May Erlewine

May Erlewine has split her heart wide open and hasn’t hidden any of the contents from view.

One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, May’s gift for writing empathetic and engaging songs that feel at once fresh and soulfully familiar has earned her a broad, devoted fan base well beyond her deep-set Michigan roots. May’s songwriting reveals her innate ability to emotionally engage with her audience through her lyrics. She shows us her heartbreak, but she also shows us her empowered and emboldened spirit. In her quest to find her most authentic self, May gifts each listener with a powerful, emotional experience that immediately connects her to us.

Raised in a home full of art and music, Erlewine began writing songs at a very young age. As a teenager she hitchhiked across the country, honing her skills as a performer and absorbing the kind of stories and landscapes that would inform her music. She came to know the land and the pulse of the people. Her songs show a very real connection and concern with everyday folk. In the following years, Erlewine would perform in every kind of venue imaginable, from street corners to festival stages to the live-FM airwaves of A Prairie Home Companion.

Erlewine draws from a wide variety of influences to create her sound. Lyrically, her songs are rooted in hard-wrought wisdom, joy and sorrow, simplicity, and stories from her own everyday experiences. Musically, these messages are wrapped up in traditional folk roots, Americana, old-time country, swing, soul, and even rock n’ roll. As a live performer, she is just as magnetic when fronting a seven-piece dance-party funk band as she is playing solo acoustic songs in a living room house concert.

With a long list of full length albums, two EPs, and numerous collaborations, Erlewine’s catalog is proof of her creative power. Her work has been spotlighted by Rolling Stone and NBC’s The Voice. National acts who have covered her songs include Greensky Bluegrass, Railroad Earth, Sawyer Fredericks (Season 8 winner of The Voice), Joshua Davis (Season 8 finalist of The Voice), Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, and others.

Erlewine uses her music as a platform for positive change. She considers her job a service-oriented one and carries the torch of the folk singer activist. Her voice on stage encourages connectedness and stresses the importance of environmental advocacy, social justice, creative empowerment and community building as necessary work in our world. May's body of work has become an anthem and an example of why we need to listen to women, and why we need to hear their stories.

May’s music has touched people all over the world. Her words have held solace for weary hearts, offered a light in the darkness, and held a lot of space for the pain and joy of being alive in these times. When she starts to sing, there’s no way around it: welcome in, everyone. The door is wide open.