BEHIND THE MUSIC

Erik Christensen is a singer songwriter from the Baltimore area who has been writing, playing, and
recording music in some capacity over the last 20 years. His tunes sit comfortably at a crossroads of
country/bluegrass, and an Americana singer/songwriter style with any given song leaning more heavily in
one direction. Having grown up on great song writers like T Bone Burnett, Mark Knopfler, Paul Simon and Bob
Dylan, Erik has an ear for putting together rich melodies with evocative and compelling lyrics that pull at
the listener—calling him to hear a new story.

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The process of writing that story for Erik “…is more like archaeology than creating.” He states, “When
I’m writing a new song, it feels not so much like building something, but like finding something.  I think
a lot of people write to process what is going on inside them, and around them. Some people journal…I write
songs.”  Listening to Erik’s songs can certainly feel like a peek into someone’s journal; but as it turns out,
reading another’s journal can be very encouraging.  We, the audience, find we are not alone.  The
human experience, with all its joys and struggles, appears more universal and therefore less daunting
when looked at through the eyes of another.  As Erik suggests, “maybe that’s what the arts are for: to
bind us together in the commonality of what it means to be human, encouraging the rest of us to invite
others into our story while seeking out the stories in those around us.”