Robert Ellis on American Songwriter Compilation
NoiseTrade is hosting The Best Of American Songwriter Sessions as a free download, and local musician Robert Ellis is featured among the artists. Also included are Justin Townes Earle, Damien Jurado, Jessica Lea Mayfield, and Vetiver, among others. For the small price of your email, the collection can be yours - and you’d be foolish not to get it. (via NoiseTrade)
Locals on American Songwriter’s Top 50 Albums Of 2011
American Songwriter announced their selections for this year’s top 50 albums. Making the list are Hayes Carll’s Kmag Yoyo at number 6 and Photographs by Robert Ellis at the 31 slot.
Congratulations, gentlemen! Keep up the good work.
While traditionally a home for indie rock (and now likely more so for electronica and low-fi) it was acts hailing from the Southern states that took the crown and the crowd.
Take Robert Ellis, a lithe Houston virtuoso who harkens back to the days of Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Townes van Zandt, the days when country and folk didn’t have to be hyphenated to sit together in one sentence. Ellis played several shows this year, including sets at the Paste and New West showcases at the Living Room. His voice is clean and band booming; and you get the feeling that he incited a lot of “I didn’t think I like country, but… ” conversations at the night’s end.
Marissa Moss: Why the South Won (the CMJ Music Marathon, That Is)
Robert Ellis gets a nice mention in the Huffington Post for his recent CMJ appearances, including a surprise two-hour cover set (aka, what Houston is accustomed to calling Whiskey Wednesday). Buxton also gets termed a “southern breakout” and an “indie folk collective whose album Mumford and Sons probably have hidden under their pillows.”
Source: The Huffington Post
Robert Ellis Gets Nods From Paste, BMI
“Houston kid Robert Ellis will reaffirm the folk-meets-twang still cultivated where West meets South…”
Well, that’s some pretty nice praise for our boy Robert Ellis from none other than BMI. Robert is listed as one of the headliners for SoundLand, formerly Next Big Nashville, to be held a week from today. Other headliners include Justin Townes Earle, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, and Shelly Colvin.
This also reminded me that I’ve been wanting to post about some other kind words Robert garnered from Paste recently. Says Paste writer Max Blau:
“While he may be like any young adult away from the stage, put a microphone and guitar in front of him and he’s able to conjure simple life observations into something much more tangible and important. It’s not so much the stories he tells at this point, but the way that he sings that’s the most compelling aspect of his music and personality. You can’t help but wonder if that’s how the folk and country greats that came before him were in their early adulthood.”
Paste filmed Ellis playing three songs along the shore of Lake Michigan. Click through to watch as he performs “Friends Like Those” “What’s In It For Me” and “Bamboo,” complete with the lapping waters in the background.
A Good Year For The Roses
A few weeks ago I headed out to spend some time in Nashville. While there, I made sure to take in Robert Ellis & The Boys show at Mercy Lounge, where they opened up for Those Darlins and Old 97s. (If you missed it, I wrote a review for the Houston Press.)
Earlier that day I’d managed to catch the boys in-store performance at Grimey’s, probably Nashville’s best independent record store. They played to a packed crowd of about 40 people (even with the shelves moved, Grimey’s is not spacious), and closed with this cover of George Jones’ “A Good Year For The Roses.”
Source: youtube.com
Album Stream: Robert Ellis - Photographs :: Paste
Paste has an exclusive advanced streaming of the new Robert Ellis record, Photographs, which will be released next week.
Click on through and roll that beautiful bean footage.
Yet another great poster by Shelby Hohl. The new Robert Ellis album Photographs - which will be his first on New West Records, will be released with a show at Fitzgerald’s on July 6. We trust you’ll be there.
