But once he did, his career took off.

“It’s hard to pinpoint an exact starting point,” Schoof, who goes by Ethan Todd on stage, said. “I’ve been playing guitar since I was 13, but I didn’t take it really seriously. In high school I was more focused on sports and other stuff. In college, especially during COVID, I started to play more and got obsessed with just playing. I wasn’t singing at all. And then eventually I just sang more and more.”

Schoof, a New Ulm native and 2019 graduate of Minnesota Valley Lutheran, attended an open mic event at a local cafe and received positive feedback for his playing. After that, he took his first professional gig on Mother’s Day of 2023, just after graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

“I remember I had just reached out to this place and that’s when I played my first gig,” Schoof said. “Just been playing since then.”

Submitted photo Ethan Schoof plays the pedal steel guitar with Jake Birdseye at the Lake’s Jam music festival in Brainerd.

Now Schoof plays frequently all around the Duluth area, traveling as far east as the Wisconsin Dells and as far south as back home to New Ulm and Schell’s Brewery, where he has performed many times.

“I have played at Schell’s multiple times,” Schoof said. “It’s always one of my favorite places to play, just because its great to come home, see some familiar faces. Schell’s is just a great spot.”

Schoof mostly plays covers at his performances, but does mix in one or two originals songs.

“I try to sprinkle in a few originals,” he said. “I’ve just learned that covers are what people are familiar with and you make better money playing covers.”

When Schoof does write a song, he tends to play one of two genres — traditional American country or folk style, and classic rock.

Submitted photo Ethan Schoof sings for a live perfomance for KTWH 99.5 FM, a radio station in the Two Harbors region.

“You don’t want to put yourself in a box, because you’d like to think you’re doing something original,” Schoof said. “But everything does have a genre at the end of the day. My stuff falls into one of two categories. One is more country, bluegrass, folk influence, stripped down acoustic kind of sound. But I do also write a lot in a more classic rock kind of sound. But even that has some influence from those acoustic genres like southern rock.”

Schoof’s favorite original piece may be the first one he ever performed in public –Meet Me By the River.

“It’s one of those things where they’re like your kids,” Schoof said. “It’s a tough thing [to pick a favorite] … But I would say the favorite song I’ve ever written is Meet Me By the River. That was the first original I ever played for an audience, maybe played for anyone … It was at our UMD talent show when I was a senior. I got so much positive reinforcement that made me decide to play professionally. That all came from playing that song.

“I like it because it’s concise — I feel like there’s no filler in the song at all. It’s one of those songs that I feel like the lyrics, the melody and the guitar part, because often I’m writing it all, it’s one of those ones where they’re all strong. I always have a really strong emotional connection to it when I play. I just think all the factors are there and it feels good.”

Schoof said the most rewarding part of playing professionally is when he does get a positive response on his original work.

Submitted photo Ethan Schoof perfoms at a gig in Silverbay at the North of Nashville concert event.

“When I play originals, there’s not a better feeling for me when someone has something nice to say about it,” he said. “When you play mostly covers, when you play your one original, people tend to skip over it. It’s not memorable. They haven’t heard it before. The best feeling is when you play an original and someone comes up to you afterward or in the middle of the performance [they] yell out.

“I played an original once and I had a lady tell me it was the best song all night. I remember when someone said it was their favorite song that I played. But aside playing originals and getting good feedback, I would say getting people to dance, seeing people dance. I just played recently and this older couple was dancing to an old song I was playing. Music connects people. Those are the really great moments to see.”

Those wanting to look into Schoof’s music career can find him on Facebook, where he goes by Ethan Schoof. He can also be found on Instagram, where his handle is ethantoddmusic.

Submitted photo Ethan Schoof plays guitar in a band during the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Fall Jam festival in 2023.

Submitted photo Ethan Schoof performs at Schell’s Brewery in New Ulm.