Mark Erelli at Pump House Music Works on June 22 – The Westerly Sun

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Mark Erelli. Photo credit Sam Kassirer.

Arts & Culture Editor
Mark Erelli. Photo credit Sam Kassirer.
WAKEFIELD — Acclaimed singer/songwriter Mark Erelli will perform a solo concert at Pump House Music Works on Saturday, June 22, at 7 p.m.
Erelli, whose 2023 album, “Lay Your Darkness Down,” has been heralded for “turning adversity into finely embroidered rock songs that burn with urgency,” through his songwriting, “explores the unknown glories of this planet and love’s transformational power,” according to one reviewer, like his “full-bodied rock forebears Tom Petty, George Harrison and Roy Orbison.”
Over his two-decade-long career, the singer-songwriter-sideman-producer-writer has proven himself equally at home in a multitude of roles: producing albums for artists like Grammy-winner Lori McKenna; serving as a sideman guitarist for artists like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn and Josh Ritter; writing and producing his own material, like 2018’s “By Degrees,” for which he was nominated for “Song of the Year” at the Americana Honors and Awards; and most recently, becoming an advocate for low-vision artists and working with venues to make their spaces more accessible.
Written in the wake of his diagnosis with a degenerative retinal disease, Erelli’s 2023 album is the next step on his journey, following up on 2020’s “Blindsided,” which garnered praise from Rolling Stone Country, the Associated Press, NPR, The Boston Globe, and more.
During a performance in summer 2020, Erelli looked down at his guitar neck and couldn’t believe what he saw. Or rather, what he couldn’t see: his fingers on the frets. Soon after, a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, would bring some answers, but it also yielded new questions. Does diminished eyesight correlate with lesser insight? Does your songwriting change when your perception of the world around you changes? These questions, and Erelli’s hunt for creative agency, are at the heart of his new album.
Initially, Erelli’s new physical limitations created a feeling of immense isolation. In need of connection and catharsis, he turned as he often did to songwriting.
“The only way I could console myself was to know that I was still going to be able to have some creative agency,” he says on his website. “I could then bring whatever I was feeling or wanting to express into reality.”
He began to craft songs with an intricate, labored approach like never before. “It’s much more like an oil painting, where you’re layering different tones and colors one at a time.”
For tickets, visit https://www.bandsintown.com/e/105478868.
— Nancy Burns-Fusaro
nbfusaro@thewesterlysun.com
Arts & Culture Editor
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