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William Lee Ellis: Homepage
This is the official website for William Lee Ellis. Singer/guitarist/songwriter William Lee Ellis was raised in the deep roots of American music. His earliest experience came backing his father, former Blue Grass Boy Tony Ellis (William Lee is the godson of Bill Monroe and was named after him). Some of his earliest memories are childhood trips to Tommy Jarrell's home with his father and being bounced on his godfather's knee.
He spent his adolescence backing his fiddle-and-banjo-playing dad at bluegrass festivals and contests (while playing Neil Young in his spare time). In college, Ellis took his musical studies in a new direction, spending eight years performing classical guitar and earning a master's degree from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music(CCM).
But he also heard a musician that would change his life: Piedmont blues giant Rev. Gary Davis. His initiation into the world of finger-picking was through Davis expert and well-known folk-blues revivalist Andy Cohen. The combination of demanding technique that rivaled the classical repertoire with a Southern folk style brought it all together for Ellis, reconciling his classical studies with his Appalachian roots. It led to other players that would influence Ellis's approach: Blind Blake, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell.
But though they inspired him to continue their legacy, Ellis is no revivalist. He writes his own music, using old blues forms to express his contemporary experiences. In so doing he seeks to capture the timeless appeal - the raw beauty and honesty - of pre-war blues, and to make the music's message live for today.
While at the conservatory, Ellis co-founded the Midnight Steppers, an acoustic Delta/jug band/rockabilly group that included longtime collaborator and compadre Larry Nager (producer and multi-instrumentalist on
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