A familiar sight and sought-after voice in the Bay Area music scene, Elliott Peck has already made her mark singing in rock and roll band Midnight North and regularly joining Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band onstage at Terrapin Crossroads.
Now the Marin-based Peck strikes gold on her debut as a solo performer, offering a tender and captivating record, Further from the Storm, released last October. This week, Peck throws an album-release party with a show on Jan. 11 at Terrapin Crossroads alongside a cavalcade of local stars.
Peck was looking for a change of pace when she relocated to the Bay Area from Chicago in 2005. “I fell in love with the area, the music scene and the weather,” she says. “It now feels like home.”
Quickly embraced in the Bay Area for her ability with harmonies, Peck says she stumbled upon Midnight North bandmate Grahame Lesh in 2012. “Grahame and I have a history of similar influences; we’re both fans of the Band, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and obviously the Grateful Dead,” she says. “We also really enjoy that sound of male-female harmonies.”
In late 2017, fellow Marin musician Jason Crosby introduced Peck to Joe Poletto, founder of North Bay label and artist collective Blue Rose Music, and Poletto offered Peck a deal to release her album.
She worked alongside Oakland producer Karl Derfler (Tom Waits, Dave Matthews) and recruited a lineup of luminaries like Crosby, Dan Lebowitz, bassist David Hayes (Van Morrison) and others. The result is a tightly constructed and effortlessly melodic collection of tunes.
Taking inspirations from the likes of Emmylou Harris, as well as the blues influence of her upbringing near Chicago, Peck’s sonorous vocals and slight Midwestern drawl shine on songs about traveling, making relationships work and other heartfelt topics.
Now that vinyl and CD copies of Further from the Storm are available, Peck is excited to share the record at the upcoming release show, which will encompass two sets of music and feature guests like Phil and Grahame Lesh, Lebowitz, Crosby, Mother Hips members Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono and others.
“The beauty of the whole message and mantra of Terrapin Crossroads is that it is a community,” says Peck. “To have a place like Terrapin is an incredible source of inspiration and camaraderie.”
Elliott Peck performs on Friday, Jan. 11, at Terrapin Crossroads, 100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael. 8pm. $22–$25. 415.524.2773.
