INTERVIEW: Mark Erelli (Snowbird)

LISTEN: Snowbird interview with Mark Erelli, recorded on July 12, 2008. [ show notes ]

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS

• 2006 - via Skype, talking about Hope & Other Casualties
  
• 2007 - backstage in Salt Lake City, on the Faith Hill & Tim McGraw tour

A year after Mark Erelli came out West with Lori McKenna, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Mark found himself again supporting Lori as she opened the Founder's Title Co. Folk & Bluegrass Festival, at the Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.

I sat down with Mark prior to his own and first Utah gig to talk about his upcoming album, "Delivered," due out on September 16, 2008 from Signature Sounds.

INTERVIEW
We sat down just outside The Cliff hotel, where Mark got to stay during the festival, with panoramic views of the Big Cottonwood valley in the Wasatch Mountains, east of Salt Lake City.

We talked about the big changes from a year ago, including the birth of his son, Owen. Mark revealed how he met the new producer for this upcoming album, Zack Hickman. We discussed his barn raising effort to pay for the album itself, and then we talked about some of the songs with an emphasis on the similarities heard in all seven of his studio albums.


FESTIVAL
The festival itself was a three-day event, from Friday to Sunday, with two stages through the resort area. The main stage held the Utah State Instrument Championships through the morning and afternoon, which in itself was very entertaining (lots of young players!). The evenings showcased mostly bluegrass acts, including Tim O'Brien and Sam Bush.

The Plaza Stage was actually free for anyone visiting the resort, in the outside area where you you would load into a gondola or chair lift, with stores and restaurants surrounding. In this case, Mark probably had more people see him perform his solo gig (roughly 80) than if he had been in on the main stage. Here's more details and a set list of that performance.

In addition to the performers, there was a songwriting competition won by T.R. Ritchie from just down the road in Moab, who actually played the Tree House in January 2006 when he visited with Cosy Sheridan.

Friday, Mark played mandolin and acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals in Lori McKenna's band, which also included electric guitarist, Russell Chudnofsky. One funny detail included all of them very stunned but pleased that the festival had oxygen for them backstage, which is at 8,000 feet, and they were playfully thinking of coming out in their masks.

CLIPS
Played from the album DELIVERED, to be released on 9/16/2008.
Man of the Family
Baltimore
Not Alone
Five Beer Moon
Delivered
Unraveled

ARTISTS MENTIONED
Lori McKenna,
Zack Hickman,
Josh Ritter,
Lorne Entress,
Jake Armerding,
Neil Cleary (drums),
Laura Cortese,
video of Zack Hickman on David Letterman show,
Sam Kassirer (keyboards),
Aoife O'Donovan of Crooked Still.

TECH NOTES
I used the same equipment from last year, and you can hear some wind noise as well as birds, squirrels, flies, and the nearby river.

Griffen LapelMic (stereo)
iRiver 799
Apple G4 laptop
GarageBand 3.0

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS
I've had the opportunity to talk to Mark several times in the past, including:

• 2006 - via Skype, talking about Hope & Other Casualties
  
• 2007 - backstage in Salt Lake City, on the Faith Hill & Tim McGraw tour

Mark was also our second house concert in 2004.

Many thanks again to Hope & Gary Jensen, my dear friends in SLC who provided room, board and transportation. And they discovered house concerts!

WORTHY: Beth Wood

I came to Salt Lake City to visit with Mark Erelli at the Founders Folk & Bluegrass Festival, and the best new music I discovered was at a house concert.

Beth Wood is a Texas singer/songwriter now located in Colorado, who's voice and guitar technique are only eclipsed by her stage presence. She is one of the better house concert performers I've seen, and the buzz in the crowd was thick.

One reason was it was the host's first house concert, in a warm and beautiful backyard. It was the start of the Rockin' Roxburry House Concert series, but from where I sat it looked like the 20th - nice job, Rockin'! Beth was probably a big help, but most of the folks were were first time house concert guests and stunned that Beth's level of talent just drove up to the door to play.

Beth's style is folk and country, very Americana at times, even soulful, but she covered some standards (one a capella) that were show stoppers. Her voice is simply stunning, and it only adds to her well-thought songwriting and upbeat guitar technique.

She's an independant artist with seven albums to her name, and a savvy business woman to boot. She even brought her own PA, which she says can mean the difference when trying to get a gig.

You should see her out West a whole lot more since moving to Colorado. Her shows are not to miss!

Many thanks to Hope Jensen for the advanced notice, and here's to lots of new music discoveries in the Salt Lake City area.