Elisha Marin’s debut album, Shining Out, will be released June 18, 2021. Listen to it knowing that often his songs are overtly and almost deceptively literal – but bring yourself to the song too to feel the multiple layers.
Elisha wears many hats. He is a singer-songwriter with a debut album coming out soon. He is president of the Freeborn County Arts Initiative, where he has been doing some amazing pandemic (and now post-pandemic) programming. He was an elementary music and art teacher. And he is sole proprietor of Inkfish, Inc. graphic design studio.
We spoke a little about most of that but mostly we spoke about the album and how his eye as a visual artist informs his music. We could see that very directly with Shining Out; Elisha pulls hope from the story of the 2015 racially motivated Charleston Church Shooting. He sings about a light from the window, which was literally what he saw as he watched the story unfold on television.
Elisha is a self-taught musician. His first album is a catalog from the last 10 years. The music is often deeply personal. Hearing about his religious upbringing adds a new dimension to Heaven Father. It was fun to hear about the making of the album. Elisha brought his collection to Matt Patrick at The Library and how working with him and other musicians on the album turned into a collaborative and learning experience. This album has been a long time in coming out thanks to a COVID pause and then an unhappy meeting of Elisha on a bike and a rampant racoon that left Elisha in pain and surgery. But he is fully recovered and we are almost an anxious as he is for everyone to hear his work!
Mostly Minnesota 
So very happy for you, Can’t wait to hear the album.
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