Peter Mulvey

When artists rerecord songs from their back catalogs, it’s usually a sign that they’re running short on ideas. Although singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey admits that he’s not exactly prolific, his latest album, Notes From Elsewhere, isn’t just a stopgap to hold fans over while he slowly cultivates his next batch of new material. Instead, Elsewhere captures the Wisconsin native in much the same light as when he started out busking in the streets and subways of Boston, which is to say: alone. On Elsewhere, Mulvey collects the songs that have endured in his repertoire — they’ve come to feel as comfortable as old suits. The literary references and dry, down-to-earth charm in Mulvey’s lyrics place him squarely in the folk realm, but Mulvey distinguishes himself from the pack with a full, Leo Kottke-like sound and a keen emphasis on improvisation.