William Elliott Whitmore Signs to Bloodshot Records

photo: Doug Ewing

Singer, songwriter, and solo performer William Elliott Whitmore will be returning to music with a new album, and a new tour soon, and it will not be on his previous label ANTI, it will be with insurgent country label Bloodshot Records. Announced on Tuesday (4-24) the Iowa native and 20-year music veteran has signed to the Chicago-based label, with a new album on its way soon.

“I remember going to the record store and buying Neko Case, Sadies, and Whiskeytown 7-inches back in the late 1990s,” says Whitmore about the signing. “I’ve been a fan of Bloodshot as a label for a long time, so when the opportunity came up to be on their 20th anniversary comp a few years ago, I jumped on it. Shortly after that they put out a split 7-inch with Esme Patterson and I, thus bringing my awareness and connection with the label full circle through the power of vinyl. Now I’ve joined their ranks officially, and I’m excited to see where this relationship takes us.”

Before the recent emergence of throwback folk country blues performers such as Colter Wall and Shakey Graves, William Elliott Whitmore was one of the originals to hit the open road as a one man band with a bass drum and arsenal of stringed instruments, singing his heart out in a billowy low register that awakened the ghosts of American music’s past. Since he was too folk for country, and too blues for folk, Whitmore often found himself opening for punk bands, and spreading the roots music gospel to new converts.

Whitmore released a few records for Southern Records starting in 2003 before being picked up by the highly-regarded ANTI records and releasing Animals in the Dark in 2009. In 2015 he released his latest record Radium Death to positive reviews. Along with music, Whitmore works as a farmer in Iowa on the same farm he grew up on and living in the same house. While tending the farm, he writes songs on the kitchen table, and tours between crop cycles.

More information on the new album when it is made available.

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