number of Spotify streams and also his YouTube subscribers if he wishes.
Where Can You Learn More About Erik Knear?
If you would like to learn more about Erik, you are welcome to subscribe to his YouTube channel, or follow him on Spotify
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