By Abi Falin Horspool
“Throughout all of human history, music has been a huge cultural implement,” says 16-year-old country rock artist Alex Elggren. “It’s a way to pass down stories and pass down traditions.”
For Alex, the most important element of creating music is just that: “carrying on the tradition and carrying on the American culture of it.” He wants people to connect to the stories he tells through song.
Alex has been making music since he was young. He learned piano at a young age (along with the rest of his family), picked up guitar when he was 11 or 12, and joined One Voice Children’s Choir – performing in places like Switzerland and Japan.
Now, Alex is branching out, performing his music with a band, creating social media content that’s getting tons of traction, and writing his own stuff.
He says he enjoys performing with his band because he has more control over his creative vision and can express his personality more easily.
One of his favorite places to play at is the Utah State Fair, which he’s done twice now. He says he loves the feeling of playing with a band. “As fun as it is to do solo stuff with just me and my guitar, my favorite part about performing is performing with other people,” Alex says.
In Alex’s music, you can feel the influence of country, but also rock influences like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Eric Clapton. He worked with a producer and instrumentalists in Nashville, Tennessee on his most recent music, and plans to write his own lyrics and instrumental parts for his upcoming EP.
When it comes to what he writes about, Alex says, “I like stories, for sure. I think a lot of the best songs … tell a story and set up a setting and set up some characters, with a lot of feeling to it.” Alex loves to read, but he enjoys books about real topics, like social commentaries by people like George Orwell and Henry David Thoreau. He wants to help people with his musical stories.
And he wants those stories to hold their own. “If you just read the lyrics out loud with no melody and no instruments,” he says, “I like having it still be able to have a lot of meaning and hold up really well.” He wants to share meaningful stories that can connect with people.
That connection with people is important to Alex, but so is his relationship with the earth. “I’ve always been connected to the outdoors,” Alex says. He enjoys hunting, hiking, riding horses, and studying agriculture – all things you might expect from a country rock artist.
Alex is still cranking out new music, social media content, and playing new gigs all the time. He’s looking forward to releasing an EP soon.
In the meantime, be sure to give Alex a follow on Instagram, and listen to his latest song, “Done For,” below.