9/25/2006

David Barnard

Mislabelled as a blues musician, Ellis is more like an example of what Gatemouth Brown was referring to when he stated his preference to describe his music as “American Music.” Produced by Jim Dickinson in Memphis, vocalist/guitarist Ellis winds his way through an aural landscape filled with early blues and gospel, E-bow instrumentals, Southern roots rock, folk, old-time country; the atmosphere created is melancholic, but it isn’t a dirge by any means. Up-tempo songs such as “Four Horses,” described by Ellis as “an Apocalyptic ditty for slide guitar” and the title track, set to a rhumba with accordion, keep the proceedings from getting morose. Ellis wrote all of the songs but one, the Mississippi John Hurt inspired “Here I Am, Lord Send Me.” His lyrics can be interpreted on several levels — he acknowledges studying Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, et al. Dreams inspire two tracks, “Cold and Weary,” about experiences while living in Japan, and “Jesus Stole My Heart,” about a visitation from Ellis’s early guitar mentor Rev. Gary Davis. Spiritually geared, Ellis avoids preaching in his songs, and is comfortable taking the role of a keen observer. “The Call,” written after 9/11, best exemplifies his approach. Starting quietly, the song builds momentum as Ellis sings, “If you have a heart to listen, if you have the mind to hear, will you have the strength to follow, when the call comes loud and clear?” His third release on Yellow Dog Records, this is Ellis’s most fully realised recording yet.