A storyteller at heart

Clayton Schroeder’s love for music

Simon & Garfunkel hummed through the radio on an ordinary summer day and changed Clayton Schroeder’s life forever.

While attending the University of Evansville in pursuit of a performance theatre degree and a career in acting, Clayton realized that his dreams had changed. But what would he do next?

After graduation, he pursued a variety of different jobs, but none of them seemed to be the right fit. At first, he wasn’t sure what to do, until that inspirational summer day. When he heard Simon & Garfunkel croon through the radio with their narrative, anecdotal lyrics, from that moment on, Clayton knew that he was going to be a storytelling singer-songwriter, too.

“At the time, I didn’t know how to play any instruments. I went to a pawn shop, picked up my guitar, and I haven’t really put it down since,” Clayton said.

After teaching himself how to strum those six steel strings, Clayton’s passion quickly took off. Within a month of learning to play guitar, he quickly began scribbling ideas all over paper. Soon after, he started to develop his own music, with keen attention to the lyrics.

“My music really is my passion project,” he said.

“I have never wanted to be famous or turn music into a full-time career. I just love sharing my songs, and it has made all the difference in my life,” said Clayton, a pod leader in Post-Sterilization Services (PSS) at Ellettsville North.

His love for writing, listening, and surrounding himself with folk music reaches all the way back to some of his cherished childhood memories.

Carefully, Clayton’s father selected a favorite vinyl and placed it on the record player. Together, they sat and listened to storytelling songs and beloved artists like Harry Chapin, John Prine, Paul Simon, and Jim Croce. From these early moments, Clayton fell in love with folk music.

Inspiration and creation

For Clayton, composing and writing music starts with an undeniable, jolting sense of inspiration. His muse lies within the variety and diversity in the world around him, especially when it comes to people and their unique stories.

“I believe that we all have a story, and that’s really how my songwriting began in the first place, Clayton said. “I realized that I wanted to hear about what people were passionate about, what their families were like, their lives. I just started listening and asking people, ‘What is your story?’”

Once inspiration strikes, the journaling begins. The evolution of Clayton’s lyrics starts with a series of ideas and phrases scattered across the paper, organized only by his stream-of-consciousness and free-form writing style. From there, he reviews the concepts and focuses on the aspects that stand out to him the most. Line by line, he builds on the lyrics, drawing on the scribbled inspirations and adding in new ideas to the song. He repeats this process until the song feels and sounds just right to him. Not including a number of songs still in the works, Clayton has composed and written 22 original songs in the pursuit of his musical passion.

“I really feel that I am a storyteller at heart, more than anything. And because of that, almost all of my songs are stories themselves,” said Clayton.

“Music is my outlet for creativity. It’s a way to escape, explore, and express myself in the best way that I know possible,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is that music is a way for me to connect with people, and to share those special connections with the world.”

Folk music and family

For the past two years, Clayton has performed at the Ferdinand Folk Festival in Ferdinand, Indiana as a part of the singer-songwriter competition, and he is looking forward to performing in the 5th Annual Singer-songwriter Showcase for the 10th Annual Ferdinand Folk Festival later this summer as well.

In a nutshell, his music usually falls under the broad scope of singer-songwriter and folk music genres; however, Clayton has a special way of describing his songs.

“I was born and raised in Indiana. I’ve lived here my whole life, and I love that this is where I’m from, and that its where my music comes from,” Clayton said. “Because of that, I like to think of my songs as Home-Grown Hoosier folk music.”

“As a kid, I just started memorizing all of these beautiful songs that I listened to with my dad. And now, I sing those same songs to my kids when I tuck them in at night,” he said.

While his music plays a very important role in his life, Clayton’s family is his greatest joy. His 7-year-old son, Dorian, his 2-year-old daughter, Jessie, and his wife, Lindsay, are some of his biggest fans and supporters.

“The greatest thing that has come from my music has been getting to share this passion and hobby with my family,” Clayton said.

Flashback to the past

The summer after third grade, Clayton and a group of kids were playing freeze tag outside in the yard, when a new kid slowly walked up to the group.

Appearing shy and nervous, he spoke up nonetheless, and asked the group, “Are you guys playing frozen catchers?” he said.

Clayton looked at him confused and said, “No, we’re playing freeze tag, but what’s frozen catchers?”

“Oh, it’s like freeze tag, but we call it frozen catchers where I’m from,” the little boy, Matthew, responded.

“Well,” Clayton responded, “I don’t know about that, but you can play freeze tag with us if you want.”

Ever since that summer day, Clayton and Matthew have been best friends. Inspired by their friendship, Clayton put pen to paper and wrote a song dedicated to his lifelong friend, Matthew. Below is a video of Clayton performing his original song “Frozen Catchers (Story of Two)” at the Ellettsville North Cook facility.

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Written by Alexandria Stanfield, an Editorial Content generalist in the Corporate Marketing and Communications department at Park 48.

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