You'd think that after nine solo albums, countless side projects as a producer and band member, and thousands of miles of driving, it would get easier to write music for a new album. But Mark Erelli is always challenging himself.

Erelli's tenth album, For A Song, appears in record stores on Friday, April 8, and he says it took a lot of time and a lot of advice to get the recording to the point where he was ready to release it. He even called upon some friends (Jeffrey Foucault and Darrell Scott, to name a couple) for songwriting and musical advice.

The result is what Erelli calls his best album to date. He whittled 16 songs down to 11 and did his usual magic with his impeccable arranging and lyrical wizardry.

Erelli was born and raised in Massachusetts and still lives there with his wife and two kids. He says that he feels his job as a songwriter is "pay attention to the things that people don't necessarily notice and write about them." And balancing his musical career with his family life is a full-time job in itself.

Mark Erelli was in town recently, on tour with Aoife O'Donovan, when he dropped by the Radio Heartland studio to talk about his new album.

Songs Performed

"Analog Hero"
"Look Up"
"For A Song"
All songs from Mark Erelli's 2016 album, For a Song.

Hosted and produced by Mike Pengra
Engineered by Corey Schreppel
Visuals by Nate Ryan

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