“I understand why folks wouldn’t want to sit in a dark church basement listening to a solo singer/songwriter ply his trade in August. But what if I told you you could listen to that same singer/songwriter in a beautiful, flower-infused outdoor park in downtown Greenfield MA as the summer sun sinks slowly below the horizon? There, that sounds better, doesn’t it?” — Mark Erelli
Yes it does!
The above quote was written by singer/songwriter Mark Erelli and appeared in the August edition of his monthly newsletter. The event Erelli is writing about is his show at the Energy Park in Greenfield on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 6 p.m. The show is presented by the Greenfield Recreation department and it will be the final show in their summer Sunday in the Park concert series.
What made me chuckle about this quote is that the first time I ever saw Erelli play was in a dark church basement. It was in the basement of the United Methodist Church in Greenfield, back in the day when the church hosted a coffeehouse. I’m not sure of the year, but I’m guessing it was around 1998. I remember that Erelli was the opening act that night, and I liked him better than I liked the headliner. I was instantly won over by his engaging stage presence, his distinct voice and catchy folk pop songs like “Do it Every Day.” From that point on, I was a fan.
At the time, Erelli was living in Northampton (he now resides in the Boston area) and was a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, studying evolutionary biology. A college degree, would give him something to fall back on in case the music thing didn’t work out. I imagine that degree is simply hanging on the wall somewhere, because, fortunately, the music thing did work out.
To date, Erelli has released ten solo albums, is an in demand sideman and also a member of Zachariah Hickman’s bluegrass band, Barnstar!
What’s been fascinating about his career is that he’s proven to to be an artist who doesn’t sit still, and who has taken chances and moved forward musically with each release. Among his ten recordings, he has released a collection of stark folk songs recorded at Memorial Hall in Monson ( “The Memorial Hall Recordings,” ) a western swing album (“Hillbilly Pilgrim,”) a politically outspoken album ( “Hope & Other Casualties,”) and even paid tribute to the late, great Bill Morrissey with an entire album of his songs (“Milltowns.”)
Erelli’s most release, 2016’s “For A Song,” just may be his strongest work to date. It came after he took a six year break from recording his own material during which he focussed on his various other musical projects and spent time with his family. “For A Song,” a collection of beautiful, honest songs that really highlight his growth as a songwriter and his ability to convey a wide array of emotions and experiences with his words. (The disc includes a song “French King” about our very own French King Bridge.) Erelli is currently at work on his next album which will be called “Mixtape,” and is a collection of cover songs that he has performed over 13 years of annual “Under The Covers” shows at Club Passim in Cambridge.
And we have to mention his career as a sideman which has brought him all over the world. He is a longtime guitarist for Lori McKenna’s band, and has toured with Paula Cole and Josh Ritter.
This past summer has been a relatively quiet one for Erelli (The Energy Park show is his only show in August), but the handful of shows he did have were in his words “doozies.” Early in the summer he went out on the road with McKenna playing in 20,000 seat arenas as the opening act for country superstars, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw’s Soul II Soul Reunion Tour.
” We opened up for Faith and Tim at the Garden before and I remember savoring it, telling myself to “enjoy it, cause this will never happen again.” Except, it did happen again, and to the exact date,” Erelli recently wrote to Sounds Local. “Crazy.”
And now he be making the leap from playing huge venues like the TD Garden in Boston to our quaint Energy Park, a venue that actually has a garden.
‘I’m very much looking forward to my Greenfield show,” he said. “I don’t get out to the Valley in the summer much, and it’s such a particularly beautiful time of year out there. Of course I enjoy my higher profile sideman gigs, but I’m excited about performing a night of my own songs.”
So grab your lawn chairs, round up the kids, pack a picnic and head to the Energy Park. There is a $15 suggested donation for the show. The Energy Park is located at 50 Miles St. in Greenfield.
www.markerelli.com
Jerry Douglas Band at the Shea Theater
Jerry Douglas just might be the greatest living dobro player on the planet and he’s going to be playing right here in our own backyard tomorrow night when he and his band make a tour stop at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls. Music begins at 8 p.m.
It would fill an entire page to list all of Douglas’ accomplishments and awards so we will just mention that he’s won fourteen Grammy awards and leave it at that. Most listeners know him from his work with Alison Krauss. Douglas has been backing the sweet voiced singer in her Union Station band for close to twenty years. When he hits the Shea, Douglas will be bringing along his brand new six-piece band and they’ll be showcasing material of their soon to be released album, “What If.” Expect this amazing group of musicians to play all types of music.
While Douglas is most closely associated with bluegrass, you’ll hear some jazz-fusion, funk, blues, about every style of music he’s ever played will be touched on at this show.
www.jerrydouglas.com
Tickets are $35 in advance $40 at the door. Advance tickets available at www.signaturesoundspresents.com. The Shea Theater is located at 71 Avenue A in Turners Falls. For more information, visit www.sheatheater.org