Concert of the Week

Mark Erelli
Saturday February 9, 7:30 pm
Roaring Brook Nature Center

Mark Erelli hasn't shied away from political commentary in his songs. Almost immediately after the attacks of 9/11, he released a single called The Only Way, which reflected the we're-in-it-together sense that we all had at the time, and the sense that living well, and fearlessly was the best response to terror (the song appears now on his most recent album, Hope and Other Casaulties). More recently, he home-recorded a song about the men and women caught in the political morass, and desperation of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The song, Volunteers, appeared first as a free monthly download on his website, and more recently as a video (featured here), recorded by legendary producer Don Was for his internet TV channel (Erelli relates the story of the recording on his website). I've played the song on my radio show, and have had callers tell me it has brought them to tears. If the world were a fair place, Erelli would be far better known than he is, but if that were so, you wouldn't have the opportunity to hear him at the Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton.