I grew up in a small town in southern Ohio. It was right on the lower edge of where the glacier stopped during the ice age. Really! So for some reason I always had an acute sense of boundaries. It wasn't until later in life I learned that knowing your boundaries allows you expand beyond them and still have a sense of place.
From the rolling hills on the banks of the Ohio river you could go north less than 30 miles and the land was a flat as a Wendy's parking lot. That taught me a person doesn't have to go too far to see some significant changes in their world.
I started playing guitar after I whined my mother out of one. And later put on another good long whine and she bought me a banjo. I played both right away. Not well of course, but not too badly for a ten year old.
As it turns out things seem to happen for a reason and in my case you might be able to say music saved my sanity. Within 24 months I lost both parents to alcoholism. Music was more than a hiding place it was a healing agent of change. I practiced constantly. I learned that life does get better if you keep moving forward.
Fast forward a couple years and I am in Findlay, Ohio living with a sister. I had to attend church with her. The payoff is there was a folk musical group called the First Few. The preacher really loved the 5-string and did his best to play for the shows. Enter Andy the banjo player from down south. Since it was his group (or he was just borrowing from God I guess) all the music he put in was perfect for banjo. He handed me the reins and blessed me with lots of stage time. I'll always love him for that. I didn't see it then but one huge negative was converted to a fabulous positive that has given me hope for a lifetime.
From there I got married to a wonderful woman, moved to Colorado Springs. We had a baby girl soon thereafter, who is absolutely the love of my life. Although her mother and I are no longer together, we had a good 26 year run. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, remember the glacier boundary?
Jumping back, I played banjo in a group called Magnolia. I hated that name. Who wants be a flower anyway? The band was pretty good but somewhere along the line I couldn't stand it anymore and started looking around for other groups.
I found myself one night in a bar where there was a guy doing a solo act. I was impressed with his ability. I also noticed he played guitar like I played banjo, with fingerpicks. Every song he played I could here the banjo part clear as a bell in my head. His name was Jak Kelly. I asked if he would let me sit in with him and we tore the place up! We immediately decided to form a group, I stole the better musicians from Magnolia and we named the group Eagle River. Much better! I can be a river.
I'll shorten this up. Jak was, and still is one hell of a songwriter. And though I'd been writing songs from the day I picked up my instruments, I never believed in my music. Jak got me past that by installing a couple of my tunes in Eagle River. They were bad, but somewhere along the line I started to believe.
After Eagle River broke up three years later. Jak moved out of the state and I built and moved into a home studio. I decided to really learn how to write songs. I read every book about songwriting and composition and could get my hands on. I fell in love with two. To this day those books (I happen to believe very strongly in reading) have shaped my musical life.
What I learned was this. There are rules to songwriting. Like it or not there are. Again the boundary lesson popped up. Rules or craft if you're more comfortable with that help you understand why songs work or frankly why they don't. But don't fret, those same rules allow you to stretch beyond the boundaries to go where you need for the sake of the song and still have a sense of place. You keep your bearings.
I wrote ALOT of songs. About everything. Not all were good but some were very good. The one thing I can tell you is this. I got to where I could write good songs consistently. Up with belief, up with quality and way up with quantity.
Because of Jak and his history in the music business I caught a break. George Grove of the Kingston Trio heard one of my tapes and wanted to perform some of my songs. Not long after he hired me to write songs for a particular topic. The name of the album was "Where have all the flowers gone- a Vietnam Veterans War Memorial album." This was perfect! With many years of songwriting study I was ready to write emotionally about any topic. I had never been to war. Was never a soldier, but I knew how loss feels. And that is what I wrote about. And it worked. George picked up three or four songs from me for the album.
I knew then that I understood the craft.
Not long after George was assembling a solo album. He picked up three more songs, In the Middle of the Night, Everything, and Slip Away. The album was ultimately titled "In the Middle of a life" I was thrilled. One of my song titles directly influenced this awesome talent. Not to mention the inclusion of the songs in his CD. Again I gained belief.
At that point I submerged, life took turns and I got away from music in 1993. Silence reined until this year. Now I'm back.
I am proud to say I perform regularly and play better than ever. Creative juices are at an all time high. Jak and I trade songs every single week. He sends one, I send one back.
I am also very proud of "Wheel Horse", my newest CD. An all acoustic recording of me and my guitar.
I am also thrilled about teaching songwriting seminars. I want to share what I've learned with people who want to improve their songwriting ability
Everyone knows if you're going to be in business, make sure it's something you love doing. Outside of family and friends, there is nothing I love more than songwriting, as frustrating and gut-wrenching as it is. I simply love it!
That's why I know I'll finish out my life teaching people what I learned about songwriting out of a survival tactic. Negative into positive. Funny how things work out if you just keep moving forward.
Like I said earlier, it's not that I wanted to play music-I had to.
And from that I stepped over boundary after boundary and now
into the future...
I look forward to seeing you at one of our events.
Onward and Upward,
Andy Elliott
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