We were lucky to catch up with Elliott Callaway recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elliott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In January of 2023 I released my debut album titled, Hank. It was the first solo record I ever recorded and in many ways I feel like it encapsulated much of my life up to that point. I had been writing songs here and there over about a 2-3 years period, but then in 2022 I feel like I really started to get a vision for a singular project, and I began writing with more of a focus and consistency and before I knew it I had enough songs for the record.

When I was about halfway through the writing process, I asked one of my bandmates from another project if he would engineer and produce the record. His name is Tim Hall, and without him the project would’ve never been completed. We basically started getting together probably about once a week for almost a year it felt like, and alot of what we did was just start with the basic songs that I had and start adding layers and listening. We’d go down rabbit holes and have to turn around and edit things out that didn’t work, but I feel like we really found a sound that portrays the tone of the songs. I also began having musicians that I’d met through the local scene come in and record on tracks, and I ultimately feel like that took the record to a level that I really hadn’t imagined.

I’ve said it before that when I started out playing and making music all I ever wanted was to have an album of my own music that I could listen to and share with others. It’s funny now that I’ve accomplished that, I kind of have to rewire myself to be able to enjoy that I’ve reached that dream, but also remember how enjoyable it was to go through the process so that I can stay movtivated and move forward with my next project.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and ended up in Los Angeles by way of a sales job where I was basically trying to sell concrete all over Southern California (trying being a keyword there). I started playing the guitar when I was about 13 and I’ve kind of always enjoyed singing as far back as I can remember. I was not a very focused musician in my younger years, and in fact had really kind of given up the guitar after just a couple of years, but then in highschool I joined a chamber choir and I remember everyone in there seemed to be a great musician and it motivated me to try to really get back into it. I attended the University of Alabama for college, and I would play with a group of guys that I met throughout my time there, and eventually we would play in the bars up and down the strip.

When I graduated from school, I had pretty much nothing going on in Birmingham, so I took the job with this concrete company, and they moved me to Las Vegas. I was in Vegas for a year running a warehouse before they sent me to Southern California to be a sales rep. All the while I was kind of still keeping my toes dipped in the world of music, but only as a hobby, not really playing for anyone other than myself and maybe the occasional friend or family member. When I moved to Los Angeles though, I was sort of surrounded by people chasing their dreams and trying to carve out a niche for themselves as artists, and I think the thought krept back in that I had every right to be trying to do that, as well.

Slowly but surely, playing and making music became the most important thing, and before long it became the only thing, as I was told that my efforts at selling concrete were not exactly cutting it. This was not much of a surprise to me, but that pretty much became the start of my music career, as playing gigs and teaching music became and are now my main sources of income.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I feel like if there’s one thing driving me it’s that I’d like to continue to contribute art to the world that brings myself and others joy and happiness. I always joke that as long as I’m making ends meet as an artist, I’m achieving all of my goals, but I also believe that it’s our duty to create things that sort of allow ourselves and others to just enjoy life a little bit more. I think if I can give someone the experience of say driving down a freeway during a sunset and one of my songs provides the perfect soundtrack for that moment, then I’ve done my job as an artist for that day.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

When it comes to supporting artists, I feel like of course there are the obvious things like you can go out and buy a ticket to their show, purchase their album, etc., but I also feel like there are smaller (and cheaper) ways to support artists be it just following their social media or sharing their work with others. I think perhaps the most overlooked one, especially for smaller artists, is just telling them how you feel about their work. I’ve never been more motivated and excited than when someone reaches out to me to tell me that they enjoyed my album, or if I’m playing a live show when people come up to me and tell me that they were stoked about my performance. I think about the times that I’ve been playing a show to a small crowd, and maybe I’m playing covers and it seems like nobody is really paying attention, and I think as an artist it can be normal to kind of wonder like “why do I do this” in that moment, but when someone comes up afterward and acknowledges that they felt something that you were doing, it really takes away any of that self-pity or doubt and I think that can equate monetary support in many ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elliottcallawaymusic.com
• Instagram: @elliottcallawaymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLTgURgDgCkUsV0dH_Fi6gA
• Other: Spotify/Apple Music/etc.: Elliott Callaway- Hank