Mark Erelli May 10, 2002… A chilly spring Friday evening was graced by a warm and charming performance by Mark Erelli, a Boston-based singer-songwriter, marking his second area appearance this spring. He'd previously opened for Kris Delmhorst (Get in the House series alum) in March of 2002 at the No Exit Coffeehouse up in Rogers Park and showed great promise as a solo act and a supporting musician and singer. Playing the penultimate concert of the 2001-2002 Get in the House season, Erelli played two 45-minute sets, the first of which concentrated on his most recent release, “The Memorial Hall Recordings” (Signature Sounds, 2002).
The opening tune was an a cappella selection called "Blue-Eyed Boston Boy." Something of a dirge, the song speaks of a young man being off to war (probably in American Revolutionary times), and the hopefulness of the narrator that he will be found and identified by the color of his eyes… Flipping moods immediately, Erelli performed "Compass and Companion," the title track from his 2001 release. Though it lacked the spark that Kelly Willis' voice added to the disc's duet, it retained the vibrancy of its metaphor: that a special someone in your life provides the anchoring stability and direction of a compass.
Erelli spoke of how many elements and types of music directly have influenced the varied styles of music he has set his lyrics to. One particular genre, Texas Swing, is well represented by "Why Should I Cry?" and "What's Changed?" Hailing from Massachusetts and still living there, Erelli shows a facility for interpreting both traditional North American folk music indigenous to the Northeast, as well as the zippier Swing rhythms.
Singer-songwriters seem to have a story-telling gene in common. Erelli certainly showed a gift here too, with funny stories about people requesting broken heart songs for cheerful wedding occasions, in addition to keeping company with more established singers and writers who chided him for his youthfulness. A stirring cover of Bill Morrissey's "Summer Night" followed that particular exchange. Erelli's sister wasn't spared a mention either, as Mark introduced "My Little Sister," with a lead-in story about how said younger sibling had taken a high-paying gig at a hot-shot firm for big bucks, right out of college. The irony of how hard it is to make a living as a musician not lost on anyone in that night's audience.
Mark closed the second set with a new composition "The Only Way," which was wrought from the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington DC. Singing of how tragedy can bring strangers together in a bond stronger than erstwhile imaginable, there exists the hopefulness that we can appreciate the gifts this life presents to us on a daily basis.
Set list (rebuilt from Mark's and this reviewer's murky memory):
Compass and Companion
Fool #1
Why Should I Cry?
Do It Everyday
Call You Home
Take My Ashes to the River
Theresa
Always Return
Summer Night
Little Sister
Drinking Gourd
Ghost (Request from Bill)
Dear Magnolia
Love Has Found You
What's Changed
River Road
Intermission (yum!)
(Encore #1) Northern Star
(Encore #2) The Only Way
--Bill Karnoscak, May 2002