The much-admired singer-songwriter and new mom plays a CD-release show Saturday at Wealthy Theatre, celebrating the ‘wild ride’ of her 7th studio album. (Story, review)
Just weeks after her husband, Seth Bernard, released his epic new album, singer-songwriter May Erlewine is doing the same with her own powerful recording, “Where We Are.”
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That these much-admired Michigan Americana artists gave birth to such ambitious musical ventures while giving birth to their first child, Iris, makes it all the more remarkable.
“We planned as much as we could plan ahead, but it was a wild ride. Iris came a couple weeks early and that made things a bit more interesting,” says Erlewine, who recorded her new album in January when she was seven months pregnant.
“I had a lot of support from Seth and (engineer/producer) Ian Gorman. I wouldn’t have been able to record an album seven months pregnant and finish it after having a baby without those two. We have worked as a team for so many years. I was able to finish mixing and mastering the album remotely, thanks to Ian’s patience, skill and flexibility.
Teamwork has long been part of the musical picture for Erlewine and Bernard, whose spearheading of mid-Michigan’s Earthwork Music collective has spawned countless collaborative projects with a bevy of rootsy regional musicians.
On “Where We Are,” Erlewine’s seventh studio album, the singer tenderly and incisively tackles “loss,grief and the joy of new life” – some of the same themes found on Bernard’s record, also written during a time when the couple lost friends such as singer-songwriter Pat Carroll and Bernard’s grandmother, Jeannette.
“I wrote almost all of the songs in this tender place. So, it’s special in that way,” Erlewine told Local Spins, noting the country-hued album also boasts the “X factor” of bringing in fiddler/banjoist Laurel Premo of the Red Tail Ring duo for some “incredible musicality,” along with Bernard, drummer Michael Shimmin, bassist Dominic John Davis and keyboard player Joshua Davis.
‘CAN’T IMAGINE MY LIFE WITHOUT MUSIC’
Erlewine is unveiling the new collection in a series of CD-release shows being held across the state this week, including a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids with Bernard, Premo, Joshua Davis, Max Lockwood and Michael Shimmin in Erlewine’s band. Red Tail Ring opens the show.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 the day of the show. Doors open at 7:15 p.m.; tickets and details online here. (Erlewine also plays The Ark in Ann Arbor on Friday and The InsideOut Gallery in Traverse City on Sunday.)
“It’s all going to be different now,” Erlewine says of being a mom who’s also a performer. “We’ll just try to make Iris comfortable as possible and make every show count. … I love being a mom, it’s the best. I feel like I was really ready. I wasn’t sure until I saw her face, then it was like, oh yeah, I can do this.”
Erlewine remains just as passionate about her music, the driving force in her life.
“I can’t imagine my life without music,” she insists. “As a musician, I want to honor my responsibility in the community to play for the people. I believe music is a service-oriented job and I try to make it useful as well as soulful. It brings all walks of life together and connects us on a heart level.”
For more about Erlewine and her upcoming shows, visit mayerlewine.com.
Listen to her perform a song from the new album, “I Do Not Know,” on WYCE-FM (88.1).
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music