Ethereal in E on ice

COEUR d’ALENE — It’s 27 degrees, snow is falling and the local musician known as Ethereal in E is sitting on an ice-covered Fernan Lake on Tuesday afternoon,

He’s not fishing, as one might expect of someone out here in a winter storm.

He’s playing what is called a tongue drum for a nationwide audience.

In front of him is a cell phone attached to a tripod and this performance, literally in the middle of nature, is going out live to his TikTok followers.

“Because it’s awesome,” Adam Foote says when asked why he’s here, about 50 yards from shore, with no one around but for some ice fishermen farther out.

Adam, who prefers to go by his stage name of Ethereal in E, loves going to beautiful places in nature and producing peaceful, pleasing music.

“This is what I got going on here,” he says. “I turn on a live video, I just starting playing music and talk to people and it’s wonderful.”

People in response support his efforts by sending him money and buying his CDs, available online and at the Long Ear in Coeur d’Alene.

Adam was not deterred from venturing out on ice, about five inches thick, even after falling through a thinner layer last week, in water up to his knees, before the cold snap arrived.

“It’s plenty thick now,” he says.

Precoronavirus, he performed around town — bars, restaurants, street shows, weddings, funerals — anywhere you need a musician.

“But then COVID hit and changed everything,” he said. “No offers to do anything.”

So he decided to focus on his online business, and last year was the first music was his primary source of income.

Another musician told him of finding success on TikTok.

“I thought, 'Well, I’m going to give it a shot,'” he said.

Good thing.

“It exploded like crazy,” he added with a big smile.

Ethereal in E said he has gained half a million followers.

“Isn’t that insane?” he asked. “I’m almost to a million followers on TikTok.”

He was enjoying his performance in the snow on Tuesday, keeping both his followers engaged while fielding questions from The Press.

He arrived about 11 a.m. and planned to stay out until about 2 p.m.

“If I’m not freezing to death,” he said, laughing.

The tongue drum, Foote added, is “really simple. You just tap on it.”

Not many play it, he said, adding it’s “relatively unknown” and was created about a decade ago.

Each tongue cut into the metal is unique. The smaller the tongue, the higher the note.

“Depending on the size of the tongue, it’s actually tuned to a note,” he said as he tapped it and produced soothing sounds.

Ethereal in E feels inspired when he's in North Idaho's outdoors, which he points out is for most residents, just a short drive, even a walk, away.

“It’s easy for us to get lost in the town life and living in the city and being in building and whatnot,” he said. “We forget there’s like this huge wilderness all around us, and it’s so beautiful.”