A concert a month has graced the Leonard Grimes Memorial Amphitheater at Grimes Farm Conservation Center since June, bringing musical talent from all over Iowa to Marshalltown. Whitmore, whose sound blends country, blues, folk and punk elements, was glad to be a part of the fun.

A large crowd gathered at the amphitheater despite the cool fall weather, and when that seating was full, the rest of the audience sat in lawn chairs on the grass. Marshalltown musician Buz Owen opened for Whitmore to get the crowd warmed up, and after a brief introduction from Friends of Marshall County Conservation President Tom Swartz, Whitmore got to work with his banjo, bass drum and guitar.

Throughout the performance, he traded between the guitar and the banjo for different songs, and he took time to socialize with the audience in between songs, providing backstory for songs, or simply making conversation with the crowd.

Whitmore has performed all over Iowa, the U.S. and in many cities around the world for the last 25 years, but to his recollection, Thursday night was his very first time playing in Marshall County.

William Elliott Whitmore traded between a guitar and a banjo during his Thursday night performance at Grimes Farm, all the while keeping up a beat with his bass drum.

“I’m really excited to maybe, you know, meet some new people, and turn some strangers into friends. That’s what I always like to try to do,” Whitmore said. “It’s always nice to play in a town I haven’t really played before, and I just always really enjoy that. I have a lot of Iowa pride, and so I try to make my way around to everywhere I can.”

Whitmore has lived in Lee County for much of his life. He, his wife and their two-year-old daughter reside on the same family farm where he grew up near a small town called Montrose, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He has traveled all over Europe and Australia, and each of the 50 states to bring music to the masses, but at the end of the day, Iowa is home.

“I’ll always return here, to my home, just because I love it so much, and my family is here, and everything I love is here,” Whitmore said. “There were times when I was wandering around, kind of without a home really, just kind of touring, living out of a suitcase basically, but through different circumstances, I came to be right back here on my family farm.”

Whitmore was surrounded by music growing up, and his parents instilled their own passions into him. His father played guitar, and his mother played the piano. He recalls listening to Willie Nelson records at a very young age, three or four at the most.

“There was always music playing,” Whitmore said. “(My parents) had a love of, particularly country music, but a lot of different kinds of stuff, but mostly country music, and so, they passed that love onto me. It’s just a gift that I’ll never forget.”

Whitmore could often be found singing along to the radio or making up songs as a kid, and as he got older, he began to add to his musical repertoire and started to learn how to play the guitar. His grandfather had a banjo, which Whitmore said was always “an object of curiosity,” and he eventually learned how to play the banjo as well. In his teens, Whitmore began to write his own songs.

Whitmore said he played and sang with his cousin for a while, which taught him a lot about music in the process, and they started to play small shows, like Montrose’s Watermelon Festival.

“You write songs, and then you’re like ‘Well, I better play shows and get in front of people.’ It was all just this very slow evolution,” Whitmore said.

In his late teens, Whitmore’s parents passed away, and it made him realize how short life is. He decided that if he wanted to pursue music seriously as a career, he better get started. He took to the road and lived out of a suitcase for a period of time, meeting an assortment of characters and honing his craft.

While Whitmore credits his love of music to his parents, it wasn’t the only thing they passed on to him. A strong work ethic was also instilled in him, and he said it has been vital to his career.

“(There’s) the hard work aspect of it, of touring and playing, and writing and making records, and all that stuff. A lot of hard work, and so, you know, growing up on the farm, there’s always something to do. Cutting firewood, bailing hay and feeding the horses. We had horses and chickens and all that stuff, so a lot of hard work to do, so I was used to that, and that translated well to a music career,” Whitmore said.

Just as his parents did for him, Whitmore hopes to impart the same love for music and the same values to his own daughter.

Over the years, Whitmore has found that his favorite part of his career has been the friendships and relationships that he has formed along the way, and he hopes his songs can reach people and make them think.

“Someone said a long time ago that it’s a, especially a folk singer, or country singer’s job to ‘afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted.’ I want to bring comfort to those that need it, and I want to make uncomfortable those that need that,” Whitmore said. “I just mean to make people think. Now that sounds self-important, I don’t want it to at all. I’m not saying I’m some great artist that’s making everyone think, but what I want to do is make people happy. Or make them sad, or make them think in any kind of way, if possible. I don’t know if I’ve been able to do that, but I like to think that’s kind of the most important thing.”

The purpose of art and music is to make those human connections and to make them feel and think, in Whitmore’s opinion, and he hopes he has done that for the people who listen to his work.

“That’s the most important thing. None of the rest of it matters,” he said. “It’s just people and human relationships and trying to be a positive force in the world.”

His performance on Thursday was met with loud applause and many smiles, and those in attendance seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. In addition to the entertainment, several food trucks were parked during the event to provide event goers with food and beverages.

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Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or

smeyer@timesrepublican.com.