A local singer/songwriter and musician in Jefferson has recently released his 26th album.

Chad Elliott released the self-produced album, “Untested Wings” on his mother’s birthday on May 27th to all streaming and digital platforms. Elliott tells Raccoon Valley Radio this album is a stripped down version of lyric-based songs that were recorded in one week with just himself on guitar at his mother’s home in Des Moines when she was in Florida. He talks about the background and meaning behind the title track, “Untested Wings.”

“I hadn’t written it until that week (that I recorded the album). Just one morning I’m drinking coffee and I started playing this song and it just came out, and I set up my gear and I recorded it and it’s as is on the album. It’s basically saying, ‘We all fall. We all have to learn how to get back up and it’s a shame that people go through their life without testing their wings. So ‘Untested Wings’ is where that came from.”    

Elliott says the album was recorded two years ago and since the album is self-produced, he added Kathryn Severing Fox with strings and harmonies, Clayton Ryan on upright bass and Jim Van Dorn did some percussion. He explains how “Untested Wings” is different from the other 25 albums he has done before.

“This one is a little bit different because it is really centered around as close to when I wrote the song as possible, where it’s just me and a guitar. And it’s really closer to what I’ve been sounding like, you know, as close to who I am.” 

“Untested Wings” is available on any streaming or digital music service and includes 11 songs.