Rod Elkins Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Drum Softly and Carry Two Big Sticks: A Conversation with West Virginia's Go-To Drummer

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and A Change of Tune, this is 30 Days of #WVmusic, the interview series celebrating the folks who make the West Virginia music scene wild and wonderful.

And today’s interview is with the Huntington drummer with the best seat in the house, keeping time for William Matheny and Tyler Childers. This… is Rod Elkins.

Rod Elkins can be seen (and heard) on tour with William Matheny & the Strange Constellations and Tyler Childers. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Connect with A Change of Tune on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds.

Rod Elkins performing with Tyler Childers.

Interview Highlights

On beginning in music:

I’ve been into music pretty much my entire life. My dad has a band, The Elkins Brothers Band, and ever since I was a little kid, I’d go and watch him play. Mostly at the Milton Fire House or various VFWs, and I would just sit there, swinging my legs. It’s always been around, and I can never think of a time it wasn’t. I started playing drums in the 6^th grade, enrolled in band at school and started playing in his band.

I always thought the drums were the coolest instrument on the planet. Every drummer my dad had, they were just cool dudes. I loved to be around them and loved watching them, and I thought it was the best instrument in the band. My dad’s a guitar player, kind of picked that up naturally. He would put one in my hand, teach me a few things, I would download songs off Napster when I came home from school and learn them.

He was really nurturing. I used to teach at Route 60 Music and people would tell me how they bought their kids electronic drum sets because they didn’t want to hear it. I always thought about how my mom and dad gave me a couple of hours to make as much noise as I wanted, but at like 8pm, if it wasn’t done… [laughing]!

On what he listened to growing up:

The classic country, outlaw stuff. My dad is a huge Waylon Jennings fan. I always thought he sounded like him when he sang.

I had a Fisher-Price record player, and I remember as a kid, I was just crawling across the floor, maybe 4- or 5-years-old, I took the Fisher-Price record off and waddled over to a stack of my dad’s records and pulled it out, and it was Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the greatest hits records, “Down on the Corner,” was the first song. I was pretty hooked after that.

Rod Elkins as a Marshall University drummer.

On his jazz studies at Marshall University inform his Americana/rock drumming:

I always wanted to do music in college. I wanted to go to college because not many people in my family went to college. Me and my sisters did. My dad didn’t go; my mom went to beauty school. Staying in town just made sense.

I got really bored with just doing classical performance with symphonic band and percussion ensembles. Not that I don’t like the music or anything, but at the time, I was just really out of it and not really enjoying it. I think I was the only drum set major at the time in jazz studies. I took a little break and came back in 2012 and finished three years ago this December.

It helped playing with different groups, playing something you just got a week ago. Reading, making charts. Sometimes if we want to play a song now, the fastest way for me to learn it is if I jot it down on a piece of paper and chart it out. I got to see a lot of great drummers being in school. We had great faculty, and they would always bring great people in. It was really inspirational seeing them play.

On his favorite drummers:

Levon [Helm], for sure. I’ll never forget… me and Craig Burletic. I was in the music library, and I was supposed to be doing something but I wasn’t actively doing anything, and [Craig] comes in and says, “Dude, you got to stop what you’re doing and listen to this.” And I think it was the Rock of Ages video of The Band doing “Don’t Do It.” It was lifechanging, the way he played, the nuances and the sound he got out of the drums. That and Steve Gadd. I always wanted to play like Steve Gadd ‘cause that guy’s perfect.

Rod Elkins performing at The V-Club in Huntington, WV.

On what it means to be a drummer in the band:

Drummer is the bus, that’s what I always thought, and the bass player drives that bus. It’s a team effort, something to lean on. A good drummer doesn’t get in the way of the song. It’s a nice blanket for soloists or singers to lean on and to stay out of the way. That’s always a goal in my head when I play. I feel like I’m naturally strong, and I have to work hard at the drums to stay out of the way. I constantly worry that I’m too loud.

On his first bands playing in the #WVmusic scene:

I was playing in a VFW band called 60 East. I played guitar and sang. It was pretty good, right out of high school. James [Barker] and Craig Burletic had a rock band and a drummer who was moving away. I was late for a math class, and I didn’t go because I was late, I was getting coffee and [Craig] said, “You have to play in my band. I talked to James, and we don’t want anyone else. We want you.” I just wanted to do this original music. That was the first thing with Huntington music… Deadbeats & Barkers.

That transformed into like 68 consecutive Sundays at Shamrocks. [Shamrocks owner Ian Thornton] gave us a shot, and I think [Deadbeats & Barkers] already had the Sunday gig when they asked me to play. We dove right in, and it was great. That period… I understand why they call it the good old days. I met Bud Carroll for the first time, Doug Woodward, The Demon Beat. Anybody and everybody would come on Sundays. Sometimes it would be so special. We’d play a set, take a break and then anybody who’d want to jam could jam. I think I quit my job at Amazon because of Sundays because I had to be at work on 8 on Monday morning.

On joining up with Tyler Childers:

It was kind of a joke at first. Jack Browning, a good buddy of ours who lives in L.A. now, thought, “Y’all should play together and be the Food Stamps.” Tyler Childers opened for us at Shoops, and he sang and it was beautiful, everybody was shocked. I’ll never forget after the show I said, “Man, you’re great, you’ve got great songs. You want to party?” His response was, “Man, I’m 18 and 45 minutes from home, I think I need to go.”

We kept crossing paths, and then the joke came back around, and it was one of our friend’s birthday parties where we finally did it. A little bit later, we were goofing around playing covers, and I took the initiative to put our name in the hat for a music festival in Cincinnati. We went to Bud’s and cut some demos. We got in, and it was the first time we played Tyler’s songs, and we’ve been doing it ever since.

Bud Carroll, Rod Elkins, William Matheny, Adam Meisterhans and Ian Thornton backstage before their June 2016 Mountain Stage.

On playing with William Matheny:

Nothing short of magical. I love that guy to death. It’s kind of hard to place when I first met William because once I did, it’s like he’s been in my life forever, it’s like he’s always been there. He probably knows better than I do. I filled in for Bud [since] Bud was playing drums. I can’t remember why he couldn’t play, but I learned the songs, and after those strings of dates it was like, “Would you like to be in this band? We can put Bud back on guitar.” [Billy’s] songs are great, he’s a great person, a true bandleader. I’m fortunate enough to play with the two best songwriters in West Virginia. It’s been nothing short of great, I don’t know how I did it. I’ve been really fortunate to hang in there with some of the best.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

Rod Elkins- “DonDon”

Tyler Childers and The Foodstamps- “Feathered Indians”

Rod Elkins- “PanGan-Anini”

William Matheny & the Strange Constellations- “Living Half to Death”

Support for 30 Days of #WVmusic is provided by Kin Ship Goods, proud supporter of DIY music and the arts. Locally shipped worldwide at kinshipgoods.com.

Front and Center with Morgantown's William Matheny

Since the show began almost two years ago, A Change of Tune has highlighted some of the best up-and-coming artists out of these West Virginia hills with podcast-y chats ranging from Bud Carroll to Goodwolf, Rozwell Kid to Coyotes in Boxes and beyond.

But those interviews have been a bit infrequent, and since West Virginia Day was this month (and with A Change of Tune’s second birthday on the horizon), we thought we’d do something special: 30 days, 30 brand new #WVmusic interviews that range from Morgantown alt-rockers and Parkersburg singer-songwriters to West Virginia music venues and regional artist management and beyond, all of which contribute to this state’s wild and wonderful music scene.

And today, we are chatting with Morgantown singer-songwriter-rocker William Matheny, who joined a band and began touring when he was but a wee lad. Flash-forward to today, and he has a great new release to his name, and he’s primed to make his NPR Music debut on Mountain Stage. We chatted with William about his experience playing music up in Mountaineer Country, the friends he’s made over the years in West Virginia, and what we can expect at his June 26 Mountain Stage…

William Matheny’s newest release is the Blood Moon Singer EP, which is a preview of his upcoming full-length Strange Constellations. You can hear his music on his website. Catch him on Mountain Stage on June 26 with his band friends Bud Carroll, Ian Thornton, Rod Elkins, and Adam Meisterhans. Hear more #WVmusic on A Change of Tune, airing Saturday nights at 10 on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. And for more #WVmusic chats, make sure to go to wvpublic.org/wvmusic and subscribe to our RSS / podcast feeds!

William Matheny, performing at The Empty Glass in 2016.

Interview Highlights

On his family’s roots in music:

My great-grandfather was a regionally known gospel singer, and then his son (my grandfather) was a regionally known country singer named Mansfield Matheny. He had a band with some of his friends called The Rhythm Rascals, this would’ve been in the late ‘40s/early ‘50s. My grandfather was the lead singer of the group and played rhythm guitar.

My dad also plays music. He was in a really good bluegrass band in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. They traveled around, did some stuff, and recorded an album, and then they all got married and had kids. Basically, I broke up the band. He still plays guitar in the church choir. He taught me how to play music, and we actually played in bands together when I was a kid. We played in cover bands when I was an adolescent and in early high school.

It was a long series of different bands, and I really have to give my father a ton of credit on this. I always stress this with people: my parents weren’t stage parents at all. This all was my idea. Basically I’d been playing guitar, and I told my parents I wanted to play in a band. And when you’re a small kid in a really small town, maybe you know people who play music, maybe you don’t. My dad got on the phone and said, “Hey, my son plays music. He wants to start doing stuff. Would you be interested in joining a band?” I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I’m incredibly grateful for it now just because I’m imagining being an adult and getting that call from one of your acquaintances like, “Hey, would you want to join a band with my 9-year-old son?” [Laughing] I would be obviously be incredibly skeptical of that.

On beginning his music career in Morgantown:

I grew up about an hour south of Morgantown. By that time I’d become acquainted with the scene up here and all the bands, [not to mention] making music and doing albums and touring and stuff, I really wanted to get involved with [the scene]. At that point, I started playing with this guy named Brian Porterfield who had this band in the ’90s called Cheap Truckers’ Speed. Brian doesn’t really play anymore, but I say this to anyone who listens: he’s probably the best songwriter I know personally. In terms of people I can call on the phone and say “hello,” he’s just really, really great. Like one of those unknown treasure people.

I wanted to join his band. I looked him up in the phonebook, we knew some mutual people so it wasn’t totally like a cold-call, and I tried to pitch myself. It took a few phone calls, but eventually I joined as his drummer. That was my first proper band that was doing original material. I did that for like two years, like the second half of high school.

That band stopped playing like three or four months after I graduated from high school and turned 18. That was sort of when I [began playing front-and-center]. I was writing songs the whole time and played them a little bit, but it wasn’t my main focus. By that point, I was itching to get back to playing guitar, and I wanted to have a band that was playing my own material. I didn’t go to college; instead, I just moved to a college town and joined like five bands. I didn’t say no to any gig for a really long time. I was playing with a bunch of different groups, and it was a wonderful learning experience. I’m super happy about doing it. It meant I could learn how to play a lot of different genres and have a really good time doing it. There’s no shortcut into doing that. I wouldn’t recommend the same thing if you want to be a brain surgeon, but for music? Do it.

William Matheny performed at U92 FM’s inaugural Moose Fest at 123 Pleasant Street.

On playing in Morgantown:

123 Pleasant Street is obviously the biggest venue here in terms of ones that do things consistently. I’ve played at 123 for 16 or 17 years at this point. It’s been a really long time, and I’ve always really enjoyed it. It’s still my favorite club. Whatever place you latch onto when you’re young and impressionable, it will always be that gold standard for you. Every time I go out of town, I’m always comparing it to 123.

Gene’s [in Morgantown] is great. It’s this really nice neighborhood bar that’s a block away from my house. The owner Al [Bonner] is one of the best people in the world, just a great human being. It’s a very small place with a little PA, and it almost feels like you’re playing a house party more than anything. But it’s really great. He’s been very cool about getting in touring people. Sharon Van Etten played their once, and so did Lydia Loveless, John Paul Keith, and Webb Wilder. Gene’s is wonderful.

On recording his new record and forming a band of friends for it:

When we started recording, there wasn’t a concrete band line-up. Southeast Engine had stopped, and I knew I wanted to make a record. I wanted to get back to doing what I do. At the time, Rozwell Kid’s Adam Meisterhans was hanging out with Bud Carroll trying to make a record of his own (titled Best Vibrations, which I have to point that out because the title’s great), and I guess Adam sent me a text while he was down there saying it’d be fun for the three of us to work on a record. That seemed as good as an idea of any, so we went down, and we didn’t know what any of us would be playing on it. While we made it, Adam plays most of the bass, Bud plays most of the drums. I used to joke and tell people that if you’re going to make an album, you need to find the best two guitar players you know and have them play something else.

We also brought Tyler Childers & the Food Stamps‘ Rod Elkins and Ian Thornton on board so we could move Bud and Adam to guitar. Everyone is doing what they really excel at.

William Matheny’s upcoming full-length is ‘Strange Constellations.’ In the meantime, check out his 3-song EP ‘Blood Moon Singer’ at this week’s Mountain Stage.

On the new album and the band sharing the name of Strange Constellations:

Initially, I decided it was going to be the name of the record, and I wanted some continuity sort-of between the album and then name of the band. It comes from this thing in Moby Dick where Ishmael is talking about being in the Southern Hemisphere under different stars. What I took that to mean was if you’re astrologically inclined at all, you’re not really sure about the star signs that are guiding you, which is one of the main themes of the record. We wanted to tie the name of the band into that.

On playing Mountain Stage on June 26 in Charleston:

This is my fourth time. I did it twice with Todd Burge and once with Southeast Engine. It’s the first time under the guise of doing my own material. We’re obviously really excited. We’re doing the rarest of things in our band where we’re practicing. We’ve decided what we’re going to play, sharpening our knives and getting ready for the street fight.

A FestivALL favorite, William Matheny has been performing in Charleston for years.

On advice to anyone getting into music:

The big thing is to don’t quit; that will get you further than anything you can do. After that, you just have to get out of town and play as many places as you can. That can be really discouraging at first, especially when you don’t know what that’s supposed to be like. If you’re playing popular shows in your hometown, you kind of immediately think everything should be like this. You’re going to do this, and it won’t be fun as playing in your hometown is initially, but if you keep coming back, it will. While it may not seem like you’re having an impression, you really are. So the best thing you can do is stay with it.

I’d hardly call myself qualified to give advice, but keep working and don’t get discouraged. That’s the important thing. Keep working, everything will improve. Don’t let it get you down.

Music featured in this #WVmusic chat:

William Matheny- “29 Candles”

William Matheny- “My Grandfather Knew Stoney Cooper”

William Matheny- “Living Half to Death”

Tyler Childers, the (Beloved) Redheaded Stepson of the Huntington Music Scene

Ever since ‘A Change of Tune’ started, we’ve had a list of folks who we’ve wanted to talk #WVmusic (and pepperoni rolls) with. Last week, we had the pleasure of marking one of those names off our list when we chatted with the self-proclaimed “Redheaded Stepson of the Huntington Music Scene,” Americana rocker Tyler Childers.

Hear our conversation about his history with Huntington’s V Club, his band’s forthcoming debut on Mountain Stage and how his future might just involve chickens.

Tyler Childers & the Food Stamps will make their NPR Music debut on this Sunday’s Mountain Stage with Larry Groce in Charleston. To hear more #WVmusic, tune in to ‘A Change of Tune,’ airing Saturdays at 10pm EST on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.