Some say that it isn’t what you say, but how you say it. With Elijah Wyman, it’s both.At the Red Door in Portsmouth on March 27, under the glow of a dim spotlight, Wyman and his guitar (and his autoharp) wove tales about death, suicide, betrayal and faith. Off stage and in between songs he was modest and lighthearted, encouraging listeners to meet him. But when he began each song, he seemed almost as if possessed by the moment, singing with a haunting conviction that suggested each song was exploding from him instead of simply being released. 

With his moccasins turned inward and his gaze focused outward through rectangular spectacles, the bard-like singer created an intimate relationship with the audience seated on sofas before him, most of which consisted of young, bohemian adults with tight zip up hoodies. Wyman played half his set completely unplugged, including his vocals. But even when he set up microphones for the quieter half of his set, the deep connection between audience and storyteller stayed the same.

“Even in Blue Ink You Are Black and White,” a song off of his new CD, “Why We Never Go Swimming and Other Short Stories,” displays the virtuosity of Wyman’s songwriting. It’s predominately a slow, solo acoustic piece, and that’s how he played it at The Red Door. Behind its catchy but ominous finger-picking melody is a story rich in description and metaphor. It shows instead of tells, deftly revealing the complexities of romantic betrayal, as in the phrase “Then I steal back to our bed, not to sleep, but to wake instead.”

An interesting feature to his set was that one of his songs was played on autoharp, a traditional folk instrument that’s a harp with “chord” buttons to mute different strings, allowing for chords to be played. He had written it the night before upon learning the ins and outs of the apparatus. It was slightly eerie, but powerful and dramatic.

At the end, Wyman finished with a fast-paced song, also off his new CD, called “My Blood Will Cry Out To You.” It’s a modern re-telling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel that highlights how much Christian religion is part of Wyman’s life. With lines like “I promise you, if this trigger doesn’t stick then we’re through,” the severity of Abel’s situation becomes more real for the contemporary listener.