Before Eric Britt earned a reputation as one of Savannah’s best singer-songwriters with his solo work and bands like the New American Hologram, he tore up Athens, Georgia, with his alternative rock band Hazel Virtue.
In the 90s, Hazel Virtue were widely considered the “next big thing” to come out of Athens, and earned high critical praise for their energetic live shows and their excellent debut album, “Hip” (1995). Musician magazine selected them as a semi-finalist in their Best Unsigned Band Competition in 1996, and Billboard Magazine named Hazel Virtue one of the top 10 unsigned Southeastern bands.
“The '90s Athens music scene was so amazing,” said Britt. “REM, the B52s, Widespread, and many more were still in their prime. So, all of us small and ‘up and coming’ bands had some serious mentors and big hopes. We got in the van at 23 and didn't get out for several years.”
Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah
Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah
Hazel Virtue eventually peaked and went on an extended hiatus. 20 years later, the tragic loss of one of their founding members finally brought the band back together.
“I reconnected with Jim Hughes a few years before he died,” explained Britt. “He was going through a serious rough patch and ended up leaving us way too young. We had a connection, as we founded Hazel together at 20 and spent many years playing music together.
“After I got through the grief from that situation, I reached out to the other members of the band. Jim's passing brought us back together as friends almost immediately, and we started texting each other nonstop. Not too much later, we started talking about recording the 'Full Circle' album.”
“Full Circle” was released in March 2020 and is a double album, the first half featuring Britt’s latest solo material, and the second half returning to unrecorded Hazel Virtue songs that were originally meant to appear on their final album, before they took a break.
“The simple idea of ‘Full Circle’ was for us to return to the very beginning of our sound,” said Britt. “We had several songs that were meant to be on our last album before we parted ways. Finally in 2020, we went back into the studio to finish what we started. ‘Full Circle' was also the very first song we ever recorded in a studio, it appears as the last song on the album in it's original form. After discussing it, we decided we could not improve the song. So, that song has the original band playing including Jim Hughes—digitally remastered in 2020.”
Hazel Virtue recently released a video for their song, “The Plan,” which features footage of their younger selves from 20 years ago, ripping it up on the Georgia Theatre stage. Hearing their new music playing over old footage of them proves that Hazel Virtue hasn’t lost any of their fire, and in fact, may have have gotten better with maturity.
Credit: Courtesy of the band
Credit: Courtesy of the band
“I'd like to think over the last 25 years and 7 albums I've gotten better at crafting songs, although we experienced the most success when we were kids. Go figure.
“The Hazel songs don't really sound much different than we imagined them back in the day, we wanted to return to the sound. We even reconnected with Ken Sluiter, the now Grammy nominated producer who produced our first full album ‘Hip’. He and local producer Kevin Rose helped us find that sound again real quick, with some modern improvements. We are proud of it.”
The current line-up consists of Britt on guitar and vocals, Steve Pless on bass, Kevin Gray on drums, and the new addition of Andrew Sovine on guitar.
“I'm super excited Andrew Sovine said yes to playing lead guitar too,” said Britt. “He is a real talent and a great dude.”
Hazel Virtue are playing a string of reunion shows in support of “Full Circle,” starting with a gig at Southbound Brewing Company. Family band Draucker are opening for them.
“Our old school fans and friends are so excited to come out and spend the evening with us,” said Britt. “We're not gonna let them down! After so many years of acoustic gigs, I'm looking forward to a few nights of rock music too!”
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Athens '90s alt-rockers Hazel Virtue come 'Full Circle' for reunion show at Southbound Brewing
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