May Erlewine (born May 13, 1983) is an American musician from Big Rapids, Michigan. She writes songs, sings and plays the guitar, piano, and violin. Erlewine has released over 15 albums since the early 2000s.

May Erlewine
Birth nameMay Erlewine
Also known as
  • Daisy May
  • Daisy May Erlewine
  • May Erlewine Bernard
Born (1982-05-13) May 13, 1982 (age 41)[citation needed]
OriginBig Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
LabelsEarthwork Music Collective
Websitemayerlewine.com

Erlewine is part of the Earthwork Music collective, an independent label that promotes original music from regional artists founded by Erlewine's former husband, Samuel Seth Bernard. Erlewine has performed solo, as a duet with Max Lockwood, with the May Erlewine band, with May Erlewine and the Motivations, and with the Sweet Water Warblers.

Biography edit

May Erlewine was born to a musical family; her father Michael Erlewine was a member of the Michigan blues band The Prime Movers and founded the online music guide AllMusic while her uncle is a luthier.[1] According to Mark Deming, her work shows a variety of musical influences, such as folk, bluegrass, blues, rock & roll and others. It grew from her experience as a child, home-schooled and surrounded by music, and as a teenager, when she hitch-hiked across North America, riding freight trains and performing on the streets.[1]

In addition to her discography, Erlewine's music has appeared in other forms. The song, "Shine On" was covered by Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem on their 2007 album Big Old Life and by Sawyer Fredericks in the final round of The Voice in 2015.[2][3] The soundtrack for the 2014 movie Old Fashioned, included her performance of "Joy", along with Ralston Bowles.[4] Two of Erlewine and Samuel Seth Bernard's songs (Rise Up Singing, from the album Mother Moon, and Shine On, from the album Seth & May) appear in Rise Again. The song book, released in 2016, is a sequel to the popular folk music fake book Rise Up Singing.[5]

In late 2018, Erlewine played a series of collaborative shows with fellow singer-songwriters Sav Buist and Katie Larson (both from The Accidentals) and Beth Nielsen Chapman.[6][7] She spends much of each year writing songs and performing in Northern Michigan.[8]

Personal life edit

May Erlewine has a daughter born in January 2014.[9] Erlewine's former husband is singer-songwriter Samuel Seth Bernard.[10][11]

Discography edit

  • Sleepless (May Erlewine, 2003)
  • Heart Song (May Erlewine, 2004)
  • Seth Bernard and Daisy May (Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, 2005)
  • Mother Moon (May Erlewine, 2007)
  • Snow Songs (May Erlewine, 2008)
  • Welcome Back (Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, 2009)
  • Love Labor (May Erlewine, 2009)
  • Golden (May Erlewine, 2010)
  • Wedding EP (Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, 2011)
  • New Flower (Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, 2011)[12]
  • The Long Way Home (May Erlewine, 2012)
  • We Can Change / Siren Song (Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, 2013)
  • Where We Are (May Erlewine, 2014)[13]
  • Shine On (May Erlewine, 2015)
  • New Flower, Volume 2 (Seth Bernard & May Erlewine, 2015)
  • Lean Into the Wind (May Erlewine, 2016)[14]
  • The Little Things EP (May Erlewine, 2016)
  • With You (The Sweet Water Warblers, 2017)
  • Mother Lion (May Erlewine, 2017)
  • In The Night (The Motivations, 2019)
  • Second Sight (May Erlewine, 2019)
  • Anyway (May Erlewine & Woody Goss, 2020)
  • Tiny Beautiful Things (May Erlewine, 2022)

References edit

  1. ^ a b Deming, Mark. "May Erlewine Bio | May Erlewine Career | MTV". mtv.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  2. ^ Rodgers, Jeffrey Pepper (August 29, 2007). "Daisy Mayhem: Celebrating a 'Big Old Life'". npr.org. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  3. ^ Quan, Denise (May 5, 2015). "'The Voice' Top Six Recap: Unexpected Songs Steal the Show". rollingstone.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Old Fashioned (2014) – Soundtracks – IMDb". imdb.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  5. ^ Bolles, Dan (October 7, 2015). "Famed Songbook "Rise Up Singing" Gets a Sequel, "Rise Again"". sevendaysvt.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  6. ^ "Tour | Beth Nielsen Chapman". bethnielsenchapman.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  7. ^ Walker, Adrianna (November 26, 2018). "Wealthy Theatre warms soul with stories and songs from Beth Nielsen Chapman, The Accidentals, May Erlewine". localspins.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  8. ^ Sinkevics, John (June 22, 2014). "Needtobreathe, May Erlewine, Kanisha K, Founders Fest". localspins.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  9. ^ Batdorff, Allison (June 19, 2014). "New album, new tour, new mom May Erlewine". Traverse City Record-Eagle. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  10. ^ Bonfiglio, Jeremy D. (January 11, 2018). "May Erlewine focuses on matters of the heart". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  11. ^ Blouin, Lou (February 27, 2018). "May Erlewine, Queen of Michigan's Folk Scene". MyNorth. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  12. ^ Fryer, Sebastian (November 3, 2011). "Trip to Ethiopia influences new album from Michigan folk duo Seth Bernard, May Erlewine". Kalamazoo Gazette. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  13. ^ "Michigan artist May Erlewine's 7th album "Where We Are" released today". Michigan Radio. June 19, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  14. ^ "May Erlewine—"Lean into the Wind" EP Release Concert, feat. Phil Barry, Max Lockwood, Laurel Premo, & Michael Shimmin". theark.org. June 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2018.

External links edit