 Sing Out (Autumn 2008)
There is a group of American Roots Performers who are considered by some as too "folksy" for blues clubs and are too "bluesy" for folk clubs, but they maintain a drive, love and passion for their music and they enjoy an appreciative audience. It's music from when and where the blues began, the music of guitar soloists like Blink Blake and Blind Boy Fuller, performers who develop a powerful finger-style on guitar that transformed them into "one-man bands. These "country blues" performers have inspired so many who have followed them but even greater numbers have switched to electric and traveled the path to "monetary success." Others, like Eric Noden, have remained true to their inspiration, mastering styles that leave most guitar pickers standing with their mouths open. "The Original" is Noden's fourth release on Diving Duck Records. Since he moved from his birthplace in Ohio to Chicago in 1994, he has been immersed in the blues. But his true inspirations aren't the usual luminaries of the South Side. Instead he has listened closely to Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis and Tommy Johnson. Their influence is most apparent and undeniable. Of the thirteen cuts he plays guitar on eleven: on two he plays harmonica instrumental solos where he plays in a chordal melody, chuggin style. His guitar is powered by his double thumb technique which drives hard on the bass propelling his music forward. He has mastered the technique of thumb picking with syncopation very much like Blind Blake, a style that ragtime master Rev. Davis once described as a "sportin' right hand". One of my favorites is a rousing ragtime guitar instrumental , "Gary Went to New Orleans." The notes just roll of his fingers without losing the force of the driving bass. There are familiar themes. "The Blues Will Find You" has the foundation of John Cephas' rendition of "Crow Jane." Noden comes out of the gate with his high steppin "Salt Rock Blues." an original in the style of Yank Rachell's "Tappin' that Thing." Harmonica master Joe Filisko adds the perfect complementary part, a la Rachell's longtime partner Hammie Nixon, with an old style acoustic harp, chugging and wailing. In the mix are some surprises. "Crooked Road Blues" is a duet with Andy Cohen, from Memphis, TN. Cohen is a master of fingerstyle blues and a veteran of the Folk circuit.. The two play together, entwining their parts in a dance. The Lonnie Johnson inspired "Big Dog Little Dog" follows hot on the heels with Cohen and Noden trading passages. "Weep and Moan" is a complete departure, a blues mambo played by a trio of Noden on guitar, Jimmy Sutton on upright bass and Filisko on amplified harmonica. It has a modern, Chicago West Side feel as Filisko explodes with a sassy, brash solo. One of the forces that has powered the blues for over one hundred years is the solo guitar performer, the likes of SonHouse and Robert Johnson, who by their energy and grit have inspired so many others to take up the cause. Noden has responded in a big way. He is a student of the music, nurturing it's roots and keeping the "country blues" alive as it was meant to be played. Pull up a chair and get a taste of the real deal.
 Blues Revue (issue 114 Oct Nov 2008)
On "The Original" Chicago's Eric Noden continues to demonstrate that he's one of today's most reliable exponents of original blues in the prewar style. His enervated singing intensifies the desolate mood of "400 Miles From Home." "Big Dog Little Dog" and "Blues Wil lFind You" rag the blues while "October Blues" is a delicate lyrical piece. "34th Street Shuffle" finds Noden approximating an accordion with tremolo harmonica. "Weep and Moan" moves forward to the Fifties with a haunting minor-key Latin arrangment filled out by bassist Jimmy Sutton and barely contained harp by Joe Filisko.
Buddy Guy's Bluesletter March/April 2006
It may have been fate. When Eric Noden first wandered into Legends over a decade ago, he happened to catch Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, and Lonnie Brooks playing together. There they were, three of the great exponents of the Chicago sound – doing an all-acoustic set. Blues publications around the world have praised Eric Noden as one of the finest exponents of early acoustic blues in the style of Rev. Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt. But Noden is just as adept at playing Delta masters like Robert Johnson; he’s proud of the fact that he can represent the variety of styles. Noden’s father, a passionate amateur musician, introduced him to the records of finger picking master Mississippi John Hurt, took him to see Leo Kottke perform, and began teaching him some finger-style tunes. Then, like a lot of children during that era, Noden took up electric guitar. But by his late teens he had tired of electric music and came back to his acoustic. “I liked the simplicity of it,” he remembers. “You could play a solo and it had a complete sound. I also like how you can dig into an acoustic guitar in a way that you can’t on an electric. On an electric, the strings are like butter, it’s so easy to press them down, and the amp makes all the sound. With the acoustic, you’ve really gotta pull the sound out of that thing.” Noden’s real education as a singer occurred in his home state of Ohio, when he began playing guitar with a gospel group. “Because there were only four members there was an intense focus on the voice. And with gospel the singing is in theforefront anyway.” In addition, he says that coaching from one of the singers deepened his awareness of rhythm and timing. Noden’s first CD 55 Highway put him on the map as a monster guitarist with an encyclopedic knowledge of early blues. But his second CD Midwest Blues demonstrates that he’s developing a thrilling repertoire of his own material. For many years Noden was happy to be completely immersed in the music of others. “There was already such a great existing catalog of early blues that I just wanted to keep learning everything I could from it,” he says. The urge to write his own material came in part from his study of the piano, which he started playing seriously several years ago. “Maybe it was because I had less technique with the piano,” he says. “Wi t h the guitar I was really good at copying other music note for note. So the piano kind of allowed me to get my own style.” “Black Cat Bone,” one of the originals on his new CD, shows him heading in new directions, infusing traditional blues with Caribbean sounds. “I find that Blues/Latin hybrid really exciting and I’m really going to explore it more,” he says. But first he’s culling tunes for a live CD that’s due out this summer.
Blues Revue (issue no 91 Dec/Jan 05)
A purist could hardly enjoy a true pre-war blues recording more that Midwest Blues (Diving Duck 10022), the latest from Eric Noden, an accomplished guitarist singer and piano player. The Chicago resident has not only a refreshingly unforced vocal style and a remarkable ability to pen genre-perfiect additions to the canon but a scholar’s knowledge of his instruments (with none of the stuffiness). He nails hot originals “Shelby County Bound,” River Town,”and a wobbling “Black Cat Bone,” as well as covers of Gary davis, Hohn Hurt, and a spellbinding reworking of “Catfish Blues.” Guests include Rick “Cookin”Sherry and Tom Ray of Devil in a Woodpile.
Living Blues (Jan 05)
Eric Noden, a 35-year-old Ohio native now resident of Chicago, is an acoustic guitarist whose influences are evident in his selection of covers from Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, and Big Bill Broonzy. Noden is no mere copyist, however as shown by such strong originals as the title track, River Town, and Shelby County Bound. The latter is one of several tracks where Noden switches to piano and teams up with Rick Sherry on washboard and Tom Ray on bass to get more of a rowdy, good time sound. The closer, Black Cat Bone breaks the mold by adding Latin percussion as Noden doubles on guitar and piano.
 Sing Out (Winter 05)
Pre-World War II country blues guitar stylist and ace songwriter Eric Noden has spent the past decade or so in the Chicago area, creating his own version of American roots music. He favors the deliberate, progressive finger-picking approach of 1920’s and 1930’s blues giants like Tommy Johnson, Blind Blake and Reverend Gary Davis and has a hale zesty voice to match. Rick Sherry and Tom Ray of Devil in a Woodpile provide congenial upright bass, washboard and harmonica on five tracks. Of these, the romping and stomping, autobiographical title song and “River Town.” With Noden’s outgoing vocal lamentations, are standouts. Imagine the Koerner, Ray and Glover vibe from the old days and you’d be close. Other tour de force originals showcase Noden’s hard-driving, barrelhouse piano pounding. A boogie-beat “Shelby County Bound” with great retro lyrics and wailing vocal, the rocking and rolling “What’s on Your Mind” and an exuberantly dense “Black Cat Bone”(with passionate bongos, guiro and congas accompaniment) reveal a keyboard proficiency in line wit his nimble guitar work. Kinetic covers of less familiar songs by Mississippi John Hurt (the ear catching testimonial “You Don’t Want Me” and Reverend Davis (a bouncy ragtime instrumental) as well as Big Bill Broonzy’s signature “Key To The Highway” and the Delta standard “Catfish Blues” all revolve around Noden’s deeply textured take on bare bones country blues. That refreshingly, allows him to toss in a few snappy side-steps along the way. To add a coda to a comment from the liners author Steve Cushing-in a world of contemporary blues poseurs and pretenders, Noden is the real deal
 Blues and Rhythm (UK) (March 05)
This is the second album on the Diving Duck label, by Chicago-based Noden, and his pre-war blues influenced acoustic set has some fine moments. His first album, released during 1999 was for the most part a solo guitar showcase, while here he also plays piano and has surrounded himself with some talented fellow musicians. There is some crisply controlled guitar work on John Hurts “You Don’t Want Me” and his fast paced guitar instrumental”Cincinnati Flow Rag” from Rev. Gary Davis, captures the spirit of the original. The piano work on his original song “Chi-Town Breakdown” evokes the atmosphere of the twenties and his opening original title “River Town” has his band working flat out-kicking up a real storm! There is a spirited interpretation of Broonzy’s “Key to the Highway” and his solo version of the Delta classic”Catfish Blues”illustrates Noden’s natural born vocal style. His original lyrics have a poetic quality again capturing the feel of his much loved pre-war material. A recommended outing by this committed and sincere musician.
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