And Then There Was One…

The Vinyl Countdown

rom The Redwoods to his many guises with brother Dylan, Elliot Crampton has been making music all his life.

Quite literally, given that his musician parents made sure his very first present was musical.

Having garnered national recognition throughout the years – including appearing on The Late Late Show with his brother – Elliot has always worn his art on his sleeve. And is now ready to go it alone…

As his solo debut, Voice Of A Smoker, is unleashed this week (making the RTE Recommends list, and a splash in Hot Press), Elliot here charts those early years being surrounded and seduced by music, and reveals those songs that can make him break down and cry…

My parents are both musicians so there was always music and instruments in the house.

The day I was born, my parents got me a blow-up guitar and not long after that, I got a drum too. Now, funnily enough, my two main instruments are the drums and the guitar. Weird, ay…?

Pity they didn’t give me an accountancy book and a toy house, maybe now I’d have heaps of money and own a home, haha…

From a very young age, I turned to writing songs to express my emotions and process my feelings.

Pic: Oscar Hackett 2022

That is now the main reason I write songs as an adult; to process my thoughts and my emotions. I’ve a very emotional, sensitive, anxious head on me and I have found that the best way to deal with that at times is to sing it out.

I think that’s why it has taken me until now to release anything as Elliot Crampton because I tend to write those songs for myself and they can be quite personal and almost like my diary. So you’re putting yourself out there and your emotions out there, and it’s sort of scary to let people into that headspace. With the bands I’ve been in it’s different because there are a few of you and you’re releasing music with a band’s name.

Anyway, I’m here now and I’m going for it. I’ll be releasing more music throughout the year and hopefully my songs will connect with people.

There are so many songs that I want to and could add to this list, but these are the ones that come to mind straight away…

The Band The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down 
This song just takes me back to sitting in the car with my dad and siblings in an absolutely packed Stephens Green car park, trying to leave, but not moving at all and just listening to music as we sat on the ramp. We had probably just had an ice-cream from the shopping centre after looking at the portraits of Phil Lynott on the top floor and in my head it was definitely on a lovely sunny day in town.
The passion in Levon Helm’s voice here is just off the charts, it just really hits me and connects with me and makes me want to experience whatever the hell he appears to be experiencing in this video. I also love that he’s the drummer and lead vocalist here. I ended up doing the same thing in two of my bands over the years and he made it seem possible for me.

Thin Lizzy Dear Miss Lonely Hearts
Again, this song just takes me back to when I was about twelve or so, driving through Stillorgan on the way to visit my granny. We listened to so much music in the car and to this day, I buy CD’s and I listen to them in my car. It’s my favourite place to listen to music.
I love to listen to an album the whole way through and when I buy a CD, I’ll listen to it three times the whole way through in the car to figure out what I like about it and what songs stand out for me.
I remember it was in the car where I learned to listen to what the different instruments were doing in a song, to focus in on what the bass was playing. It was really exciting to be able to almost isolate certain instruments while listening to the whole song. I remember being really excited when I felt I was able to do that. Anyway, I just really like this song and love the twin guitars.

Emmylou Harris Where Will I Be
This song makes me feel nostalgic. My mom used to play this album, Wrecking Ball, in the house a lot. It’s a fantastic album. I really like how this song sounds and the production of it and I absolutely love the drums in it. I also love how haunting it is, the delays and reverbs really give it that haunting, spacious feel.
If I’m feeling blue or nostalgic, I sometimes put this album on and it has made me cry before.

Guy Clark Dublin Blues
We used to have a Guy Clark tape, yes a tape and we listened to it a lot, again, in the car. I remember the car was red. My dad tells me it was a red Ford Orion. My mom was away in Australia with my younger sister visiting her family and I distinctly remember driving around with my older sister and my dad listening to this tape and we just really connected with this song and Black Diamond Strings.

Eagles Heart of the Matter
We used to watch Hell Freezes Over on DVD. This particular song has always stuck with me. I’ve always found it sad, but it’s always hit me hard lyrically, especially as I got older and experienced relationships, it makes me think of my family and it sometimes makes me cry. I also thought it was cool that Don Henley was both a drummer and a singer.

Bruce Springsteen Waitin’ On A Sunny Day
We went on a family trip to our friend’s cottage in Wexford when I was quite young and Bruce Springsteen’s album The Rising was the album of the trip so I have very fond memories of this album.
I remember one particular night we were all outside in the garden and there was a meteor shower and we all stayed outside and watched the stars in the cold.

The Beatles Real Love
This is just one of my favourite songs ever. I love the dramatic intro and all the lovely guitar work and the melody. I play this song at most of my gigs.

You can check out Elliot Crampton’s Voice Of A Smoker on Spotify here and Soundcloud here, and go follow the guy on Instagram here. You can also catch our Nov 2020 chat with Elliot here.