In the face of tragedy, William Elliott Whitmore found his solace in music.

Whitmore says the untimely passing of his parents was one of the major factors that led him to a career as a recording artist.

“My folks passed away, I guess about 10 years ago, and to deal with that I started writing songs and taking all these musical influences and mixing them up in a big pot to express myself musically,” he says. “It’s a lot of weird musical influences, a lot of loss and that all kind of inspired these songs to come out.”

Growing up in a musical household in rural Iowa, Whitmore says part of his inspiration to sing came from his family – he used to listen to his parents play the guitar and accordion. He says he heard a lot of the blues and older country around the house. Older siblings added to his musical repertoire by introducing him to Public Enemy, NWA and punk rock.

Although he is a farm boy at heart, Whitmore says he loves to tour, especially in Western Europe and is a big fan of meeting a variety of people.

“They really enjoy that Americana music over there,” Whitmore says. “Yeah, they like that hillbilly shit.”

Whitmore says he loves to be on his farm whenever he is able. Although he says it’s not a working farm anymore, there are still a few animals and something to do.

“When I’m not touring around, I love to come home and go in the woods and chainsaw the tree that fell in the fence,” he says.

At the end of the day, Whitmore says he seems to have great affinity for both worlds. He says he does love to come home to the farm, but sometimes he wants to split, to see the bright lights and find out what is going on in the world.

“I love touring so much; there are so many great things about it, but the coolest thing is getting to meet new folks and turning strangers into friends,” he says.

By talking to people, he started to realize people are fundamentally all the same and some problems are universal, he says. After shows, he says he visits the taverns to catch a little local flavor.

“I was in a tavern in Slovenia and they were sort of complaining about their government and I said, ‘Yeah, you know, our government is screwed up, too,'” he says.

Although his travels have led him to realize that there are many commonalities shared among people around the world, Whitmore says when writing songs and playing, one of his biggest goals is relating to multiple age groups. He says he tries to write in a way that everyone can relate.

“Hell, I play in old folks’ homes, nursing homes and I just got off a tour with a punk rock band – the whole crowd was like 15 or 16 years old,” he says. “I try to write for everyone.”

He says he draws his own inspiration from the musical stylings of Ralph Stanley, Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band, Jimmy Rogers, the Carter Family, Public Enemy, Ray Charles, Minutemen and Minor Threat.

“There is so much good stuff; I’m just a music junkie. Growing up on the farm, I was kind of isolated from stuff. When I was old enough, I could go to record stores, leave the farm and go find music,” Whitmore says. “If it’s got the passion, I like it.”