MUSIC

    William Lee Ellis

    William Lee Ellis

    Presented by Memphis Acoustic Music Association (MAMA)

    July 29, 2011

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    Acclaimed Americana/Blues guitarist William Lee Ellis leaves the sultry South next month to teach at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, newly armed with his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology. Quite a few Memphis musicians will sit in for a few farewell numbers with Ellis: Dr.David Evans, Mark Allen, Andy Cohen, Reba Russell, Susan Marshall, to name a few.

    Named after his godfather, bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe, Ellis grew up in a musical family -- his father, Tony Ellis, was one of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys.
    In college, Ellis took his musical studies in a new direction, earning a master's degree in classical performance from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music. While there, Ellis chanced upon a musician who would change his life: Piedmont blues giant Reverend Gary Davis. "Davis was a great sacred bluesman," Ellis says. "There's a combination of the heavenly and the hellish;… wonderful dynamics… tension and drama."
    His discovery led Ellis to other bluesmen - Blind Blake, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, and Willie McTell. Ellis learned to combine Davis's finger-picking technique with his classical performance background and the bluegrass-infused memories of his youth. Yet it's clear that he's no revivalist -- Ellis writes his own unique music, using old blues forms to express his contemporary experiences. In his quest to capture the timeless appeal of pre-war blues, and to make the music's message live for today, Ellis has created a new style of Americana / roots music - one that's all his own.
    Ellis has recorded three albums: Righteous Blues; Preachin' in That Wilderness, a '92 collaboration with Andy Cohen and Eleanor Ellis; The Full Catastrophe, an album hailed by the international press from Billboard to the London Times), and finally his finest record to date - Conqueroo.
    This will be the last chance Memphians will have the opportunity to hear Bill Ellis for a long time…so don’t miss it!


    • At-a-
      Glance

      • Venue Info

        Otherlands Coffee Bar

        641 S. Cooper St
        Memphis, TN 38107

        Full map and directions

      • Admission Info

        Tickets:

        $12 Tickets are at Davis-Kidd Booksellers and at Otherlands Coffee Bar. Students with ID are half price.

        Info Phone: 901-274-1626

      • Dates & Times

        Dates:
        July 29, 2011

        Times:

        8 pm

      • Accessibility Info

          Events sponsored by Memphis Acoustic Music Association (MAMA) are open to everyone regardless of ethnic origin, religion, gender, age, etc.

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