Hear It First at Folk Alley – Mark Erelli, ‘Milltowns’
*Mark Erelli releases ‘Milltowns,’ his special tribute to his friend and mentor, singer/songwriter Bill Morrissey, on Tuesday, September 9. Until then, you can stream this album in its entirety in the player below.*
Just like you couldn’t pry the Texas and Colorado out of Townes Van Zandt’s songs, you’d be hard-pressed to separate New England from the simple, deceptively complex music of the late, great Bill Morrissey. His literary approach to songwriting not only meant his songs told beautiful stories in poetic verse, but they also followed along with the intrinsic melodies and rhythms inherent in the words themselves. Few songwriters encapsulate this kind of literary quality with the same consistency and aplomb as did Morrissey, except for, perhaps, Mark Erelli.
Erelli is widely known as one of the hardest working, most artful singer-songwriters on the New England folk circuit, and his original songs are as full of love and community as they are stories about triumph and heartache. So, it makes sense, somehow, that Erelli would dedicate his thirteenth recording to songs written by Bill Morrissey (plus a title track he composed himself).
‘Milltowns’ doesn’t come off as a covers record or a tribute album, though, so much as it does a thank-you note for the songs Morrissey put out into the world. With each performance, Erelli gives himself over to the song and seems to be simply following along and learning from where the song takes him. Backed by Sam Kassirer on piano, Charlie Rose on pedal steel and banjo, and Zack Hickman on upright bass, Erelli also welcomes backing vocals from the area’s finest singers: Rose Cousins, Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, Anais Mitchell, Peter Mulvey, and Rose Polenzani. It’s hard to argue that these voices all together occupy the gaping hole that Bill Morrissey left behind, as all of their music speaks on behalf of the community and literary traditions of New England’s musical past.
Needless to say, ‘Milltowns’ is an album that demands listening. Listen close; there’s sure to be something in there to break your heart a split second before it leads you straight to grace.
