It all started with a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame, where an innocent afternoon wandering the exhibits led acclaimed LA singer and songwriter Eleni Mandell on an unexpected journey of profound musical and personal self-discovery culminating in 'Dark Lights Up,' her tenth and most captivating album yet.Touring the world with her two young children in tow, Mandell has always tried to work educational and entertaining stops into her routing: national parks, museums, trains, waterslides. So during a tour stop in Nashville last winter, she brought the kids to the CMHOF to learn about some of her heroes like Hank Williams, George Jones, Buck Owens, and Tammy Wynette. Instead, she learned something about herself."It was a profound experience for me," says Mandell, who's earned raves everywhere from The New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly to SPIN and the Associated Press for an eclectic catalog that spans nearly two decades and evokes everything from Tom Waits and X to Chan Marshall and Patsy Kline. "Seeing all their lyrics and guitars on display made me reflect on just how deeply I'd been influenced by classic country." Mandell's kids fell in love with Roger Miller and refused to let her take his music out of the car's CD player for the rest of the year.