After several spins of his 2010 release “Little Vigils,” I realized that Mark Erelli would really appeal not only to the singer/songwriter crowd, but to the Americana twangville crowd just the same. Erelli has a unique voice in his writing. The stories paint pictures and bring characters to life like short stories. Both the tunes on tape and those played at the Treehouse in Takoma Park, MD seem like different sides of a shiny penny.
A more magnetic and gentlemanly performer I haven’t heard before. Erelli’s stories were both engaging and challenging. His background as a biologist made him a unique member of the Darwin Song Project. When describing his song “Kingdom Come,” he related a story about how many times he’s been approached for his soul’s sake after the song. Then he proceeded to sing a plaintive acoustic version. The song relates Darwin’s personal troubles, his daughter’s death and a mistrust of religion. Erelli’s even quotes Darwin himself: “It kills its host then off it goes, to sting another one, seems to me there’s too much misery to believe in Kingdom Come.”
Beyond the lyrics to this tune, Erelli’s slightly grainy and warm tenor voice walks a fine line. That line is slightly rough in places and has a slight soul sound. It allows Erelli to easily jump between the genres. He can sound authentic as a either a suit-wearing clean-shaven songwriter or a rough-edged ranch-hand (well maybe not quite). But you can see a crossover appeal.
The clean cut version started the show, and at times the slower songs lacked the poppy hooks of the faster numbers. But alas, a few more spins and I was even more hooked than before. “Columbus, Ohio” showcases Erelli at his finest. He slows down and truly tells an engaging story (just like those he told between songs).
The host introduced Erelli with a story about how they knew each other as graduate students in biology some years back. In an interview, Erelli described how he would walk through the woods and tell his son about the creatures in the forest. Erelli has managed to meld that passion with his clearly woven stories. Now if only he’d open for Josh Ritter, so Zack Hickman (producer on “Little Vigils”) and the band could back him up too!
Photos by Suzanne Davis
About the author: Jeff is a teacher in the Boston area. When not buried correcting papers, Jeff can be found plucking various stringed instruments and listening to all types of americana music.