Hillbilly take me home

January 29th was a cold night in Cambridge but luckily I had the music of Hillbilly Pilgrim(featuring Mark Erelli) to warm me up. I arrived at the Plough and Stars just in time to see the band walk in and begin tuning. I found a seat at the end of the bar and ordered my favorite draft beer: New Castle.

A show with Mark Erelli has never let me down before and this proved to be no exception. The band opened with an instrumental that got everybody tapping their fingers. Mark’s opening banter included him telling us that they were playing without a set list.

After that we were treated to Mark singing “Brand New Baby”, a swinging song about finding the “one” with some socially conscious lyrics thrown in as well:

Boys if you want to find the girl of your dreams
Stop looking in the movies and the magazines
Find yourself a woman with some meat on her bones
Don’t fall for all the plastic and the silicone

“Brand new Baby” was written by Mark and is one of my favorites because it makes me smile and think simutaneously.

The rest of the set included the super fast and super delightful instrumental “Remington’s Ride”. The band quieted it down a bit after that with a Hank Williams cover.

The show was a perfect mixture of fast ( “Devil’s Train”, “Flash,Crash and Thunder”) and slow (the aformentioned Hank Williams, and “Crazy” by Patsy Cline.” There were many other songs whose titles escape me now. Sorry.

The encore of “Crazy” was the song that caused me to miss the last t home and walk nearly a half hour back to my apartment. Just can’t resist a Patsy Cline cover. It was all worth it.

Highlights of the night included Mark laughing out loud during one of the fast numbers, Jerry Miller getting a standing ovation for “Remington’s Ride” and being me one of two people dancing in the bar.

It’s evident from their live shows and album, Hillbilly Pilgrim, that this is a band that truly enjoys playing together. I look forward to them possibly getting together for more shows and if I am lucky another album.

Hillbilly at the Plough Tonight! 1-29

Once again this is a shameless last minute plug for a show I feel nobody should miss. Hillbilly Pilgrim ( featuring Mark Erelli) is playing the Plough and Stars at 10 pm.

Hillbilly Pilgrim is an album Mark did with members of the Spurs in 2004. This is one of my favorite Erelli albums. It’s energy is bright and infectious. The songs are catchy and meangingful which is quite an accomplishment in a pop music age.

If you’ve been reading this blog then I don’t have to tell you how much I adore Mark Erelli. If you’ve stumbled along this blog in some kind of after work Monday night haze then I will say it again. Mark is a top caliber musican and songwriter. His music ranges from rockabilly, western swing and folk. His latest album, “Hope and Other Casualities” was voted number 1 album of the year from WUMB.

Ok so I guess this has become more of a plug for Mark Erelli than the show, but you should get down to the Plough and Stars anyway and warm up your chilly New England bodies.

WUMB Top Ten 2006

Top Ten 2006

Go Mark Erelli! I’ve been shouting the praises of Mark to anybody who hasn’t discovered him yet for a while. What makes Mark so powerful is that he isn’t afraid to say what he is thinking. Not only is he a song writer in the truest sense of the word- His songs tell stories that poignant, political, and real but he can sing as well. I never leave a Mark Erelli show feeling let down.

Right, This is supposed to be about his latest album which is all of these things. If you haven’t discovered Mark yet I highly recommend you check him out and if you already know how fantastic he is then tell more people.

I’ve threatened to write a more detailed profile of Mark here and I promise it will happen.

Dance or Drink

I just found out via the collective power of server lists that Mark Erelli is playing at Toad with an undisclosed but supposedly talented and reputable female singer. I was going to go English Country Dancing, but it looks like my love of music and divey bars is going to win. Maybe I could double dip and sneak out the bar early and dance. In the end it will all depend on the how the music at the bar makes me feel. I’ll let you know.