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Chris Bousquet

@american_elm

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The better I feel about a song, the less I know where it came from. American Elm is the nom de guerre for that. Sometimes solo; sometimes with a band

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An update on our November 14th full band show at @thejukect in Deep River, Conn.

We’re sorry to report that our dear friends @audiojaneband will not be able to join us. We’re at least as disappointed as anyone. We’ll put together a show with them in the near future.

In their place will be @thesawtelles who are like family. They are also as inspired and as great a band as New England has ever known. They should win all kinds of awards, but they’re never going to enter any kind of contest. This of course, only adds to their street credibility.

Doors at 7:00
Sawtelles at 8:00 by @american_elm

Thanks for all the kind words on the latest Electric Elm single “In a Little City by the Sea.” Songs will surprise you, and I admittedly don’t always (hardly ever) know when/how a song is going to resonate with listeners; I am just grateful when they (in any way) do.

The new American Elm single, “Love and Letting Go” will be out (on Bandcamp anyway) on Friday, November 13th.

We’re wrapping up the year with a few shows; for now let’s just stick to November:

Friday, November 13th - New London, Conn. - The Connecticut Hope Collective plays Friday Night Folk at @allsoulsnewlondon
This is a benefit for Fresh New London. Expect lots of great songs, light, joy, revelry, and at least one special guest. More info here: http://www.fridaynightfolk.org

Saturday, November 14th - Deep River, Conn. - American Elm (FULL BAND!) at the Juke
We’ll share the evening with our friends, the dazzling Audio Jane and celebrate the release of “Love and Letting Go.” We’ll play loud songs, soft songs, and loud and soft songs. https://www.thejukect.com/

Saturday, November 21st - New London, Conn. - Hoot for Hunger at @telegraphnl
This is a benefit for the New London Community Meal Center. An amazing lineup at one of the greatest record stores and performance spaces in the world, featuring: the Carolans, Rob Lenert, Brian Larney, Bernadette Golden, American Elm/the Plovers, Mike Iula, John Fries, and Hugh Birdsall

More to come . . . by @american_elm

OUT TODAY! EVERYWHERE.

Sometimes you need to leave home to find home.

This song has its roots in Accomack County Virginia, where I lived for a time. Accomack County is renowned for a number of things including, wild ponies on Assateague, the legendary Five State Champions minor league baseball club, the Parksley Spuds, and as the home of the narrator in The Maple Leaf Rag, “I come from ol’ Virginny, from the County Accomack.” Wachapreague is a tiny ocean-side town, population 257, know as “The Little City by the Sea.” It’s also the self-proclaimed “Flounder Capital of the World,” a title that resonated with me, having grown up in Clinton, Conn. the (also self-proclaimed), “The Bluefish Capital of the World.”

The original version of the song was more tongue-in-cheek ironic; more Raymond Carver-meets-O. Henry than say Willie Nelson, including the line, “part of my charm is the CHIP on my shoulder.” But after my hopeful-romantic, wistful song loving mom left this world in September of 2022, something changed in me, or more accurately, something changed back. God/the universe/the muse/whatever it is you believe in, and my mom, wouldn’t let me write songs like that anymore – I wasn’t very good at it anyway. A year later, after I moved back to my home town (Clinton, Conn. population 13,185 in the winter/20,000+ in the summer), and back to the house I grew up in, and listened to lots of my mom’s records (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and the never cynical Willie Nelson), I rewrote the song. That “Little City by the Sea” became/came to include Clinton and Westbrook, and later, Noank. In recent years I have come to conclude that I can never live away from the coast, specifically the southern New England coast: the sunlight on the water, the moonlight on the water, the taste of that water in a fresh oyster, old churches within short walks of the town dock, buoy bells ringing in the shifting wind, the way your true love’s hair blows in that same wind, the fluorescent lights of the fireman ‘s carnival . . . in a little city by the sea. by @american_elm

Thrift store finds.

Coming up . . . soon and very soon . . .

American Elm (full band!)
@ct_folk
Saturday, September 26th
New Haven, Conn.

American Elm (Chris solo)
@applefestglastonbury
Saturday, October 17th
Glastonbury, Conn. by @american_elm

Songwriting is a mostly solitary process for me. I’m a writer, and while I write poetry, and have written short stories, songs became my preferred path for my creative writing. I enjoy that solitude, the work and the execution of it, immersion of my self, and my non-self in this process that I do not wholly understand: “the better I feel about a song, the less I know where came from.” The deepest self and the absence of self all at once.

For the past twenty-ish years, this has been a mostly solo endeavor, and I do enjoy that. Playing a great solo show is a pretty magical experience, the good ones anyway. A packed Space Ballroom, or Schuba’s, or the Kate, or even a tiny little listening room where everyone is engaged. You close your eyes and sing the songs. You empty yourself. Transcendence.

After moving back to southern New England in 2023, I began recording singles as Electric Elm with my dear friends Eric Lichter and Guido Falavine (“Sandra Ann” being the first, and “Play the Velvet Underground” being the most recent). With these two ignited souls, I found a profound magic in collaboration, in the trusting of others (and “the other”) to take a song where it wants to go. Electric Elm has been one of the great gifts of my musical/creative life.

Eric and I are fond of saying, “Electric Elm, it’s a real band,” and it most certainly is, but it’s also truly a studio band. So, in 2025 when Jesse, Mike, and Rick brought up the idea of starting a live band, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. We’ve been hanging and playing songs with each other for just under a year. The rapport was immediate, the trust followed, and this too has become one of the great gifts of my musical life.

I get that the Electric Elm vs. American Elm bit is somewhat confusing. But to me, it’s all one thing, it’s all “American Elm.” And I’m not American Elm, I’m just the guy in charge of writing stuff down and singing most of the words. American Elm includes me, Rick, Jesse, and Mike, Eric and Guido, Shandy, Frank, plus a few other people, some of whom don’t even play instruments.

Mike, Jesse, Rick and I will be performing as American Elm, @CTFOLK, on Saturday, September 26. by @american_elm

I had a very lovely time at @caferyb last night. Thanks to everyone who made it out, including some folks who came from some distance. Thank you for your very kind support, and for listening to the songs. It means even more than you know. Thanks to @caferyb for the warm hospitality. I look forward to coming back in the spring. What a charmingly warm space.

Songs played (some in the correct order, there was some ad-libbing/digressing):

Up the River, Under Water
Carolina Wren
My Mother Was a Mourning Dove
On the Banks of Parting Creek
It’s All Small Talk
A Song For You (Gram Parsons cover)
November Girls
The Devil Makes it Easy
On the Other Side of Here
A Long Road to Be Free
In a Little City By the Sea
Even the Tallest Trees
Magnolia
Way Below the Radar
The Sance Bell
Play the Velvet Underground
Resounder
Float Like a River

Two weeks from today, the full-band American Elm will be making our @ct_folk debut. There is no overstating just how excited we are for this one. We’re the first band on the main stage . . . so don’t be late.

“Play the Velvet Underground,” the most recent single from Electric Elm (that’s me, @eric.m.lichter.music and @guido_falivene ) makes its commercial radio debut tomorrow night at 10:00 on @991plrfm the Local Bands Show. I’m repeating myself, but it’s never not thrilling to hear your song on the radio. Even after all these years, my inner 17 year old’s mind is blown. by @american_elm

Plymouth, Connecticut tonight at @caferyb

Show starts at 7:00 pm by @american_elm

R|Y|B Weekend update for 9/11-9/13
This weekend‘s entertainment at
Café R|Y|B
- Friday, September 11, 7PM - American Elm. Live music, full menu till midnight
- Saturday, September 12, - Coyote and Co.’s Sweet Saturday PLAYERS JAM. Open for players. Sign up started at 6 PM. Jam starts at 7 PM.
- Sunday, September 13, 1PM - Glen’s Galaxy w/Glen Nelson. Alcohol free piano bar, serving Ultra Violet & Blue Karova Milk and more. It’s a new kind of laid-back Sunday vibe for music and eats.

- Café & Boutique open 11am Weekends
- Music starts at 7pm Fri & Sat,
1pm Sunday
- CAFÉ R|Y|B IS OPEN TILL 12AM MIDNIGHT EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT!

Come for the music, the food, the coffee… savor the atmosphere and get y’er block rocked at Café R|Y|B
_________

Café R|Y|B
694 Main St (RT 6)
Plymouth CT 06782
Call - (860)605-8281 or (860)485-8217
Email - info@rockyerblock.org

* Rock Yer Block is a Non-Profit 501(c)3
We teach independent artists how to survive in a gig economy.

** There is no cover charge at Rock Yer Block but a $5 donation is suggested in order to keep our programs up and running. All our staff are volunteers they participate to support a creative community so your tips and donations are greatly appreciated.

#coffee #livemusic #plymouthct #soberbar by @american_elm