Chad Elliott
Photo Credit: Lynda Farnham
Chad ElliottWe sat down with Chad Elliott, Lamoni Alumni, to talk to him about his career. When we asked him about his favorite part of the career, he said it was being able to meet so many new people from all over the country. He recalled he once had a show in Madison and he had some fans from Iowa who came up to support him. We asked him why he wanted to pursue music. He then replied that he wanted to be an artist and loved road trips. He loved to drive long distances and see new people. All of these factors lead him to find his passion of song writing. He also said that he loves the immediate response you got from music.
When we asked him if he had a band he played with, he said that for his longer tours he would have a drummer and a lead guitar. During his smaller tours, he would play by himself. He also told us that he had been playing for 20 years and he had his first concert in 1997.
When he came to Lamoni to hold workshops, he used an activity called crowd writing. This is when you have the crowd write a song. He said he saw a friend do it and he has been doing it for the past 10 years.
The hardest part of crowd writing was that not everyone is responsive. He said he gets nervous for middle school and high schoolers, but also says that he would like to be a songwriter untill the day he dies. Since he was born in Mount Ayr, Iowa, he is releasing an album here soon entitled Ringgold, and his latest album released is Wreck and Ruin.
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