Artist Spotlight - Kevin Elliott
HaromoNNY is thrilled to announce our September Artist Spotlight, Kevin Elliott, who is an incredibly talented pianist and singer. His family and friends fondly refer to him as “The Billy Joel of the North Country.”
Kevin first got into music when he began playing the trombone in school. At the age of twelve, he took up piano because he truly wanted to be in a band. Kevin was performing live at the age of fifteen when the band, Feather, in which his older brother Steve was performing in at the time, needed a new pianist. Kevin joked that when he passed the audition, his parents only let him perform in the bar scene at such a young age because his older brother was there, which Mr. Elliott shared may not have been the smartest decision.
Since his first live performance, Kevin has played in at least six different bands. When Kevin was twenty years old, he went on the road with the nine-piece horn band, Mirage. The band wrote their own music and released a forty-five featuring one of their singles (be sure to check the link below to listen to Kevin’s original song “Remember the Times”). Following Mirage, Kevin played and toured with The Michael Meade Band and The John Michael Band.
When Kevin’s son, Brian, was born, he took a fifteen year hiatus from performing live. He got back into playing about eight years ago when Brian was old enough to hear him fill in with The John Michael Band and he encouraged his Dad by telling him that he needed to do this more often.
Kevin currently plays with the jazz band, Segue, with a number of his family members. The band includes Kevin on keyboard, Steve Elliott on drums, Sarah Elliott on keyboard, Joseph Foy on bass, and Robert Harvell on saxophone and flute. The band plays a couple times a month at places like the Sackets Harbor Ballroom, Tug Hill Vineyards, and Busted Grapes. Check out our HarmoNNY calendar to see when they are playing next!
Kevin is highly involved in the community and is frequently volunteering his time to play for fundraisers and other types of events. Additionally, he plays for a number of pit bands for Watertown Lyric Theater. Some members of Lyric Theater have even formed a collective band that performs a few times a year and they jokingly call themselves “The Kevin Elliott Experience” or KEX for short.
Along with performing, Kevin has also given piano lessons in the past and has taught approximately thirty students how to play and enjoy music. His first student was his niece, Sarah Elliott and since that time, Kevin has also taught his own kids to play piano, as well as HarmoNNY’s Board President, Joseph Foy. He likes to think of himself as someone who can show his students that this is fun. “If the music is interesting and the lesson is interesting, they will practice.”
It is evident that when Kevin performs he loves music! He shared that “When I play or sing or anything I do pertaining to music, I think it is evident that I enjoy it… I don’t do it for a living… I do it because I enjoy it. Hopefully that projects to the people that I have taught or even the people that are listening to me.”
To find out more about Kevin, watch the full interview and check out the links below.
