Finding music success

When Caleb Elliott left his hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana, he headed south to attend college in Lafayette with hopes of becoming a musician. By 2014, he’d put out his first EP, was booking some session work at local studios, and performing live in the area, but it was a chance meeting with a Shoals artist that would help kickstart Elliott’s career.

“There was this one band that I was invited to play with. They had an out-of-town solo opener who was passing through, and this guy’s name was Dylan LeBlanc,” Elliott recalled that meeting.

He said a mutual friend from the band suggested to LeBlanc that he allow Elliott to accompany him on stage since Elliott played cello, and LeBlanc has been known to incorporate classical string instruments in some of his work.

“So, he asked me to sit in with him, and I did,” Elliott said. “That night, he asked me if I wanted to come up and play on his album.”

At that time, Elliott admits he wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint Muscle Shoals on a map, but he agreed and lent his talents to LeBlanc’s 2016 album, “Cautionary Tale.”

On that first trip to the Shoals, Elliott had another encounter that would impact his career. He met with John Paul White and Ben Tanner, who asked him to play on an album the two were co-producing.

The two musicians told Elliott that talented cello players were hard to come by. They suggested he make the move to the Shoals a more permanent one, adding there was a likelihood that he’d be requested frequently for studio work in the area.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Elliott said. “Since then — not 100% of the time, but usually — if someone needs a cello in the Shoals, I’ll end up getting a call. That’s been really cool.”

Still, Elliott, the avid songwriter, kept his eyes on his goal of performing and recording for himself, a dream he’d been chasing since he was a boy.

Born to a family of four children, Elliott said his mother encouraged him and all his siblings to learn classical music when they were each in elementary school. While he’s grateful for those formative years, he said his love of music and songwriting grew exponentially from the moment he got his first guitar.

“I pretty much loved it from the beginning, but the thing about the classical realm is that there’s not a lot of room for creativity there. It’s really more of a discipline,” Elliott said.

“I discovered the guitar around the age of 13, and all of a sudden, I had something I could do what I wanted on, you know? I wasn’t playing Bach or Beethoven I was making new stuff for myself. Having that creative outlet was kind of a game-changer. I started playing guitar and wasn’t learning a bunch of covers. I started playing guitar and immediately started writing, making up my own tunes.”

Though he’d had years of experience writing music and lyrics before his move to Lafayette, Louisianna, Elliott speculates that he needed the studio work and collaborative practice he earned in the Shoals to help him become a more rounded artist.

“I had put out an EP in 2012 of my own stuff, but I really didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “Getting the chance to play on other people’s records and getting the chance to tour with (LeBlanc) and other people made me realize how much I didn’t really know, how much I had to learn.”

Elliott said he leaned heavily into the role of “sideman” for a year or two, taking in all he could about the industry he hoped to forge his own career in, all the while remaining true to himself and his creative voice.

“I try not to think about whether or not something is radioworthy or anything,” he said. “I just try to write songs that I like, you know, do stuff that I get. Stuff that makes me excited. I’m glad to be doing it.”

By 2016, he said he had a collection of new songs and felt the time was right. He approached Tanner about making the record, and the two began the work on producing Elliott’s first fulllength album, “Forever to Fade,” which was released in 2019.

Elliott continued working on call as a session musician for Single Lock Records in Florence. Since that first album, he’s helped coproduce others for upand- coming musicians like the album “Thank Ya Kindly” by Royce Johns.

“(Tanner) and I coproduced that record. I’m really proud of it, and then there’s another one we’re working on right now. It’s with a new artist who doesn’t have any music released yet. His name is Connar Moon,” Elliott said. “He’s absolutely fantastic. I’m really excited about his future and what he’s up to. Then there’s another band called Tyler Richton and the High Bank Boys. We’re also coproducing them. They’re an incredible live band.”

Even while working alongside these other artists, Elliott continues to find time for his own work.

In 2023, he released his second full-length album, “Weed, Wine & Time,” and recently tracked 10 new songs for his next project — a third full-length record, which he hopes to release a single for ahead of upcoming tour dates in July.

“I’m opening three shows for the Alabama Shakes this summer,” Elliott said, adding that those string of performances come after a local concert where he’ll be joined by Tanner on piano, Alabama Shakes guitarist Heath Fogg, and a string quartet with the Shoals Symphony Orchestra.

While Elliott got his start in classical music, he said this is the first opportunity for him to blend the music from his childhood with original works he’s created. After curating a selection of his songs that he said are “strings-forward,” Elliott entrusted them to SSO Executive Director Jeremy Smith, who arranged the works for the concert.

“There are certain songs that I haven’t played live a whole lot, but I wanted to play them for this show because the studio recordings featured strings so heavily,” Elliott said. “This gives me the opportunity to do things a little differently than with a normal set list.”

The new experience is also inspiring more songwriting from Elliott, he added.

“I’m always writing, but it’s funny — Ben and I have been talking for a couple of years about the possibility of doing an EP of strings versions of my songs,” Elliott said. “I think this show is going to be a sort of catalyst for that project. It’s really exciting.”