Biography

Acclaimed Americana/Blues guitarist William Lee Ellis was raised in the deep roots of American music. Named after his godfather, legendary bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe, Ellis grew up in a musical family – his father, Tony Ellis, was one of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys.

Ellis writes his own unique music, using old blues forms and apocalyptic gospel themes as a vocabulary to express contemporary experiences. In his quest to capture the timeless appeal of pre-war traditions, and to make the music's message live for today, Ellis has created a brand of Americana/roots music that's all his own.

Ellis' recordings have been hailed by the international press from Billboard to the London Times: his five albums include 2000's The Full Catastrophe; and 2003's Conqueroo, picked as one of the year's best records by Acoustic Guitar magazine. Most recently, he recorded God's Tattoos, with acclaimed producer Jim Dickinson.

In 2004, a House of Blues Radio Hour special on "New Voices of the Blues" spotlighted Ellis, and he has toured extensively from the Kennedy Center to a Norwegian whaling village north of the Arctic Circle. Recently, he accompanied his dad in concert in Havana, Cuba, for the U.S. State Department as well as the New Yorker Festival with actor Steve Martin. An avid world traveler, Ellis lived through much of the 1990s in Japan. He is currently pursuing a PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of Memphis.


Individual Albums for William Lee Ellis on Airplay Direct:

YDR 1343 God's Tattoos http://www.airplaydirect.com/williamleeellis1343

YDR 1043 Conqueroo http://www.airplaydirect.com/williamleeellis1043

YDR 1041 The Full Catastrophe http://www.airplaydirect.com/williamleeellis1041