Newsletter - July 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
A sample of the lovingly hand-decorated labels from my high school Dead bootleg collection. Whoah.
GATEWAY BANDS
Can it be 20 years ago now that a slightly awkward (but well-intentioned) high school teacher lectured my snickering health class about "gateway drugs?" The basic idea was that experimentation with less harmful substances can lead to possible usage or addiction to more dangerous chemicals. I don't know if there is any pharmaceutical truth to this, but I know for certain that there are "gateway bands." These are groups that hooked me with a distinctive distillation of musical references, that made me want to dig deeper, learn more about their influences and tap into the more purebred strains of their musical forebears.
Ironically, the Grateful Dead were a big gateway band for me. When they covered George Jones' "The Race Is On," I wanted to know who this "George Jones" was (remember, the Boston suburbs weren't a honkytonk hotbed) and did he have any more great songs like that one? When Jerry Garcia mentioned his favorite pedal steel players in a magazine interview, I wanted to hear them too. I was doing this musical archeology before the internet, before the answers to all of my questions were but a few keystrokes away. I felt like a pioneer, like Indiana Jones, but instead of a bullwhip I used liner notes, side projects, splinter groups, music journalism and live bootlegs to uncover forgotten gems and find new musical horizons.
I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man, but is this kind of fan even possible nowadays? When you can find an answer (though it may not be correct) to any question with a simple web search or hear nearly everything ever recorded with a few keystrokes, what can any of it be worth? Many of my best musical discoveries were the result of completely accidental journeys. I searched for Chris Smither's "Another Way To Find You" record for months after catching one song on the radio, only to find it in a used cd store in Salem MA, misfiled in the "Joni Mitchell" section. The point is, all these small musical revelations were made richer for the investment I made in finding them.
A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a box of old cassette tapes at my parents' house. It was full of Grateful Dead bootlegs, many of which were painstakingly hand-labeled with stylized fonts and elaborate original illustrations. In an instant, I was transported back to those days when so much music was still waiting to be discovered. When I had the sense that everything was connected, and that there was no telling what I would find if I followed the thread far enough. And every band was a potential window on another world, with the promise of another long, strange trip waiting to unfold.
CALEB MATTHEW ERELLI: I am proud to announce the birth of my second son, born on June 25th. Mom and baby are doing great, and Owen is very excited to have a younger brother. I feel like I just won the lottery...for the second time in three years! Thanks for all of your kind words and congratulations.
MP3 of the MONTH: With all this talk of the Grateful Dead, was there ever any doubt what the free download for the month of July would be? You can grab an acoustic cover of the Dead's "Brokedown Palace" on the downloads page at markerelli.com.
NEW NAPTIME TAPES: In honor of this month's gigs with Jeffrey Foucault, I have posted a video of me playing "Wyoming Wind," a song I wrote for our "Seven Curses" record. It's up now on YouTube, and if you subscribe to my channel you'll be the first to know when new videos are posted.
SHOWS: A legendary folk club in the haht of Hahvahd Sqwayah. A fantastic restaurant in a little-known corner of the Nutmeg State. A Mexican place with a corner stage and great burritos where you can Live Free Or Die. A small church with no electricity tucked away in a Pioneer Valley hilltown. A funky new joint in a cool town in the heart of the Berkshires. An iconic listening room on the southern coast of Vacationland. What do all these places have in common...? The "Seven Curses" tour!
This month, I am teaming up with Jeffrey Foucault for a series of shows in the Northeast celebrating the release of "Seven Curses," our new record of murder ballads. These shows will be a few cuts above your garden variety co-bill, where each artist performs separate sets of his own material. Instead, Jeff and I will share the stage for the whole evening, trading songs and accompanying each other on pretty much every stringed instrument we own. We will draw our material primarily from "Seven Curses," as well as songs that did not make the album and other pertinent covers.
Ever since the recording sessions, I have been psyched about these shows and I hope you can join us for one of these special concerts.
Mon July 19th - Passim, Cambridge MA - 8 pm
Sat July 24th - Vanilla Bean, Pomfret CT - 8 pm
Sun July 25th - Armadillo's, Keene NH - 6 pm
Wed July 28th - Watermelon Wednesdays (Whately Chapel), Whately MA - 7:30 pm
Thu July 29th - Gypsy Joint, Great Barrington MA - 8 pm
Fri July 30th - Jonathan's, Ogunquit ME - 8 pm
SIDEMAN SECTION:
July 10 - Southbridge MA (Lori McKenna)
July 16 - Cambridge MA (Jake Armerding)
July 22/23 - Cambridge MA (Lori McKenna)
ON THE HORIZON:
Aug 17-19 - Arlington VT
Sept 23 - Decatur GA
Sept 24 - Savannah GA
Sept 25 - St. Petersburg FL
peace,
mark
