Mark Erelli (born June 20, 1974) is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist,
[Chilton, Martin]
''The Telegraph'' (UK), November 22, 2011. and touring
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
musician from
Reading, Massachusetts
Reading ( ) is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
History Settlement
Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ...
who earned a master's degree in evolutionary biology from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
before pursuing a career in music. Erelli has released nine solo albums and three collaborative albums. His self-titled debut album was released in 1999, the same year that he won the
Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Award. His first recording for the
Signature Sounds label, ''Compass & Companion,'' spent ten weeks in the Top Ten on the Americana Chart.
[Wood, Arthur]
Mark Erelli Biography.
''Folkville: Thirty Years Writing About the Folk Process'', Retrieved February 12, 2013. Erelli has worked as a side musician for
singer songwriters Lori McKenna
Lorraine McKenna ( Giroux; born December 22, 1968) is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit singl ...
and
Josh Ritter
Joshua B. Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana (music), Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2 ...
. He has performed at various music festivals and shared the stage with
John Hiatt
John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New wave music, new wave, blues, and country music, country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Gramm ...
,
Dave Alvin, and
Gillian Welch. Erelli's song “People Look Around”, which he co-wrote with
Catie Curtis
Catie Curtis (born May 22, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter working primarily in the folk rock idiom. Her most recent album recording, ''The Raft,'' was released in 2020.
Career
Curtis was raised in Saco, Maine. By the age of fifteen she ...
, was the Grand Prize winner at the 2005 International Songwriting Competition.
[International Songwriting Competitio]
International Songwriting Competition: Previous Winners.
/ref> His songs have been recorded by Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, Antje Duvekot, and Red Molly.
Early life and education
Erelli was born in Boston and grew up in the town of Reading, Massachusetts. Erelli performed in numerous high school musicals and founded the band, Freddie and Slip. Later he was a member of the band Organic Ice Cube and wrote his first song "Hell In the Sky" as a member of the band Dead Flowers (Greg Pothier, Scott Collins, Brian Moynihan, Kevin Larimore, Kris Tuscano, Chris Kerrigan Borning). Erelli was introduced to the music of Patty Larkin, Chris Smither, and other singer-songwriters by listening to the radio station WBOS.[WBUR Radio]
Evolutionary Biologist Mark Erelli Turns To Music.
March 17, 2011 He formed the Mark Erelli Band and in 1997 released the album ''Long Way From Heaven''. After attending the North East Folk Alliance Conference in 1997, Erelli signed a recording contract with Signature Sounds Recordings
Signature Sounds Recordings is an independent record label specializing in Americana and modern folk music. Jim Olsen and Mark Thayer founded the label in 1995 to promote acoustic musicians who were playing in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Signatu ...
. He was awarded the Iguana Music Fund Fellowship award from Cambridge's Club Passim and used the proceeds to build a home studio.
Erelli attended Bates College
Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...
in Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...
and in 1997 enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
where he obtained a master's degree in evolutionary biology in 1999.
Career
Erelli's self-titled debut CD was released on the Signature Sounds label in 1999. Produced by Lorne Entress, Erelli was backed by musicians Duke Levine, Kevin Barry, Jim Lamond, Dave Dick, Joe Barbato, Roger Williams, and Mike Dinallo and guest vocalists, Rani Arbo, Louise Taylor, and Ben Demerath. He later won the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Award in the same year.
The following year, Erelli's sophomore recording for Signature Sounds, ''Compass & Companion'' was released. Again produced by Entress, it features a title-song duet with country artist Kelly Willis. Duke Levine and Kevin Barry once again lent support on guitar along with Dave Dick on banjo and Entress on the jaw harp and percussion.[Schwartz, Roberta]
FAME review of ''Compass & Companion''.
''Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange'', 2001. The album charted for ten weeks in the Top Ten of the Americana Music Chart. Later that year Erelli was nominated for two Boston Music Awards.
Erelli's next project was to forego the traditional studio and instead gather a group of musicians to play within the walls of the Civil War era Memorial Hall in Monson, Massachusetts
Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The census-designated place of Monson Center lies at t ...
. Over the course of four days in May 2001, Erelli sat down in a semi-circle on the stage of the hall with Lorne Entress, Joe Barbato, Kevin Barry, Jim Henry, and Jim Lamond. The recording machines were turned on and everything was captured over the next four days.[Ross, Janice]
FAME review of ''The Memorial Hall Recordings''.
''Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange'', 2002. The recording sessions were also captured on film and later aired as a documentary on PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
.
In 2004, Erelli hooked up with Boston-based country band The Spurs to delve into the worlds of Western swing
Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...
, country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
, and rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...
with the release of ''Hillbilly Pilgrim''. Erin McKeown
Erin McKeown (pronounced ) is an American multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer-songwriter. McKeown's music encompasses pop, swing, rock, folk, and electronic music, as well as several other genres.
Music career
They grew up in Frede ...
is a guest vocalist on "Pretend." "For folk fans, this disc may take some getting used to, but its pleasures are many."[Lewis, Alan]
Mark Erelli: ''Hillbilly Pilgrim''.
''Boston Globe'', January 30, 2004.
Erelli co-produced, with Lorne Entress, his fifth Signature Sounds album ''Hope & Other Casualties,'' which was released in 2006. When Erelli was asked if it was a concept album, he said: "The country has been through a lot, since 2000 really. Before September 11, that election of 2000 was a major thing. So, all the songs come out of that context. If the songs seem related, they all come out of that context over the last four years and they’re all coming through my lens and how I’m looking at the world. They all, in kinda one way or another, deal with the issue of how do you keep on keepin’ on when things seem really grim."[Barber, Greg]
Q&A: Mark Erelli.
''The Washington Post'', July 6, 2006. Sometimes viewed as his most political album, "Hope & Other Casualties" is "an attentive examination of current times interwoven with matters of the heart. His emotions straddle the ground between the personal and the political."[Smyers, Darryl. Review: Hope & Other Casualties. ''No Depression'', July–August, 2006, p. 118.] Guest vocalists include Kris Delmhorst
Kris Delmhorst is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Originally from Brooklyn, New York City, United States, she now lives in Western Massachusetts, is an active member of the Boston folk scene, and tours internationally. She has re ...
and Jeffrey Foucault. ''Hope & Other Casualties'' was voted the number one album of 2006 by WUMB
WUMB-FM (91.9 FM broadcasting, FM) in Boston, Massachusetts, is the radio station of the University of Massachusetts Boston. It broadcasts a mix of Americana (music), Americana, blues, American folk music, roots, and Folk music, folk hosted by ...
radio member listeners.
''Innocent When You Dream'', released in 2007, is a collection of lullabies and love songs, which features solo acoustic performances by Erelli as well as covers by Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home".
Early life
Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...
, Townes Van Zandt
John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter. , and others. Also in 2007, Erelli toured with Lori McKenna
Lorraine McKenna ( Giroux; born December 22, 1968) is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit singl ...
in support of Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...
and Faith Hill
Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...
on their Soul 2 Soul tour which included appearances on Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
and at the Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
.[Rodman, Sarah]
A long way from Passim.
''Boston Globe'', June 24, 2007. Later that year Erelli invited fans to finance his next studio album - ''Delivered'' - referring to the project as a barn raising
A barn raising, also historically called a raising bee or rearing in the U.K., is an action in which a barn for a resident of a community is built or rebuilt collectively by its members. Barn raising was particularly common in 18th- and 19th-cen ...
. The project succeeded and the 11-song album produced by Josh Ritter's bassist, Zack Hickman, was released in 2008. In his review of ''Delivered'' for ''The Huffington Post'', entertainment writer Mike Ragogna said:"This is powerful stuff, and it's a shame that over the six or so albums Mark Erelli has created, he hasn't grown into a more popular artist. But we all know about marketing challenges and how difficult it is these days to cut through the cacophony of TMZ-style stories our mainstream media prefers. As Erelli points out, nothing much has changed here. But as he also reminds us by that song's title, "Hope Dies Last."[Ragogna, Mike]
Folkin' Around with Benjamin Taylor, His Dad James, Dar Williams and That Guy Mark Erelli
''The Huffington Post'', September 26, 2008.
In 2009, Erelli was a member of Josh Ritter's band when Ritter opened shows for Ray Lamontagne
Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne (; born June 18, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released nine studio albums: '' Trouble'', ''Till the Sun Turns Black'', '' Gossip in the Grain'', '' God Willin' & the Creek Don ...
in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.[Dean, Jessica]
Ray Lamontagne and Josh Ritter silence Sheffield, UK (9/12).
''Consequence of Sound'', September 14, 2009. Tour dates included performances in Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
and the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
''Little Vigils'' - again produced by Zack Hickman - was released in 2010. The title is taken from a line in the lead-off track "August."[Ragogna, Mike]
Paradise & Little Vigils: Conversations with Judy Collins and That Guy Mark Erelli.
''The Huffington Post'', August 12, 2010.
In the spring of 2014, Erelli announced a Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign to fund his Bill Morrissey tribute CD titled ''Milltowns''. On June 26, 2014, Erelli announced that the Kickstarter campaign had exceeded his initial $20,000 goal with donations received from more than 400 supporters of the project. ''Milltowns'' was released on September 9, 2014.[Reed, James]
Erelli pays homage to Bill Morrissey onstage, on disc.
''The Boston Globe'', September 5, 2014. In her review for Folk Alley, Kim Ruehl wrote: "''Milltowns'' doesn't come off as a covers record or a tribute album, though, so much as it does a thank-you note for the songs Morrissey put out into the world. With each performance, Erelli gives himself over to the song and seems to be simply following along and learning from where the song takes him. Backed by Sam Kassirer on piano, Charlie Rose on pedal steel and banjo, and Zack Hickman on upright bass, Erelli also welcomes backing vocals from the area's finest singers: Rose Cousins, Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, Anaïs Mitchell
Anaïs Mitchell (; born March 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including ''Hadestown (album), Hadestown'' (2010), ''Young Man in America'' (2012),[Peter Mulvey
Peter Mulvey (born September 6, 1969) is an American folk singer-songwriter based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It ...]
, and Rose Polenzani."[Ruehl, Kim for Folk Alley.com]
Hear It First at Folk Alley - Mark Erelli, 'Milltowns'.
Folk Alley, September 3, 2014.
On January 4, 2016, Erelli announced a second Kickstarter campaign in support of ''For A Song'' - his first solo album of original material in six years. One month later, Erelli announced that the project was successfully funded, having raised more than $36K from 469 backers. ''For A Song'' was released on April 8, 2016. In a review of ''For A Song'' for ''No Depression'', Red Line Roots compared Erelli's songs to those of Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
or Jackson Browne
Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States.
Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...
and went on to say: "''For A Song'' reflects Erelli's incredible craftsmanship. The arrangements are tight and spare, leaving plenty of room for his voice to convey the sincerity of each song."[Red Line Root]
For A Song: An Interview with Mark Erelli.
''No Depression, ''March 25, 2016. In CD HotList's Picks of the Month, Rick Anderson wrote that "The whole album is gorgeous and at times borders on heartbreaking."[Anderson, Ric]
Mark Erelli: For A Song.
CD HotList, Picks of the Month, April 4, 2016. The week of April 25, 2016, ''For A Song'' was #34 on the Americana Music Association chart.[Americana Music Associatio]
Archive Playlist for week of Monday, April 25, 2016
. Retrieved April 28,
2016.
Collaborations
Barnstar!
''Barnstar!'' is Erelli's bluegrass band collaboration with father and son Taylor Armerding and Jake Armerding, Charlie Rose, and Zack Hickman. The band's debut release - ''C'mon!'' - was released in 2011. The album includes several well-known songs such as Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand" and the Louvin Brothers' "Cash on the Barrelhead" as well as three songs penned by Erelli.
The collaboration continued with the 2015 release of ''Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!''. In his review for ''The Boston Globe'', Stuart Munro wrote that the release is "genre-bending music filled with jawdropping harmonizing, emotive ensemble playing, and a raucous immediacy."[Munro, Stuart]
Barnstar!, ‘Sit Down! Get Up! Get Out!’
''The Boston Globe'', February 3, 2015.
Seven Curses
In 2010, Erelli paired-up with Jeffrey Foucault to release ''Seven Curses: A Killer Selection of Americana Murder Ballads''. Other than the closing track,"Wyoming Wind" written by Erelli, the collection of songs are covers. They include Woody Guthrie's " Philadelphia Lawyer," Bruce Springsteen's " Johnny 99," and Kevin "Blackie" Farrell's " Sonora's Death Row," to name three. "Whether sweet and mellow or raw and raucous sounding, this homicidal assortment is bleeding great!"
Darwin Song Project
Erelli was chosen to join seven other songwriters in a songwriting retreat called the Darwin Song Project, one of many events that took place in 2009 to commemorate Charles Darwin's bicentennial. The event - organized by the Shrewsbury Folk Festival - took place in Darwin's hometown of Shrewsbury, England when the group of musicians gathered to write songs that "have a resonance and relevance to the life of Darwin." The other Darwin artists are Chris Wood, Karine Polwart, Rachael McShane, Jez Lowe, Stu Hanna, Krista Detor and Emily Smith.
A concert at the Theatre Severn in March 2009 was recorded and later released as a live CD, and the artists reunited in August 2009 for a performance at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival.[Darwin Song Project]
The Darwin Song Project: Shrewsbury 2009.
With Chuck Prophet and klipschutz
In 2018, Erelli visited San Francisco and over two days wrote three songs with Chuck Prophet and Prophet's longtime writing partner, the poet/songsmit
klipschutz
(pen name of Kurt Lipschutz). Erelli subsequently recorded and released two of those songs: "Her Town Now" (''Blindsided'', 2020) and "While the World Goes Mad All Around You", with Barnstar! (''Furious Kindness'', 2024).
Discography
Studio Albums
:
Songwriting credits
:
References
External links
*
Discogs profile of M. Erelli
Bandcamp website of M. Erelli
Allmusic profile of M. Erelli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erelli, Mark
1974 births
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
Bates College alumni
Living people
Musicians from Boston
People from Reading, Massachusetts
Singers from Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
Signature Sounds artists