Ten years ago, ISU graduate Clayton Severson picked up a guitar for the first time. He looked up to folk music legends such as, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.

They were people who, like him, began their long journeys as musicians in the same place he did — among the dusty cornfields and barren coal mines of rural North America. Severson dreamed that one day he could pack up his guitar and wander the country like his idols once had done.

Now at the age of 23, he has begun to realize his dream. Severson is currently on his first big American tour, which he has dubbed “The 10,000 Mile Tour.” The tour kicked off Sept. 1 in Iowa and will make stops in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

“This is my first time touring outside of Iowa for more than a week, and I’m having a blast,” Severson said. “I love traveling and hanging out in new places, meeting new people and seeing old friends. I’m having the time of my life.”

A native of Clarion, Iowa, Severson graduated from Iowa State last year with a degree in biochemistry and currently works as a research development technician in Des Moines. Throughout his years at Iowa State, he performed acoustic gigs for small crowds in and around the Ames area. Going on a national tour had not occurred to him, however, until he graduated college.

“My friends are the ones that really pushed me to start touring,” Severson said. “Some of them are touring with me and helping along the way.”

One of his tour-mates is 32-year-old Iowan folk musician Andy Juhl, who traveled with Severson for the first leg of the tour in Iowa.

Juhl — who performs as both a solo musician and with his folk-rock band, Andy Juhl and The Blue Stem Players — has been playing music professionally for eight years.

“I met Clayton in Cherokee, Iowa, at a music hub called ‘The Gathering Place’; every Thursday we would gather there for a jam, and one day he came to play [with me],” Juhl said. “A month after that, he invited me to play at a place called ‘The Pantorium.’ From there, we just kept in touch.”

Severson and Juhl made a stop on Welch Ave. earlier this month. After the show, the two took their instruments outside where they played an impromptu and unplugged set for the general public.

“We played on a corner of Welch until 2 a.m., and were having a great time,” Juhl said. “Afterwards on the ride home, Clayton and I were so tired that we decided to pull over in the middle of nowhere and camp in a prairie. That was one of the highlights of the trip for me.”

Juhl played a few more shows in Iowa with Severson, until he had to get back to his regular job as a hard-working farmer in northwest Iowa.

“The tour was amazing, and I met a lot of incredible people,” Juhl said.

Despite the fact that Severson is moving on from the Ames music scene and finally playing in the folk music breeding grounds of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, the people of Ames will always be special to Severson, and he is not afraid to show that when he is on tour.

“With Iowa music, especially in Ames, everyone is very supportive. It’s a wonderful place to express yourself and just get out and play,” Severson said. “More often than not, the places that are most exciting to play are the ones that you didn’t plan for.”

Severson has released one album, a collection of live recordings with local radio station, The KURE 88.5 Ames Alternative, and is available on his website, claytonseverson.com