As the touring drummer for Childers, Rod Elkins is the heartbeat of a rhythm section that includes Elkins’ high-school friends and college bandmates who’ve been playing together for the past 10 years. That band, The Food Stamps, has performed sold out concerts around the world, including a headline debut at Red Rocks Amphitheater, concerts at the Ryman Auditorium, The Grand Ole Opry, Mountain Stage, and festivals around the world including Bonnaroo, Stagecoach, Lollapalooza. The band also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and has opened for everyone from Willie Nelson and The Raconteurs to Guns N’ Roses. Rod still lives in his hometown of Huntington, West Virginia, where the band was formed.
In this Episode, Rod talks about:
- How his existing band became the backing band for Tyler Childers, and how they caught the attention of Sturgill Simpson
- What he learned from the Nashville musicians who have recorded Childers’ albums
- Finding ways to create variety in songs with the same groove at the same tempo
- How his lifelong anxiety showed up in his playing, and how he dealt with it
- Why he stays in Huntington, WV, where he grew up and where the music and bands he’s a part of were cultivated
