After more than a decade of releasing music, Chris DuPont wants to revisit one of his earliest albums.
The Ypsilanti, Michigan singer-songwriter is paying tribute to his second album, Outlier, for its 10th anniversary with a show at Willis Sound.
“For many Ann Arbor listeners, Outlier was an introduction to my songwriting,” said DuPont, who’s performing songs from the indie-folk album with a full band on July 10.
“The longer I make music, the more important it feels to pause and celebrate milestones and to look at how I’ve changed and grown since then. The season of creating and releasing that album holds a great deal of memory, and I want to honor it before I dive fully into my next body of work.”
In 2015, he penned Outlier’s 10 tracks after confronting personal challenges related to his mental health and faith.
“In terms of what it means to me now, I think Outlier contains the opening statements of a discussion I’m still having with myself and the world around me,” DuPont said. “It’s the writings of a young man who’s coming to terms with his own mental health challenges, but still in the earliest stages of owning his problems and being good to those around them.”
Looking back, DuPont sees the emotional and spiritual growth that’s come from that creative experience.
“It’s the serpentine spiritual musings of someone who is enamored with the faith tradition he came from, yet deeply saddened and enraged by the abuses it inflicts,” he said. “These songs took some big swings to talk about relatively tough things, but looking back I think I may have pulled my punches in ways I wouldn’t now.”
I recently did an email interview with DuPont about Outlier ahead of his celebratory show.
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