Elijah Doty
Sound Guy And So Much More
Elijah Doty is a 23-year-old Illinois boy who is “living the dream” according to his Facebook intro. He loves God, country and bluegrass music, horses, and emergency management. In the bluegrass community, he is primarily known as a sound technician and multi-instrumentalist. However, Doty also serves his community as a worship leader, horse trainer, fire fighter, and first responder. This young man is the total package.
With his versatility, the multi-tasker explained his duties in bluegrass. “Depending on the group, usually I’m either a front-of-house audio engineer or production manager for the bands. We don’t carry everything in bluegrass like a normal touring country or rock ‘n’ roll band would do.”
Doty works for several touring individuals. “I work across the board (with others), but Joe (Mullins) is my primary guy. He works about one to two weekends a month and I always go with him, but I also freelance and private contract with other people as well. I’ve worked most recently with Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland. I also worked with Rhonda (Vincent) and the Kody Norris Show. I used to work with the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys and I’ve contracted with different regional festivals as well: the Brown County Festival, the Winding Creek Bluegrass Festival, and Bean Blossom to mix front of house for David Chichester.”
Though he operates sound for others, Doty almost reluctantly admits that he owns his own full audio system. Working for others is easier. “I’m trying to get out of that, to tell the truth, because it’s a lot of work, and working for the band is what I’d prefer to do any day. Just get on the bus, go run their sound for a couple of hours, and then go back to the bus and go to sleep kind of thing.”
Doty shared a little of his personal history that eventually led him to the position he works today. “Growing up, my grandpa was probably the most influential guy. His name is Randall Stierwalt. He has a great musical ear and can play about any instrument. I grew up hearing him play banjo here, locally in Illinois in a group called Muddy Creek. They played little churches and different festivals on a small scale. He also plays pedal steel guitar in country music as well. I got my love for music seeing him perform on stage and play at church. That’s where I started playing (in church).
“When I was about five years old, he had a little mandolin. He put Velcro over the strings and I learned how to play rhythm. There wasn’t much sound coming out of the mandolin. It was basically where I learned how to chop. The first bluegrass Festival I ever went to was called the Chet Kingery Memorial Bluegrass Festival. It was held in Arthur, Illinois. Their sound guy was Dave Yount. They had Doyle Lawson, Russell Moore, and Michael Cleveland, and I was mind-blown by the quality of music that they could bring to a little tiny festival in my small hometown area.
“Doyle was the first band I ever saw that carried a sound guy. It was so cool to see Kevin McKinnon, who is still one of my lifelong heroes that I get to work with all the time. He works with Authentic Unlimited now. Then I met Donnie Carver who worked sound for Russell Moore. As a fiddle player, I was just mind-blown to see Michael Cleveland. He had a sound guy and I got to hang around the sound booth. John Holder (Blue Ridge Sound) was a great influence as well. Jackson Bethune worked with him and we are good friends. I grew up going to Bean Blossom and camping with my grandparents. Dave Chichester who ran the sound company there was very influential.
“My relatives on that side of the family play—my aunt and my cousins. However, in my immediate family, none of them play: my dad, mom, brother, and sister. They did not get any musical ear at all. I grew up in church and the fiddle was the first actual instrument I learned at the age of 11. Then I got involved with the Illinois Fiddlers Old Time Association. I won the junior division Illinois State fiddle championship in 2016. At that contest, I got offered a job, at a very young age, to work at a theater in Effingham, Illinois as a stagehand. That’s where I got my love for audio engineering, stage work, and the production side of things.”
Doty attended public school in Illinois, but received lots of hands on training out in the community which opened many doors for him. “There were only 20 people in my 2020 graduating class. I didn’t spend much time at the school. It was a small town school and I was allowed to work at the theater as a co-op. My junior and senior years I was allowed to go on the road and work with production companies for bands.
“Yount owned a company out of Indiana called Bluegrass Productions. He set up at a couple of festivals. When I was in high school, I was in a class that was called the CEO program. I was able to get a grant and ended up buying his company out. I got the sound trailer with all his equipment and ended up buying his company. I got all of his contracts which included Winding Creek and the Chet Kingery Bluegrass Festivals. I still do those twice annually.”
His initial interest in piano started through a former girlfriend. “I dated a girl in high school who was a phenomenal piano player. She could play like Jerry Lee Lewis and it became kind of a musical competition between us. She had perfect pitch and could play just about any instrument. I’d learn an instrument and then she’d learn an instrument. I could not figure out the piano and it drove me absolutely crazy because I wanted to play that old Floyd Kramer, and Jerry Lee Lewis stuff (like her). I loved it because we would go to nursing homes and entertain. I wanted to be able to play dueling pianos with her. Then one day she dumped me. I thought, ‘I just bought this piano and I’m gonna learn how to play it!’ I ended up playing. I fell in love with it because I grew up hearing all the songs in church. I had messed with hymns for years, but to play an actual song with a band all the time was something new to me.”
Following graduation, Doty then pursued a degree in sound engineering.
“It was during COVID. I did not get to complete the full program. I was planning on going to the trade school (Blackbird Studios in Nashville), but I ended up doing a lot of online classes. During that time stent, Josh Rinkle of the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys called. He knew me from bluegrass. I have been working the stage at Bean Blossom with David Chichester for a couple of years. They needed a sound guy to fill in so I spent about five months on the road with those guys. They were my first bluegrass band to be on the road with them.
“I completed the course with Blackbird. At that point, COVID had really taken over. I came back home to work with my dad on the family farm, raising Angus and Hereford cattle and raising row crops of corn and soybeans. I also worked for an ambulance company. I ended up going to EMT school and I spent a little bit of time as a firefighter, signing a six-month contract in the St. Louis area. I was still doing (sound for local) festivals. I ended up doing the Grascals. I had worked with them for years and had known all those guys. Chris Davis called me one day and said, ‘Hey, I am getting ready to go work for Joe Mullins and he needs a sound guy. Would you be OK if I gave him your name?’ I said, ‘That’ll be fine.’ Joe called me a couple days later and offered me a job so I ended up going on the road with the Radio Ramblers. I’ve been with them ever since. It’s been three years now.” Working as an audio engineer, Doty has found himself on the road quite a bit. “I have worked in 44 different states and a cruise ship over the past five years. I have also worked in Canada.”
Another sound guy, David Chichester of GBS, weighed in on Doty’s abilities. “Live sound, especially in the acoustic world, requires skills acquired over years of experience. Every once in a while a young engineer will come along with a great attitude, work ethic, and talents to soak it up from us old road dogs and improve every time he goes out. Elijah is one of those great next-generation road dogs. I’m proud of his achievements.”
A multi-instrumentalist, Doty shares his talent in various ways. “I play guitar in church and locally. Then I play electric bass in a country band with my grandpa about three nights a month at various venues like VFWs and dance halls. We play classic country like Merle Haggard and George Jones.”
He’s content doing just that. “I do not want to be an entertainer. My main instrument right now is piano. I play by ear in church and honky-tonk piano with my grandpa.” Doty has a wide range of skills. He also is an experienced equestrian. He enjoys working with and training horses. “That’s my main passion,” the young entrepreneur readily admitted.
Doty shared his future aspirations. Interestingly, his desires don’t only focus on music but rather on helping his community. “I would love to go back to school and get a degree in emergency management. I’m involved with the search and rescue team here. I do 911 dispatch part-time as well. I am very blessed to do these things.” He would enjoy working in emergency management with an organization like FEMA. “If there was a natural disaster in our area, I’d love to be in charge of organizing different groups that work in the emergency management agency.”
Elijah Doty has an infectious smile that people notice. It serves as his method of spreading his faith. “I want people to know that I’m a Christian above all else. That’s one thing that I want everybody to see in my smile. I go to bluegrass festivals and there’s always some older folks that come up to tell me how they like my smile. I want to shine the light of Jesus through that.”
Joe Mullins praised Doty. “I love Elijah! He’s a blessing in so many ways. He’s helped The Radio Ramblers tremendously, going on three years now. He’s traveled with us as our sound technician to most of our performances since November of 2022. Elijah has also been in charge of all sound for our award-winning Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festivals over the past few years. His abilities are supported by his sincerity—he really seeks to serve the artists and the audience simultaneously with excellence. He’s a lifelong musician himself and has been working consistently since he was a kid in bluegrass, traditional country, and gospel music. He has a servant’s heart, also carrying certifications as a firefighter, search and rescue leader, and much more. He’s a hard worker and an outstanding team member in every position God puts him in.”
Michael Cleveland, fiddle master, shared, “Elijah is a pro in every sense of the word. If he goes out with us, I know the mix is going to be right. We just got back from a show in Savannah, Georgia that he worked with Jason Carter and I. We had to load in at 4:00, but way earlier that afternoon, Elijah had already gone to the venue, talked to the crew, and knew all the details about the PA and pretty much anything else we needed to know. That has been my experience every time he has worked with us. He is one of the best and I would say he’s going to be that in whatever he decides to pursue.”
Mary Rachel Norris of the Kody Norris Show noted Doty’s skill set as well. “The Kody Norris Show has worked with Elijah several times throughout the last couple of years at festivals all over the country and even using him to run sound at our event we host in Mountain City, Tennessee, the Backyard Breakdown. He’s always accommodating and ready to work, which are two things we feel you don’t find much in today’s world; especially at such a young age! He has a great career ahead of him and we look forward to any time we get to work with Elijah!”
Elijah Doty confessed that he had shared with his grandpa the surrealness of being the subject of this article. “It is so crazy,” he admitted at the close of the interview. “I grew up looking at his Bluegrass Unlimited magazine every month for years and years. It was so cool to be asked to do this…” Elijah Doty is still “living the dream”!
