Singer, songwriter, retreat leader--Keith Elder has spoken and performed for over thirty years in a wide variety of church, conference, and community settings. While serving local churches in North Alabama as a youth director then as a pastor, Keith continued to write and record, play small concert venues, and provide leadership for special events.  

Speaking of music... Keith has recorded five full projects, with the latest, "Perfect World," being completed in October, 2011. Besides many theme songs for service organizations and special events, he has also written and produced several small-scale musicals

Keith's songs are life/people songs crossing the lines of Christian, Folk/Americana, Musical Theater, and borderline Bluegrass.   He says he just writes what come out on a given day. Call him "genre-challenged," but these days he is shooting for an honest word, a compelling story, and a fitting musical form to carry the message.  "Perfect World" is a pretty good sampler of his varied forms.  Probably his favorite songwriter quote comes from the legendary Roger Miller: "Songwriting is easy. It's like taking candy...from a bear."

Because the new songs continue to surface, Keith's concerts are ever-evolving, but all include songs, stories, heartfelt moments and food for thought.  If you hear echoes of James Taylor, Jim Croce, John Denver, and other acoustic artists from the 1970's and 80's, you won't be the first.  

Keith and his wife Jean have been married 33 years and currently reside in Franklin, Tennessee. They have one daughter, Carey Beth (a proud Auburn grad) who lives and works in San Francisco.