Caleb Elliott

Caleb Elliott - "Where You Wanna Be"
Pop-rock played straight for a new Lafayette heartthrob. Hunter Hayes, take note, Caleb Elliott is coming on strong. - The Times of Acadiana, Lafayette, La.

Caleb Elliott - "Where You Wanna Be"
Pop-rock played straight for a new Lafayette heartthrob. Hunter Hayes, take note, Caleb Elliott is coming on strong. - The Times of Acadiana, Lafayette, La.

Caleb Elliott - "Where You Wanna Be"
Pop-rock played straight for a new Lafayette heartthrob. Hunter Hayes, take note, Caleb Elliott is coming on strong. - The Times of Acadiana, Lafayette, La.

On his debut album, Lafayette’s Caleb Elliott takes us back to a sweeter pop era—the early ’90s, when artists Toad the Wet Sprocket and the Gin Blossoms offered sincerity and longing atop clean guitar work. For such a young guy, Elliott’s sound lacks only rough edges, blessed as he is with an idyllic voice and a catchy sensibility. He falls hard, but the ordered production makes you certain his love won’t go unrequited for long. As a lyricist, Elliott is downright nice.

With so much talent, Elliott probably needs a little heartbreak to separate himself from those earlier pop acts, who sold a lot of singles but tend to blend together in hindsight. Along with his songwriting skills, Elliott plays a mean cello. On “I Would Never” and “Where You Wanna Be,” we hear how well that instrument works with Elliott’s lively voice. The Brit-pop feel of “Run,” which lays effects over Elliott’s voice, gives us the spaciest strings on the album. Notably, Susan Cowsill provides backup vocals on the record.

The fiddle-laden closing track, “Le Reel Fache,” bares his roots in Acadiana. Curiously, the song ends rather abruptly, with only a snippet of vocals. It’s up to the artist to decide if home turf is worth turning, but you get the feeling Caleb Elliott can go wherever he wants. A few bumps in the road will serve him well. - OffBeat magazine, New Orleans, La.

Singer, songwriter, cellist and guitarist Caleb Elliott hails from south Louisiana, but his songs and sound are not limited to his immediate geography.

Elliott’s debut album, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, is slated for a November release. On it, he’s backed by the likes of singer Susan Cowsill, Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond and Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys guitarist Sam Broussard.

The sprightly cut “Where You Wanna Be” showcases his strengths: An unabashed pop sense, pleasant voice, earnest lyrics and a sly integration of cello and acoustic guitar.

Elliott is featured for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s weekly “Ogden After Hours” show on Thursday, Sept. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. He’ll be joined by guitarist Sam Broussard.

Photo caption: Lafayette's Caleb Elliott is bound for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on Thursday, Sept. 13. - The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Singer, songwriter, cellist and guitarist Caleb Elliott hails from south Louisiana, but his songs and sound are not limited to his immediate geography.

Elliott’s debut album, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, is slated for a November release. On it, he’s backed by the likes of singer Susan Cowsill, Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond and Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys guitarist Sam Broussard.

The sprightly cut “Where You Wanna Be” showcases his strengths: An unabashed pop sense, pleasant voice, earnest lyrics and a sly integration of cello and acoustic guitar.

Elliott is featured for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s weekly “Ogden After Hours” show on Thursday, Sept. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. He’ll be joined by guitarist Sam Broussard.

Photo caption: Lafayette's Caleb Elliott is bound for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art on Thursday, Sept. 13. - The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Caleb Elliott's debut record, "Where You Wanna Be," has clues this 26-year-old singer-songwriter may be in store for a big career. Just take a look at the credits.

The album was recorded across south Louisiana, at Lafayette's KRVS studios, Dockside Studios in Maurice and New Orleans' Fudge Studios — where NOLA's own Better than Ezra recorded its platinum albums before making the studio open to the public.

Moreover, "Where You Wanna Be" features an all-star cast alongside the first glimpses of Elliot's songs — Doug Belote plays drums, Better than Ezra's Tom Drummond provides bass lines and Sam Broussard provides some electric guitar and banjitar licks. The album also features Tony Daigle, Josef Butts, Susan Cowsill, Harmony Minturn and Mitch Reed. Production and mixing came with the help of Daigle and Aaron Thomas, and his manager Todd Mouton.

For Elliott, the entire experience was humbling.

"I believed in my material," Elliott said. "When these people said, 'I want to be a part of this,' it took it to another level for me, personally. That was a confirmation I could have never asked for."

More interesting is Elliott's musical background. He grew up in Natchitoches, in a predominately religious family. His mother's father was a gospel singer. Elliott spent most of his high-school career, playing cello.

At 17, Elliott was the only teen from Louisiana to be a part of the National Youth Honor Orchestra's performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.

"Cello, cello, cello," he said about his past. "I grew up listening to classical music and sacred music, like hymns. I can't tell you the number of hours I spent listening to and practicing Bach."

Elliott came to Lafayette at 18 on an orchestra scholarship. But while in college, his musical palette started incorporating more sounds. He found freedom in a more a laid-back schedule and atmosphere.

"For the first two years of college, I would just be playing my guitar in my dorm room," he said. "I was playing eight hours a day. Before that, I would spend all night, practicing cello then go to the basement to play guitar. I would sleep through classes the next day. It was freeing."

By 20, friends were encouraging Elliott to play local clubs at Artmosphere and Bisbano's. Elliott performs for a CD release party at 10 p.m. today at the Blue Moon, 215 E. Convent St., in downtown Lafayette. Tickets are $10.

Elliott started what he called "the dorm room sessions," arranging and recording his material. Mouton had known Elliott and eventually got a disc of Elliott's tunes.

"I put them in my player, and I didn't take it out," Mouton said. "You start thinking, 'Wait, I bet other people would like this, too. We just started talking. It had a lot of potential, and we started thinking, 'Where do you start?' That was exciting. We created a big a vision as we could, and wanted to see how it unfolded."

The result is a radio-ready disc of nine songs, like the incessantly catch "I Don't Mind," and spookier track, "Run." It's an album that shows a young talent at the start of his career, and that career only seems like it will only grow.

"A lot of my inspiration for these songs is me wanting to find my place and know that I'm doing the right thing in my life," Elliott said.

"Where You Wanna Be" is a grab-bag of pop music. There are ballads, up-tempo rockers and experiments. But it's all Elliott, and he's excited for what will come next. Whatever does present itself, though, he'll keep doing what he does best — being himself.

"I could tell you this," he said. "I have a hard time being anything but me." - The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, La.

You haven’t heard of Caleb Elliott yet. But you will. The lanky, baby-faced kid from Lafayette has just released a fantastic new pop record, Where You Wanna Be, crackling with happy, upbeat, often wistful songs that are mature beyond Elliott’s years — deftly written arrangements, earnest lyrics that variously bring to mind everything from Joni Mitchell to Toad the Wet Sprocket to the Beatles to JJ Grey, with the vocal command of Jeff Buckley. Or something like that. It’s a damn good record.

But don’t take our word for it, check out the guest musicians on Elliott’s disc: Doug Belote, Sam Broussard, Josef Butts, Susan Cowsill, Tony Daigle, Tom Drummond, Harmony Minturn and Mitch Reed. That’s a roster.

Many of those fine musicians will join Elliott at the Blue Moon Saloon on Saturday, Nov. 3, for a CD-release party. It’s a double bill with Al Berard & The Girls. Admission is $10 and the record will be on sale for the same price. If you’re more 21st century you can purchase a download card for the full album for $5. Learn more about this up-and-coming singer-songwriter at his website, CalebElliott.com. - The Independent, Lafayette, La.