May Erlewine returned to the stage for the first time since the pandemic began on September 16 at the City Opera House in Traverse City, Michigan. The acclaimed singer-songwriter recently released pro-shot video footage of the 17-song home state performance which can be viewed below as this week’s Full Show Friday selection.
Erlewine was backed by a band featuring guitarists Phil Barry and Eric Kuhn, keyboardist Joe Hettinga, bassist Max Lockwood and drummer Michael Shimmin. While the Michigan-based artist counts Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass and Lindsay Lou among acts who have performed her songs, May mixed her own material with Wilco, Billy Strings, Dolly Parton and Pink Floyd covers in Traverse City.
May Erlewine dubbed the fall run the “Here We Are Tour.” Fittingly, the multi-instrumentalist led her band through “Here We Are” to kick off the evening in Traverse City. Next came “Light Back In” before she looked to 2017’s Mother Lion, an album produced by and featuring Vulfpeck’s Theo Katzman for “Hurricane.” Erlewine showed off the diversity of her original material with the ensuing run of “Flowers,” “Good Life” and “Your Heart.”
A gorgeous rendition of Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” followed and was the evening’s first cover. May then played her own “River Jordan” before nodding to fellow Michigan native Billy Strings by covering “Love Like Me” from the guitarist’s Grammy-winning 2019 album, Home. From there, Erlewine returned to Mother Lion for “Wild” and had the crowd singing along with a take on the Dolly Parton classic “Here You Come Again.” Next, May played “Days Go By” and the title track off her latest LP, a collaboration with Vulfpeck’s Woody Goss entitled Anyway.
May Erlewine put her own spin on Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” after a performance of “Back To You” and ended the evening’s main set with “Shine On.” Erlewine thanked the crowd for attending before leading her band through Mother Lion standout “Never One Thing” as the encore.
“I walked out onto the stage and tears began to fall, I had missed everyone so much,” May Erlewine recalled. “That night is one I will never forget. I’m so thrilled to share it with you all.”
Watch May Erlewine’s September 16 performance in Traverse City, Michigan below:
Setlist
Set: Here We Are, Light Back In, Hurricane, Flowers, Good Life, Your Heart, Jesus, Etc., River Jordan, Love Like Me, Wild, Here You Come Again, Days Go By, Anyway, Back To You, Wish You Were Here, Shine On
Encore: Never One Thing
