Biography

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Signposts and Marks has a radio add date in North America of June 25, 2024

The second solo album by New England-based songwriter, musician, and vocalist Erin Ash Sullivan, Signposts and Marks features songs that showcase Erin’s storytelling prowess and her ability to shine a light on the small moments that reveal our humanity. Doug Kwartler produced the bluegrass-infused album at Hollow Body Studios in Chelmsford, MA.

Signposts and Marks captures a time in Sullivan’s life when she is fully enmeshed in a web of relationships–as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend–and the songs explore how we preserve our individuality even as we disappear in our connections to others. In “Goat on a Stone Wall” and “Nobody’s Business,” Erin looks at the complexity of long-term love and the sacrifices we make (or don’t make) for our partners (“It’s nobody’s business but yours and mine/No one needs to know/about the push and the pull/and the hairs that we split all too fine”). A trilogy of tunes at the end of the album (“We Walk the Flats,” “How It Should Be,” and “Before You Go”) reflect on being a parent and the bittersweet feelings of watching a child grow and become independent (“I know you’re ready/But how can I get ready/it’s harder than you know”).

Throughout, Sullivan spins small moments into fully-realized stories. “One Time I Stole A Book” tells a true tale of her grandparents that touches on what it means to enter
adulthood (“How do you know if it’s an ending or a spark?/Give us grace to know the signposts and the marks”). And “Eat the Pie” (another true tale that Sullivan is happy to tell you about in great detail) is a feel-good story about a Fourth of July pie eating contest that turns into an anthem for pursuing your dreams and disregarding the naysayers (“Would I let other people’s shoulds and shouldn’ts riddle me with doubt/Would I give in to what was safe and let the whole world count me out/Don’t count me out”). Poignant, absorbing, and occasionally goofy, Sullivan’s songs are intensely personal while also managing to highlight experiences and emotions that we all share.

A New England native, Sullivan’s music reflects a deep sense of place, and her lyrics — sometimes heartfelt, sometimes funny — are always authentic and drawn from her lived experience, harnessing the power of story to build connection. Victor Infante of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette describes her music as “delicate and evocative” with songs full of “nuance and emotional resonance.” Erin’s 2021 debut solo album, We Can Hear Each Other, reached #10 on the FAI Album Chart, and in 2023, she was a “Most Wanted” selection from the Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. She has been the winner of the Rose Garden Coffeehouse Performing Songwriter Competition, recipient of the Mark Erelli Judge's Choice Award in the New England Songwriting Competition, and a finalist in the Great American Song Contest and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest.

Erin’s music calls back to the style and spirit of her music idols, which include Joni Mitchell, Patty Griffin, John Prine, and Ellis Paul. Her shows are warm, intimate, heartfelt, and funny, with tales that are authentic and drawn from her lived experience, shining a light on the ties that bind us together.

"A special talent that reminds me of early Dar Williams." – John Platt, WFUV