Marshall Crenshaw bringing new music, new approach - and a full band - to The Ark

Marshall Crenshaw just might be the perfect person to experiment with ways to distribute music in the 21st century.

He's an acclaimed and respected songwriter and performer. With his 1982 debut, he created one of the iconic albums of the 1980s—and has followed that up with a string of occasional releases that invariably draw critical praise and enthusiasm from his fan base. He's a well-known music geek who even hosts a weekly radio show.

Wrapping all that together, recently Crenshaw has hit on a something-old / something-new / something-borrowed strategy for releasing his work. And perhaps surprisingly, he says he may even be done with album format for good.

The new plan involves an ongoing series of 3-song EPs (the second was just released). One song is brand new; one is a cover version of someone else's work; and one is a reworking of a classic from his own back catalog. The music comes out on a 10-inch vinyl record and digital downloads. And he's working with no record company at all; at the moment, the songs aren't even available from iTunes, although that is expected to change.

"It just came together in my mind that it should be vinyl and downloads," Crenshaw said in a recent phone interview. "I just kind of had it figured out in detail."

Note that while the music is available in an old format and a new one, it is not and will not be on CD.

"I like records and always have," Crenshaw said. "One of them is appealing to me and the other one isn't. It's just a matter of taste."

So far, the new model works well. "I am delighted, actuallly, with the way it's coming out," he said, especially now that the second EP has been released and it looks like a true series. "It has this kind of a shape to it now ... and I'm kind of proud of it."

Focusing on one new song at a time helps draw out the best in his craft, he noted; he's pleased with the latest, "Stranger and Stranger," which he described as "atmospheric."

As for the wide-ranging covers—the first two are the Move's "No Time" and the Carpenters' "Close To You"—he says, "I think they're really cool choices ... You can suprise people."

And the reworked older songs offer lots of potential interest for fans: The new release features "Mary Ann," a song from his debut album, but in a version taken from an unreleased movie directed by Abraham Lim called "God is D*ad," in which a character is obsessed with that album.

The reworked old song on the first EP is another favorite from his first album, "There She Goes Again," recorded last year with the respected roots band the Bottle Rockets. That band will accompany Crenshaw on Saturday when he plays a rare date at The Ark.

Crenshaw and the Bottle Rockets have been working together quite a bit lately. On this tour, the band will play their own opening set, then act as the backing band for Crenshaw's—which should be a treat for fans of his, since he often appears solo.

When the two acts first connected, "It was really a blast. People got really excited and I got really excited," Crenshaw said. "I'm just lucky that they're willing to play my stuff ... They're really enthusiastic about it."

Asked about the difference between playing solo and with a band, he mused, "I like both, but I have to say the band thing really has a lot going for it ... I like the lone troubadour thing ... I do like both, but the band thing is great."

Crenshaw has been a New Yorker for decades, but his roots in Michigan run deep. Born in Detroit and raised in Berkley, he quipped that "I have about 250 relatives in Michigan" still, including his mother and his brother Robert, the drummer on his first two albums.

He recalled coming to Ann Arbor on some kind of school outing one spring at around age 14. "There was just something in the air that made me feel exhilarated at that time of my life."

And, no surprise, among his many musical interests is a love for the old Detroit / Ann Arbor music scene. As a teen he saw the Stooges, the MC5, the Up—and caught the Rationals several times at the Michigan State Fair. "That whole era is really vivid to me still," he said.