Bio
& E
Press Kit
My musical journey reaches back to my birth. My
father wrote songs for me as I grew in my mother’s womb.
At an early age I was transfixed at the radio picking out the
instruments as I heard them. Arlo Guthrie and Donovan records
had sticky smudges and deep scratches from my abuse.
Parades were thrown, and I’d march around the house naked
banging pan lids. No concrete musical talent was in sight but
my love of sound was being nourished. I still collect sounds that
I love. I store them away with a memory the way most people do
with smell.
In grade school I half-heartedly played the flute, recorder, viola,
cello and trumpet. I was the guy in the back of the concert pushing
buttons and fretting strings but never really making any sound.
It wasn’t until college that I started playing the guitar.
I had become a staple of the college’s musical diet as a
DJ; a passion I continue to enjoy. So there I was daydreaming
and strumming chords. My songs transmissions from daydreams. From
walking head cocked. Slowly. Smiling widely. Or from times of
deep confusion.
Sentiments of front porch and patchy shade. Intimate and accessible.
Musical mentors haunt. Greg Brown, Bob Dylan, John Hartford. Pablo
Neruda.
Eight years later I am still enjoying this journey and I would
love if you came along.
Elam
What my mom wrote:
Elam Blackman is a gifted singer-songwriter firmly
planted in the folk tradition, whose songs delight and touch the
listener. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes melancholy, often longing,
he invites his listeners to journey with him. His easy going manner
and warm stage presence draw people in and establishes an easy
rapport with his audience.
On his travels across Latin America, Elam wrote of loves lost
and found, desolate towns and newfound joys.
His years in California inspired songs of caring for the earth,
and an appreciation of simplicity.
Traces of old-timey music are evident from his college years in
the Appalachians.
Elam's musical talents include guitar, banjo and mandolin. In
Bolivia he learned to play the charango,
a South American instrument resembling a bastard child of the
mandolin and uekelele.
Elam has shared the stage with Jolie Holland, Pieta Brown, Richard
Julian, Forest Sun, ALO, Chris Brown, Sean Hayes, Jesse Denatale,
Naomi Sommers, Noam Weinstein and Zach Gill.
Elam has performed in CA, WA, TX, NC, SC, PA, NY, MA, TN and WV.