PORT ANGELES — Elijah Sussman, a singer and songwriter who’s lived around the country — Saugerties, N.Y., Maui, Hawaii, and Port Angeles — is returning to one of his home towns for a concert tonight (Saturday).
Now making his way as a full-time musician in Seattle, Sussman will offer his songs of love, faith and living through loss in an evening to start at 7:30 p.m.
The place is Wine on the Waterfront, the all-ages venue at The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave.
Opening for Sussman will be David Rivers and Erin Hennessey, the guitar-fiddle duo well-known to Port Angeles’ acoustic music lovers.
There’s no cover charge for this or any other live music event at Wine on the Waterfront.
WoW manager Andy Griffiths, who does the booking of musicians, sings Sussman’s praises. The 21-year-old artist’s lyrics are “gorgeous and thoughtful,” Griffiths says; he has “a delivery few singers can muster.”
Sussman, who opened last month for Joy Kills Sorrow at the Fremont Abbey in Seattle, has produced a self-titled EP and is now at work on a second recording. His songs are intensely personal, with names such as “Flash of White,” “Lead Me to the Water,” “Fat Bluebird” and “Boy on a Bus.” Then there’s the one he calls his “mystical narrative,” a tune titled “The Rabbit and the Fox.”
Sussman spent his early youth in upstate New York, and then in Maui; he moved to Port Angeles at 14 and later became a worship leader at the Independent Bible Church. These days, he makes a kind of music not easily boiled down.
“I have trouble with the word ‘folk.’ It’s often equated to ’60s folk and open-mic folk — which is something I value, but it’s not what I’m doing,” he said.
“Modern folk is what I would call it. It comes from an earthy foundation.”
Sussman counts Rivers among his strongest inspirations, along with the now-disbanded Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys, in which Rivers played guitar and banjo.
“He is a phenomenal friend and musician,” Sussman said.
The singer hopes to go into the recording studio in February to finish his CD with Seattle producer Kevin Alan Matley. He plans to take his time on creating a full-length album, and then take his songs on the road.
To learn more about tonight’s (Saturday’s) concert, see the Elijah Sussman page on Facebook or phone Wine on the Waterfront at 360-565-VINO (8466).
