Mearlan

Mearlan is a singer/songwriter from Colorado Springs. He grew up with his babysitter being MTV in the eighties. As his short bio goes he was watching all these images of cool pass across the screen but did not feel like a cool kid himself, being tall and clumsy and trying to balance his Christian faith with his new-found love of rock n’ roll. At fifteen he began to play the guitar a bit, playing first along with a church group and writing his own songs in his room. It paid off because after college Mearlan began to see his life filled with music. Aside from playing in random bands along the way, he has lead church bands, conferences and camps as well as making his living teaching music at a charter school.

Mearlan’s debut record, the five song Hither & Yon is full of twang and swoon that alt country acoustic singer/songwriters are so darn fond of. However it is very powerful. It’s in Mearlan’s vocals and the way he powerfully delivers lines as though he is talking to himself. By this I mean I didn’t get the sense that Mearlan was trying to show off or try to do anything to stand out or gather attention beyond the means of just playing well crafted songs with lyrics that are heartfelt and deal with metaphors that are relatable to the common man, such as love and loss, and just the everyday pain of being a human being.

The opening track, “Miss Sunshine Mountain” is a slow and wandering acoustic ballad on which Mearlan takes his time, musically, almost sounding as though he is still working out the song that he is playing. There is an immediacy to the way the song moves along and it has a very moving and powerful effect. On the beautiful and violin-driven “Vincent” Mearlan’s word play cleverly tunes in the listener that the song is about van Gogh, as he sings lines like, “A company of madmen / Sharing visions in tattered cafés / coffee and mad drink give fuel to our dreams.” He is good at rendering deep scenes of pain as he does on the heartfelt closer, “Shut the Door” as he laments, “A house is not a home if lonely comes to stay / it’s just another place to settle in or move away from.”

Hither & Yon is an album of introspection and deep seeded feelings, but it never comes off as being a “woe is me” kind of record. These are honest songs by an honest man which is sadly not really found a lot nowadays. So if you’ve found yourself wondering if there’s still music being made in the grand ole tradition, look no further. - Divide and Conquer

When I mention the name Mearlan, you might think I misspelled the name of one of the most famous literary magicians from King Arthur days. Mearlan is the stage name of a singer/songwriter who will be the featured performer on the Friday, Oct.6, Take 10 live on our Gazette News Facebook platform during the noon hour.

Mearlan, aka Marcus Robinson, is a singer/songwriter in the folk and rock genres.

Robinson has played guitar since age 14.

"My brother had the guitar first, got tired of it and I picked it up, started playing and haven't looked back since," he said.

He teaches music at a charter school but continues to push forward to hopefully one day make music a full-time profession.

So far, Robinson has had two songs released on Spotify and iTunes but has written many more that he is proud of. They're the ones that according to him, have ended up on the cutting room floor.

Robinson's musical influences include Elton John, and, says the performer, "I listened to Van Morrison with his soulfulness and poetry in music and for modern music Joe Pug who is a folk/rocker because of his lyricism and his sincerity."

Robinson says he is now making a name for himself playing open nights around town and pubs in Colorado Springs. As a former church worship leader, Robinson believes his music is a spiritual calling to himself and to the audience.

"I hope that there is a sense of we are all in this together. We are kind of broken and needy and we need to encourage each other to walk this out together," he said.

Join Robinson - as Mearlan - as he performs live on our Take 10 segment, Friday, Oct.6.

The Gazette supports southern Colorado entertainment. If you would like to be a future feature performer on our live Take 10, email me at eric.singer@gazette.com and tell me what you can do to wow a crowd. You could be a musician, magician, juggler, poet, playwright or whatever talent you have that makes you shine could be on a future Take 10. - The Gazette