Boardman native explores Americana sound

October 23, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

The adage regarding luck is that’s what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Someone who knows this to be true is guitarist Timon Lance, who last year joined rising independent act Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes. However, one could argue the Northeast Ohio native’s path to Nashville started in 2004 when the then-recent Boardman High School graduate attended a semester at Belmont University in the Music City.

Even though he was there for a relatively short time before transferring to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston to study songwriting and guitar performance, Lance made connections that last today.

“At the end of last year I was at Indiana University getting my Ph.D. when Daniel called and asked me if I wanted to join the band,” said Lance, 26, calling from New York City. “Before I even made the move, I auditioned for the group in Nashville.”

Considering at the time Lance was playing in a bluegrass band, the decision wasn’t made in haste. Influenced by the likes of Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson, the musician was exploring his acoustic guitar prowess. Then the call came from Ellsworth to not only pick up and leave his home but to plug in his guitar.

Up for something new, Ellsworth accepted earlier this year and hasn’t looked back.

“Daniel’s music was sort of new to me,” Lance said. “I didn’t really play music like that. So when he asked me, it was kind of like a fresh challenge that I had to step up to the plate and kind of rethink how I wrote guitar parts and composed parts to fit into popular music. It sort of forced me to get back to rock ’n’ roll.”

Over the years Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes has been described as Wilco-meets-Paul Simon and Dr. Dog-meets-The Black Keys. This rootsy Americana sound is fully explored on the outfit’s latest effort “Civilized Man,” which doesn’t include Lance.

Already the quartet is looking ahead to its next studio effort with Lance playing a key role in the songwriting. Compared to the previous CD, the new album, tentatively scheduled to be recorded in the spring, is expected to be less melodic or jazz-oriented and more gritty.

One unreleased track currently getting stage time is the up-tempo “Frontline.” Lance said that song could be played when Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes returns to his hometown for a Wednesday show at Happy Hour in Boardman. Even though the venue is a bit out of the way, the Buckeye at heart said it’s run by a friend of his and ultimately the band would rather play there than at some strange location.

Overall, it appears as though Lance is on his way to perhaps something big or at the very least something interesting and fun.

“Yeah, it’s been great,” Lance said. “It’s a good group of guys. I got lucky.”