Sorrow and grit season Iowa artist’s newest album
Iowa Native William Elliott Whitmore released his latest album, which reflect aspects of Iowa life.
September 26, 2018
Musical dominance in the flyover country remains open for debate, but those who express the hardships of growing up in the familiar corn fields and muddy creeks of Iowa strike an emotion that means home.
William Elliott Whitmore’s newest release is a collection of cover songs that chronicle the artist’s two-decade career. Kilonova is Whitmore’s sixth studio album, adding to an extensive collection of solo and collaborative works, including projects with fellow Iowans David Zollo and Elizabeth Moen.
“This album is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while,” Whitmore said. “These are songs I’ve been playing live for years and I thought it was time to put them together and give them a little home.”
Home was a driving factor for selecting the songs on the album. The influence of the song’s original creators can be heard in Whitmore’s original music, but now, re-creating the music allows Whitmore to give the music his own flavor.
“The list came together pretty organically. Some of them I’ve known since childhood, like ‘Five Feet High and Rising’ and ‘Run Johnny Run,’” Whitmore said. “I have memories of my folks playing those records.”
These two tracks, spread in the middle of the album, sound like they belong on a 45 record alongside their originals. “Five Feet High and Rising” could be the title track to the album, providing a mental image not far from the album’s cover.
The homeward influences are a large contributing factor in the majority of the artist’s works, projecting one of Whitmore’s greatest strengths: songwriting. The new album is a proof of where the artist comes from and how he has derived the sound, now familiar to Iowans.
“I’m a pretty literal songwriter, so my environment influences me a lot,” Whitmore said. “My environment when I’m not on the road happens to be the great state of Iowa, so that finds its way into the songs quite a bit.”
The lead track on the album, “Fear of Trains,” is a cover of the 1994 Magnetic Fields tune. The interplay between Whitmore and an acoustic guitar sets the pace for the rest of album while straying from the song’s origins.
More famous for his ability with a banjo, the slow-rolling guitar and vocals is a new flavor behind the familiar grit of Whitmore’s voice.
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Following the lead track, “Busted” is a work that fits more closely to Whitmore’s side group, Middle Western.
The heavy bass line, combined with the more energetic vocals, resembles the tunes most popular performer, Johnny Cash, as well as Iowa’s own super group.
The attribution to the music’s origins is something that Whitmore had in mind while re-creating the tunes. In some cases, this prevented the recording of some of the artist’s favorite music.
“There were a few tunes that didn’t make the cut just because I didn’t feel like I could do them justice,” Whitmore said. “’Sam Stone’ by John Prine was one of those.”
However, re-creating Bad Religion’s “Don’t Pray on Me” is unrecognizable when played adjacent to the original. This track gives listeners the most familiar form of Whitmore’s pulsing banjo with steady vocals.
The new album is a proof of where the artist comes from and how he has derived the sound, now familiar to Iowans.
Whitmore challenges a nearly-identical arrangement of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The soulful tune is a change from the bluegrass and folk presented on the rest of the album.
The direct resemblance between vocals is an elevation of Whitmore’s vocal strength, leaving listeners with a decision in taste to make between the two artists.
Following a folk ballad, one that could replace the Soggy Bottom Boys participation in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the album closes with a head scratcher, “Bat Chain Puller.”
The Captain Beefheart tune strays from the rest of the album with its electric guitar, baritone saxophone, and a seemingly irritated Whitmore.
The monotonous bass line that carries the tune to its open-ending provides an inconclusive solution to the narrative that is Whitmore.
The new album should interest people everywhere, although the artist’s most faithful ties are to the Midwest.
“I think anyone anywhere can relate to these tunes, hopefully,” Whitmore said. “I’ve played all over the world, and I’ve realized that most people are the same in the ways that matter.”
As part of a coast-to-coast tour celebrating the new album, Whitmore will make several stops in the Midwest including the Englert, 221 E. Washington on Oct. 6.
