Quick Q and A with Mark Erelli
 by Kathy S-B  ·  26 September 2008

Mark Erelli’s music just keeps getting better and better. We all recall Mark’s last appearance at the me&thee, alongside Kris Delmhorst. Now we’ve got Kris’ husband, Jeffrey Foucault, sharing the stage with Mark. It’s going to be a fantastic night full of thoughtful and inspiring music. Check out Mark’s music on his website. Here’s a video of Mark singing “Volunteers.” Listen to the words. You may not be the same five minute 41 second mark.

I have to tell you — your monthly newsletters are something that I look forward to because they’re so thoughtful and well written. You have a real talent for giving your fans some real insight into the life of a working musician. So, first of all thanks for what you do.

Thanks for the feedback on my newsletter, it means a lot. I take the newsletter very seriously, it’s me talking directly to my fans, and I never want to waste anyone’s time. People are sometimes surprised when they reply to the newsletter, thinking they’ll get some minion who works for me, and instead I reply to them personally. I look at the newsletter as an ongoing conversation I can have with those who have supported my music, in addition to the commercial aspect of letting people know where I’m performing and encouraging them to buy my records. It takes a long time to get it right each month, so every time I get positive response to the emails, it encourages me to gear up for the next one (which I haven’t even begun yet).

Delivered is a wonderful title because it implies so many different ideas. But first and foremost, the delivery of your new son was a real highlight of the year for you and your wife. What’s life like with a little one under the same roof?

Fatherhood is quite the trip, and “highlight,” along with pretty much every other word, fails to do it justice. It’s the kind of love that is both joyful and terrifying all at once. My wife and I chose each other, but we didn’t get to choose our child, he’s just here and he’s a constant, someone who deserves our love forever. He’ll always be ours. It’s made me think of others in the same way: “someone loves or loved them the same way I do my son.” It’s been a real source of compassion.

As far as the nitty gritty of life with a little one under the same roof, I’m sure it’s no different from any other family. Chaotic, funny, joyous, frustrating and the whole deal. I know I don’t really have as much time as I used to for things like, oh I don’t know . . . writing songs. I don’t rehearse as much as I used to either, but I just end up working more with my gut these days and it’s pretty liberating.

Zack Hickman produced this CD with you. Was his style a lot different than those you’ve worked with in the past? Did he encourage you to push any creative boundaries? And, if so, were you surprised by the results?

I did my first 5 records with Lorne Entress, and he and I had a great relationship in the studio. Nothing was off limits, there was a lot of honesty, and we had no rules, whatever we needed to do to get the magical take of the song, we did. This philosophy made it much easier than I thought it would be to move on and work with someone else. Lorne and I had done so many different things, and the time had come for me to broaden my horizons and work with some new blood, and that was a bit unnerving at first. However, when I met Zack, I immediately felt that this was the right guy to shepherd me through this uncharted territory.

I don’t think Zack had to encourage me too hard to try different things. I was excited to add horns to my songs, which I’d never done before, and also to give keyboards a bigger role in the overall mix than they’d had in any of my previous records. The thing that surprised me most about this record was my vocals. We did the basic tracks, vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, bass and drums pretty much live in four days in the studio. The only time we could all get together was two weeks after my son was born. I was exhausted, but I had no choice if I wanted to work with these guys. And I think because I was so tired, I didn’t have any energy to overanalyze, to intellectualize. I just sang. And I hear a whole different level of immediacy and emotion to my vocals on this record because of the unfortunate timing of the sessions!

Many of your songs have to do with the current state of the world — especially the war in Iraq. Have you received any feedback on your songs by any enlisted soldiers?

I have gotten some feedback from soldiers, particularly for my song “Volunteers.” That song is written in an Everyman-soldier’s voice, and it’s pretty much the highest compliment for someone who has actually served to tell me how true the song rings for them. I wish I could have more soldiers hear my songs. I’d love to go to Iraq and play for the troops, but they don’t ask artists like myself who really are under the radar.

I am especially taken with the song “Shadowland.” You hit the nail on the head about how amazing it is that so much death and destruction is happening in this war, yet life goes on here in the States and many people hardly give it a thought on any given day. Why do you think that is so?

I think as a nation we are just exhausted right now. Tragedy after tragedy piles up, and the headlines seem to just get worse and worse each day. It’s to the point where our already overscheduled, stressed-out everyday balancing act of work and family plays out against this bleak backdrop of current events. I think that what seems like people hardly giving it a thought is actually a numbness or paralysis from being constantly exposed to these traumatic things. I used to rail against the apathy I saw in American culture, and that’s still there, but I think we’ve really reached a point where our blinders are helping us a bit with self-preservation. I understand why folks would feel the need to tune out, I really do.

This is something I struggle with in my music all the time. I have to sing about this stuff. It’s life. I would have to censor what I’m thinking and feeling and seeing and hearing to not write songs about this, and that is not a good habit for an artist. So I write songs inspired by these events that affect us all so deeply, though I try not do it to a point where I lose track of the reasons for optimism, for hope. I try and take the approach that this stuff will paralyze and overwhelm you if you try and ignore. I try and drag it out into the light, sing about it a bit, find a way to rob it of a bit of its potency.

Total change of subject: What was the highlight of your big tour supporting Lori McKenna in support of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw?

The highlight was the honor of being asked to support one of my best friends and help her present her songs to the largest audiences she’d ever seen. That Lori thought of me as someone she’d want standing by her side, singing and playing with her, in front of 15,000 or 20,000 people . . . I’m just very grateful. Lori has been so wonderful to me. The final two nights, when we played in front of packed houses at the Boston Garden, was a real highlight.

How would you compare the whole country scene with the folk / acoustic music crowd?

Wow, I could go off on this. I’ll restrict myself to a few points. First of all, Tim and Faith were very nice and gracious people, and they treated Lori and me really well. But as far as comparing and contrasting the folk and country worlds, it’s really hard because they exist on two entirely different levels. Country music is big money, big entertainment. In folk music, no one gets rich, and it really is not on the radar of the popular music industry. They literally just don’t really think of the entire genre. I know that I have exposure to all sorts of different scenes and genres, but that I feel most comfortable and at home as a folksinger.

I’m looking forward to the show with Jeff. We’re good friends and he’s a new dad too. We’re doing just a couple shows together, which is about as extensive a tour as we can manage right now. I think we’re calling it the “Sleep Deprivation Tour ’08.”