MARK ERELLI LAUNCHES FUNDRAISER WITH NEW SONG & VIDEO "THE GIG AT THE END OF THE WORLD"

MARK ERELLI RELEASES NEW SONG & VIDEO "THE GIG AT THE END OF THE WORLD" 

AVAILABLE ONLY AT BANDCAMP

PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT THE PASSIM EMERGENCY ARTIST RELIEF FUND

NEW LP BLINDSIDED  OUT NOW VIA SOUNDLY MUSIC

WATCH: “THE GIG AT THE END OF THE WORLD”

Today, Boston-based singer/songcrafter Mark Erelli has independently released "The Gig At The End Of The World,” a new song and video created and animated entirely by himself and his two young sons, Caleb and Owen. Of the song, Erelli explains:

”In early March, I went out to see my friend’s band play a late Wednesday night set at a small Boston rock club,” Erelli explains. “Concerns about the virus were just beginning to ramp up, but life was still normal enough that I convinced my wife I’d be fine. I’ll stand in the back of the room, as far from the crowd as I can, I told her. I was determined to unplug and just enjoy the music, but I kept overhearing bits of developing news in the changeovers between bands. The NBA is suspending its season. The president just banned travel to Europe. Tom Hanks is sick. The next morning, I woke up and wrote a tongue-in-cheek song about my previous night called ‘The Gig At The End Of The World.’ A day later, my kids’ school would be canceled for what has become the remainder of the academic year. Before the district fleshed out its plan for home education during quarantine, it was largely up to parents to preserve some sense of normalcy and structure. One of the tasks on our hastily-drawn agenda was ‘Home Recording with Dad,’ and over the next few weeks we worked daily on a full-band version of the new song I had just written. I recorded Owen playing drums and keyboards, and he would engineer for me when it was time to track vocals and guitars.

As the quarantine extended into the foreseeable future and the kids home schooling got more official, I needed a new project to preserve my own sanity. I didn’t feel much like writing or singing, and the normal tools in my creative toolbox felt blunt and useless. I don’t know exactly what made me begin work on a home-animated video for ‘The Gig At The End Of The World,’ but I quickly became consumed by the project and the creative challenge of working in a medium with which I have no experience. It provided me precious time out of mind (see the below picture of the flossing zombie from the video), and it kind of saved me at a time when I felt adrift and despondent. 

It is, of course, not the actual end of the world. But right now I can’t envision when it will be safe again for me to travel to your town or to ask you to gather together for live music. Many artists will be out of work for a long time, and I want to use my home school recording project to help them during this unprecedented crisis.

The song is only available for download on his Bandcamp page and is not a part of his regular streaming catalog. Today, Bandcamp is waiving its revenue shares. and all proceeds from the sale of "The Gig At The End Of The World" will benefit the Passim Emergency Artist Relief Fund (PEAR). The PEAR Fund offers grants of up to $500 and is open to any musician who has performed or taught at Cambridge, Massachusetts folk mainstay Club Passim in the last decade. Visit passim.org/pearfund for more information. Click HERE to download "The Gig At The End Of The World.”

On March 27th, Erelli released his highly-acclaimed new album, Blindsided, via Soundly Music. Blindsided, an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience from “the middle” of life’s fantastic journey, is a step in a different sonic direction for the award-winning artist. In it, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery. 

LISTEN: BLINDSIDED

WATCH: “THE RIVER ALWAYS WINS”

WATCH: “I CAN’T STAND MYSELF”

WATCH: “BLINDSIDED”

CONNECT WITH MARK ERELLI:

Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Spotify || YouTube || Bandcamp

MARK ERELLI PREMIERES “THE RIVER ALWAYS WINS” VIDEO

MARK ERELLI PREMIERES  “THE RIVER ALWAYS WINS”

VIDEO  VIA FOLK ALLEY

NEW LP BLINDSIDED  OUT NOW VIA SOUNDLY MUSIC 

 “...soars on the wings of jangly guitars, heartfelt vocals and soulful harmony lines...Yep, that's the sweet spot right there. And there's enough of it to make this album matter." - The Associated Press

“Erelli’s not going to blindside you. He’s going to give it to you straight.” - The Boston Globe

"...finds him trimming back the guest list and nodding to another icon, heartland hero Tom Petty, whose influence looms large over the song’s 12-string guitar jangle and straightforward vocal hooks." - Rolling Stone

"Comes out swinging" - The Boot

"...Blindsided may be his best yet" - Medium

“Blindsided is a bit of Americana alchemy, a concoction that can only be served up by someone who knows the rules inside and out — enough to break them when needed.” - No Depression

"For Erelli, music is a way to appreciate the world and the people in his life. And perhaps most acutely, the practice of music has taught Erelli the beauty of sublimation and reinforced the joy of helping others achieve their dreams, which, in turn, helps Erelli also achieve his." - American Songwriter 

"...a really wonderful record. Go for a walk… listen, become happy." - Maine Public Radio

"...echoes Tom Petty and John Prine" - PopMatters

"...a serious, talented artist, but he also understands his role as a storyteller and entertainer...Erelli pulls from lots of places and makes things his own." - Glide Magazine

"Blindsided is ballad heavy with a rocker cut here, a mid-tempo groove there, it is a nod to Mark Erelli’s diversity that the album showcases an ability to cross genre lines." - The Alternate Root

"You know those artists who release a great first record and then have enormous trouble following it up with anything as interesting? Yeah, that’s not Mark Erelli. Mark has consistently expanded his sound while also not chasing whatever wave seems to be cresting at any given moment. The result is a catalogue of depth and heart." - Red Line Roots

"Erelli's always been a brilliant songsmith, but here he finds a dynamic that melds the cerebral with the celebratory." - Country Standard Time

"Erelli has a way with words that really hits in the world we live in now…this album is very well done, and Erelli shows that as a songwriter, he is worthy of emulation.” - Americana Highways

"Mark Erelli has taken a new direction, delving deeper into his rockier side.  A roots-rockier side that has room for a few strings and a pile of melody." - Americana-UK

"...songs and songwriting of a quality rarely encountered. Mark Erelli’s Blindsided. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming. Most highly recommended." - Fervor Coulee

__________________________________________________________________________

WATCH: “THE RIVER ALWAYS WINS”

Boston-based singer/songcrafter Mark Erelli has unveiled a new music video for “The River Always Wins,” a track from his highly-acclaimed new album, Blindsided. "I wrote this song with Berklee College of Music professor and singer/songwriter Susan Cattaneo,” Erelli told Folk Alley, who premiered the video. “It started out simply enough, trying to describe the tension between a small town and a river. One needs the other, but the cycles of disaster and rebirth started to make us wonder if the reverse was true. When we decided to write it as if the river itself were the song’s protagonist, things got far more interesting. The central riff of the song is one of the favorite things I’ve ever written. I could play it for days.” Of the video, Folk Alley, who called Blindsided a “career-best,” said, “the song leans into a darkly edgy groove that feels like something Steve Earle would throw down, as Erelli runs through the ramblings of life as viewed from the crystal clear perspective of the river, itself.”

LISTEN: BLINDSIDED

The album, an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience from “the middle” of life’s fantastic journey, is a step in a different sonic direction for the award-winning artist. “For Blindsided he has amped up with a superb band,” noted The Boston Globe in its premiere of the album. “Blindsided says just as much about who he is as it does about where he’s been. The secrets are embedded in the restraint of the 11-song set, a collection efficient yet varied, emotional yet exact,” said No Depression, who called Erelli “an expert craftsman.”

WATCH: “I CAN’T STAND MYSELF”

WATCH: “BLINDSIDED”

Blindsided was forged in a process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. In it, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery. 

Erelli has forged a colorful career by making the art of “being everywhere all the time” seem effortless. It’s hard to think of another artist who seems equally at home serving as a sideman for GRAMMY-winning artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter, or producing albums for Lori McKenna, as he does writing and producing his own material, like last year’s “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by a host of voices including Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crow. That song was nominated for “Song Of The Year” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards and served to reintroduce Erelli to a wider audience. And just in time, because Blindsided combines the exuberance of Erelli’s signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting, capturing an artist at a point in his career where he is clearly digging deep and swinging for the fences. “In one of my favorite Tom Petty songs, he sings ‘it took a world of trouble, took a world of tears, it took a long time to get back here,’” Erelli says. “I think I know exactly how he felt.”

OUT TODAY: MARK ERELLI’S NEW LP "BLINDSIDED" VIA SOUNDLY MUSIC

“...soars on the wings of jangly guitars, heartfelt vocals and soulful harmony lines...Yep, that's the sweet spot right there. And there's enough of it to make this album matter." - The Associated Press

“Erelli’s not going to blindside you. He’s going to give it to you straight.” - The Boston Globe

"...finds him trimming back the guest list and nodding to another icon, heartland hero Tom Petty, whose influence looms large over the song’s 12-string guitar jangle and straightforward vocal hooks." - Rolling Stone

"Comes out swinging" - The Boot

“Blindsided is a bit of Americana alchemy, a concoction that can only be served up by someone who knows the rules inside and out — enough to break them when needed.” - No Depression

"For Erelli, music is a way to appreciate the world and the people in his life. And perhaps most acutely, the practice of music has taught Erelli the beauty of sublimation and reinforced the joy of helping others achieve their dreams, which, in turn, helps Erelli also achieve his." - American Songwriter 

"...a really wonderful record. Go for a walk… listen, become happy." - Maine Public Radio

"...echoes Tom Petty and John Prine" - PopMatters

"...a serious, talented artist, but he also understands his role as a storyteller and entertainer...Erelli pulls from lots of places and makes things his own." - Glide Magazine

"Blindsided is ballad heavy with a rocker cut here, a mid-tempo groove there, it is a nod to Mark Erelli’s diversity that the album showcases an ability to cross genre lines." - The Alternate Root

"You know those artists who release a great first record and then have enormous trouble following it up with anything as interesting? Yeah, that’s not Mark Erelli. Mark has consistently expanded his sound while also not chasing whatever wave seems to be cresting at any given moment. The result is a catalogue of depth and heart." - Red Line Roots

"Erelli has a way with words that really hits in the world we live in now…this album is very well done, and Erelli shows that as a songwriter, he is worthy of emulation.” - Americana Highways

"Mark Erelli has taken a new direction, delving deeper into his rockier side.  A roots-rockier side that has room for a few strings and a pile of melody." - Americana-UK

"...songs and songwriting of a quality rarely encountered. Mark Erelli’s Blindsided. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming. Most highly recommended." - Fervor Coulee

_______________________________________________________________________________

LISTEN: BLINDSIDED

Today, Boston-based singer/songcrafter Mark Erelli released his highly-acclaimed new album, Blindsided - an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience from “the middle” of life’s fantastic journey. It’s also a step in a different sonic direction for the award-winning artist; “Erelli is…a foursquare acoustic songwriter in an age of digital audio workstations. For Blindsided he has amped up with a superb band,” noted The Boston Globe in its premiere of the album. “Blindsided says just as much about who he is as it does about where he’s been. The secrets are embedded in the restraint of the 11-song set, a collection efficient yet varied, emotional yet exact,” said No Depression, who called Erelli “an expert craftsman.”

To create the soundtrack that reflected this reinvigorated approach to songwriting, Erelli consulted his mental list of fellow musicians with whom he had forged connections in recent years, and realized they all lived in Nashville. So he made the trek to Music City, with best friend and multi-instrumentalist/producer Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne) in tow, curious to see what effect a change in geography, personnel, and context would produce. With the help of drummer Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters), guitarist Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter), Kai Welch (Molly Tuttle, Kacey Musgraves) on keys, producer Hickman on bass, and Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) recording and mixing, the result couldn’t have been more unanticipated.  

WATCH: “I CAN’T STAND MYSELF”

WATCH: “BLINDSIDED”

Blindsided was forged in a process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. Mining the same gritty yet soulful territory as John Hiatt’s Bring The Family or Bonnie Raitt’s Nick Of Time, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery. 

Erelli has forged a colorful career by making the art of “being everywhere all the time” seem effortless. It’s hard to think of another artist who seems equally at home serving as a sideman for GRAMMY-winning artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter, or producing albums for Lori McKenna, as he does writing and producing his own material, like last year’s “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by a host of voices including Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crow. That song was nominated for “Song Of The Year” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards, and served to reintroduce Erelli to a wider audience. And just in time, because Blindsided combines the exuberance of Erelli’s signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting, capturing an artist at a point in his career where he is clearly digging deep and swinging for the fences. “In one of my favorite Tom Petty songs, he sings ‘it took a world of trouble, took a world of tears, it took a long time to get back here,’” Erelli says. “I think I know exactly how he felt.”  

Erelli will live stream an album release show on April 9th at 8:00 pm EDT from The Parlor Room in Northampton, Massachusetts, click HERE for more information. Be sure to follow him via the links below for updates.

CONNECT WITH MARK ERELLI:

Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Spotify || YouTube || Bandcamp

MARK ERELLI EXPLORES FAITH & DOUBT IN “I CAN’T STAND MYSELF"

Boston-based singer/songcrafter Mark Erelli has unveiled a live performance video of “I Can’t Stand Myself,” a new track off his LP Blindsided, due out via Soundly Music next Friday, March 27th. The track pairs a Bo Diddly beat with an exploration of faith and doubt. “We value faith highly in America, and there is an overarching feeling that you have to believe in something. But doubt can be as powerful as a locomotive, and on this song, I tie myself to the tracks,” Erelli explains of “I Can’t Stand Myself. “I’ve always thought of myself as a good person, but if that is true, then why do I occasionally let people down or hurt them?” “'I Can't Stand Myself’ comes out swinging with a jangly piano riff, then leads into Erelli's distinctive vocals,” says The Boot in its premiere of the video, which features Erelli along with Jake Armerding on fiddle.

WATCH: “I CAN’T STAND MYSELF”

“I Can’t Stand Myself” follows “Rose-Colored Rearview,” in which Erelli confronts the current haze of nostalgia about “the good ol’ days,” which has a way of allowing us to gloss over certain parts of the past. "I wanted to land a bit of a lyrical gut-punch to finish the song, and just couldn't let go until I felt the last verse's visceral impact,” Erelli told Wide Open Country, who premiered the song. “Though we certainly have a ways to go to improve things for all colors and creeds, I am fairly certain that longing for the 'good ol' days' is mainly another form of white privilege. I love how this track feels nostalgic and almost like a classic rock song you might have heard before -- until you pay attention to the lyrics.”

LISTEN: “ROSE-COLORED REARVIEW”

Erelli released a video for the title track via The Bluegrass Situation, and call to empathy “A Little Kindness” via American Songwriter, who said, “For Erelli, music is a way to appreciate the world and the people in his life…And perhaps most acutely, the practice of music has taught Erelli the beauty of sublimation and reinforced the joy of helping others achieve their dreams, which, in turn, helps Erelli also achieve his.” 

LISTEN & WATCH: “BLINDSIDED”

LISTEN: “A LITTLE KINDNESS”

Blindsided, a step in a different sonic direction for Erelli, is an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience. The album was forged in a process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. Mining the same gritty yet soulful territory as John Hiatt’s Bring The Family or Bonnie Raitt’s Nick Of Time, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery.  

In light of show cancellations and concerns over the spread of COVID-19, Erelli and a number of other folk and Americana artists will participate in an online festival, “Shut In & Sing,” streaming live via StageIt.com between March 19th and April 11th. Erelli will perform on Friday, March 20th, along with Anne Heaton, Mary Bragg, and Becky Warren. Tickets, on a pay-what-you-can basis, can be purchased HERE. Tour dates are listed below, be sure to follow Mark Erelli via the links below for updates.

TOUR DATES
5/6 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY

5/7 - Philadelphia Folksong Society - Philadelphia, PA

5/8 - The Parlor Room - Northampton, MA

5/9 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

5/12 - Woodbury Brewing Company - Woodbury, CT

5/13 - One Longfellow Square - Portland, ME

5/14 - Caffe Lena - Saratoga Springs, NY

5/15 - The Word Barn - Exeter, NH

5/17 - Cotuit Center for the Arts - Cotuit, MA 

5/19 - Hangin’ & Sangin @ Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY 

5/21 - The Kessler Theater - Dallas, TX*

5/22 - The Paramount Theatre, Austin, TX*

*w/ Lori McKenna   

CONNECT WITH MARK ERELLI:

Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || Spotify || YouTube || Bandcamp

MARK ERELLI CONFRONTS PRIVILEGE IN NEW SINGLE “ROSE-COLORED REARVIEW”

Photo credit: Joe Navas

Boston-based master songcrafter Mark Erelli has released his new single “Rose-Colored Rearview,” a track from his forthcoming LP Blindsided, out March 27th via Soundly Music. “Nostalgia has a way of allowing us to gloss over certain parts of the past…Mark Erelli examines the ‘good old days’ through a different lens,” Wide Open Country said in its premiere of the song. “The song's final verse looks at how privilege plays a role in how you view days gone by.” "I wanted to land a bit of a lyrical gut-punch to finish the song, and just couldn't let go until I felt the last verse's visceral impact,” Erelli told Wide Open Country. “Though we certainly have a ways to go to improve things for all colors and creeds, I am fairly certain that longing for the 'good ol' days' is mainly another form of white privilege. I love how this track feels nostalgic and almost like a classic rock song you might have heard before -- until you pay attention to the lyrics.”

LISTEN: “ROSE-COLORED REARVIEW”

“Rose-Colored Rearview” follows the release of the title track via The Bluegrass Situation last month, and “A Little Kindness” via American Songwriter in January. “For Erelli, music is a way to appreciate the world and the people in his life,” American Songwriter remarked. “And perhaps most acutely, the practice of music has taught Erelli the beauty of sublimation and reinforced the joy of helping others achieve their dreams, which, in turn, helps Erelli also achieve his.” 

LISTEN: “BLINDSIDED”

LISTEN: “A LITTLE KINDNESS”

Blindsided, a step in a different sonic direction for Erelli, is an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience. The album was forged in a process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. Mining the same gritty yet soulful territory as John Hiatt’s Bring The Family or Bonnie Raitt’s Nick Of Time, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. To create the soundtrack that reflected this reinvigorated approach to songwriting, Erelli consulted his mental list of fellow musicians with whom he had forged connections in recent years, and realized they all lived in Nashville. So, he made the trek to the Music City, with best friend and multi-instrumentalist/producer Zachariah Hickman in tow, curious to see what effect a change in geography, personnel, and context would produce. With the help of drummer Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters), guitarist Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter), Kai Welch (Molly Tuttle, Kacey Musgraves) on keys, producer Hickman on bass, and Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) recording and mixing, the result couldn’t have been more unanticipated. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery.  

Erelli has forged a colorful career by making the art of “being everywhere all the time” seem effortless. It’s hard to think of another artist who seems equally at home serving as a sideman for GRAMMY-winning artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter, or producing albums for Lori McKenna, as he does writing and producing his own material, like last year’s “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by a host of voices including Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crow. That song was nominated for “Song Of The Year” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards, and served to reintroduce Erelli to a wider audience. And just in time, because Blindsided combines the exuberance of Erelli’s signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting, capturing an artist at a point in his career where he is clearly digging deep and swinging for the fences.  

TOUR DATES

3/6 - The Stone Church - Brattleboro, VT

3/7 - Narrows Center For The Arts -  Fall River, MA

3/20 - The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI

3/21 - The Kent Stage - Kent, OH

3/25 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

4/5 - G.A.R. Hall - Peninsula, OH

4/16 - The Basement - Nashville, TN

~

4/23 - Ripspique Lier, Lier, Belgium

4/24 - Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands

4/25 - SPOT Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

4/26 - Theater Junushoff, Wageningen, Netherlands

~

4/29 - Rogue Theatre - Grants Pass, OR

4/30 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR

5/1 - Historic Everett Theatre - Everett, WA

5/2 - McMenamins Elks Temple - Tacoma, WA
5/6 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY

5/7 - Philadelphia Folksong Society - Philadelphia, PA

5/8 - The Parlor Room - Northampton, MA

5/9 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

5/12 - Woodbury Brewing Company - Woodbury, CT

5/13 - One Longfellow Square - Portland, ME

5/14 - Caffe Lena - Saratoga Springs, NY

5/15 - The Word Barn - Exeter, NH

5/17 - Cotuit Center for the Arts - Cotuit, MA 

5/19 - Hangin’ & Sangin @ Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY 

5/21 - The Kessler Theater - Dallas, TX

5/22 - The Paramount Theatre, Austin, TX 

MARK ERELLI UNVEILS NEW SINGLE "BLINDSIDED"

Today, Mark Erelli unveils “Blindsided,” the title track and latest single from his forthcoming LP, out march 27th via Soundly Music. “The word has negative connotations, but I thought it would be interesting to use it in the context of a love song,” the award-winning singer/songwriter told The Bluegrass Situation. “Sure, you can be blindsided by an attack or caught unprepared by stormy weather. But love also has a funny way of finding you when you least expect it, regardless of whether you’re looking for it or not. With its soaring vocal harmonies, majestic strings and the band firing on all cylinders, this track really embodies and hints at all the sonic elements to come on the album.”

LISTEN: “BLINDSIDED”

“Blindsided” follows the release of “A Little Kindness” via American Songwriter, which said: “For Erelli, music is a way to appreciate the world and the people in his life. And perhaps most acutely, the practice of music has taught Erelli the beauty of sublimation and reinforced the joy of helping others achieve their dreams, which, in turn, helps Erelli also achieve his.”  

LISTEN: “A LITTLE KINDNESS”

Erelli has forged a colorful career by making the art of “being everywhere all the time” seem effortless. It’s hard to think of another artist who seems equally at home serving as a sideman for GRAMMY-winning artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter, or producing albums for Lori McKenna, as he does writing and producing his own material, like last year’s “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by a host of voices including Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crow. That song was nominated for “Song Of The Year” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards, and served to reintroduce Erelli to a wider audience. And just in time, because Blindsided combines the exuberance of Erelli’s signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting, capturing an artist at a point in his career where he is clearly digging deep and swinging for the fences. 

Blindsided, a step in a different sonic direction for Erelli, is an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience. The album was forged in a process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. Mining the same gritty yet soulful territory as John Hiatt’s Bring The Family or Bonnie Raitt’s Nick Of Time, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. To create the soundtrack that reflected this reinvigorated approach to songwriting, Erelli consulted his mental list of fellow musicians with whom he had forged connections in recent years, and realized they all lived in Nashville. So, he made the trek to the Music City, with best friend and multi-instrumentalist/producer Zachariah Hickman in tow, curious to see what effect a change in geography, personnel, and context would produce. With the help of drummer Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters), guitarist Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter), Kai Welch (Molly Tuttle, Kacey Musgraves) on keys, producer Hickman on bass, and Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) recording and mixing, the result couldn’t have been more unanticipated. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery. 

TOUR DATES

2/28 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME

3/5 - Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation - Waltham, MA

3/6 - The Stone Church - Brattleboro, VT

3/7 - Narrows Center For The Arts -  Fall River, MA

3/20 - The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI

3/21 - The Kent Stage - Kent, OH

3/25 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

4/23 - Ripspique Lier, Lier, Belgium

4/24 - Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands

4/25 - SPOT Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

4/26 - Theater Junushoff, Wageningen, Netherlands

4/29 - Rogue Theatre - Grants Pass, OR

4/30 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR

5/1 - Historic Everett Theatre - Everett, WA

5/2 - McMenamins Elks Temple - Tacoma, WA

5/6 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY

5/8 - The Parlor Room - Northampton, MA

5/9 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

5/12 - Woodbury Brewing Company - Woodbury, CT

5/13 - One Longfellow Square - Portland, ME

5/14 - Caffe Lena - Saratoga Springs, NY

5/15 - The Word Barn - Exeter, NH

5/17 - Cotuit Center for the Arts - Cotuit, MA 

5/19 - Hangin’ & Sangin @ Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY 

5/21 - The Kessler Theater - Dallas, TX

5/22 Paramount Theatre, Austin, TX 

MARK ERELLI ANNOUNCES NEW LP "BLINDSIDED" OUT MARCH 27 & RELEASES NEW SINGLE “A LITTLE KINDNESS”

Award-winning singer/songwriter Mark Erelli has released “A Little Kindness,” a track from his forthcoming LP Blindsided, due out March 27th via Soundly Music. “Boston-based musician Mark Erelli is known for both his songwriting acumen and his ability to bring that talent to co-writing sessions with other recordings artists,” American Songwriter said in its premiere. “For Erelli, music is a way to appreciate the world and the people in his life. And perhaps most acutely, the practice of music has taught Erelli the beauty of sublimation and reinforced the joy of helping others achieve their dreams, which, in turn, helps Erelli also achieve his.” "A Little Kindness" was penned in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting and Tom Petty's passing. “The night Tom Petty died, I was scrolling through social media looking to commiserate with fellow fans,” Erelli explains. “Singer/songwriter Joe Pug suggested that the best way to celebrate Petty’s legacy would be to stop mourning and go write a song. I know good advice when I see it, and wrote this song in one sitting.” 

LISTEN: “A LITTLE KINDNESS”

Erelli has forged a colorful career by making the art of “being everywhere all the time” seem effortless. It’s hard to think of another artist who seems equally at home serving as a sideman for GRAMMY-winning artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, and Josh Ritter, or producing albums for Lori McKenna, as he does writing and producing his own material, like last year’s “By Degrees,” on which he was joined by a host of voices including Rosanne Cash and Sheryl Crow. That song was nominated for “Song Of The Year” at the 2019 Americana Music Awards, and served to reintroduce Erelli to a wider audience. And just in time, because Blindsided combines the exuberance of Erelli’s signature sound with the wisdom that comes with over 20 years of songwriting, capturing an artist at a point in his career where he is clearly digging deep and swinging for the fences. 

Blindsided, a step in a different sonic direction for Erelli, is an unflinching examination of the distance between innocence and experience. The album was forged in a process of reckoning, of taking stock of the soul, and being pleasantly surprised. Mining the same gritty yet soulful territory as John Hiatt’s Bring The Family or Bonnie Raitt’s Nick Of Time, Erelli contemplates the delicate tension between love and commitment, faith and family, disillusionment and hope. But this isn’t a confession from the therapist’s couch, it’s rock ’n roll, and Erelli is clearly taking his cues from heroes like Petty and Prine. To create the soundtrack that reflected this reinvigorated approach to songwriting, Erelli consulted his mental list of fellow musicians with whom he had forged connections in recent years, and realized they all lived in Nashville. So, he made the trek to the Music City, with best friend and multi-instrumentalist/producer Zachariah Hickman in tow, curious to see what effect a change in geography, personnel, and context would produce. With the help of drummer Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters), guitarist Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter), Kai Welch (Molly Tuttle, Kacey Musgraves) on keys, producer Hickman on bass, and Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) recording and mixing, the result couldn’t have been more unanticipated. Against the backdrop of Blindsided’s hungrier, hook-laden sound, with the inspired addition of a string quartet on half of the album, Erelli has never sounded more passionate or vital. Over the course of Blindsided’s 11 tracks, the message of each song is distilled to its purest form, as fearlessly honest in perspective as it is straightforward in its delivery.

TOUR DATES

1/31/ - Jupiter Hall - Manchester, NH

2/3 & 2/4 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

2/13 - Greenwich Odeum - East Greenwich, RI

2/14 - New York Society For Ethical Culture - New York, New York

2/28 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME

3/5 - Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation - Waltham, MA

3/6 - The Stone Church - Brattleboro, VT

3/7 - Narrows Center For The Arts -  Fall River, MA

3/20 - The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI

3/21 - The Kent Stage - Kent, OH

4/29 - Rogue Theatre - Grants Pass, OR

4/30 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR

5/1 - Historic Everett Theatre - Everett, WA

5/2 - McMenamins Elks Temple - Tacoma, WA

5/6 - Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY

5/8 - The Parlor Room - Northampton, MA

5/9 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

5/12 - Woodbury Brewing Company - Woodbury, CT

5/13 - One Longfellow Square - Portland, ME

5/14 - Caffe Lena - Saratoga Springs, NY

5/15 - The Word Barn - Exeter, NH