Artist Spotlight – April 2024

Wyatt Ellis – April Artist Spotlight

Being born in one of the prettiest seasons (spring), time of year (April) and in an area with surrounding natural beauty (Maryville, TN), makes it easy to understand why someone would connect so well with nature. Those words completely describe my April Artist Spotlight, Wyatt Ellis. His debut album titled “Happy Valley” was written with the inspiration from Tennessee’s natural beauty and all the sensations he has experienced in and around his hometown. Maryville, TN is a pleasant small town in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. From any point in the city of Maryville the Chilhowee Mountain, known locally as “The Three Sisters”, rises high and fills the southern horizon. (Check out the March Album Spotlight where I shared Wyatt Ellis’ debut album.)

I must start off by saying that it has been such a pleasure to get to know this young/talented mandolinist during the start of his music career. By the end of this article, I hope you will come to the same conclusion as mine – “After participating in sports and taking music (instrument and vocal) lessons for only a few years along with having supportive parents, Wyatt has grown into a well-disciplined, hard-working and creative young man. His future is wide open and packed with opportunities”.

Prior to the pandemic and high school, Wyatt was doing normal kid activities – cramming homework, juggling sports schedules, attending piano lessons, hanging with friends and doing those chores all school age kids love to do. Wyatt remembers being around 10 years old when he heard that fast paced, hard delivering sound of the mandolin from Bobby Osborne on The Osborne Brothers 1967 song titled “Rocky Top”. Just a few weeks after “Rocky Top” tugged at his music curiosity, he heard Bill Monroe (Father of Bluegrass) play the mandolin and was instantly hooked! The powerful cutting sound drew him in and it wasn’t long before Wyatt was convincing his dad to purchase a mandolin. With a new mandolin in hand, Wyatt was well on his way of learning how to play like Bobby Osborne and Bill Monroe.

It was unusual to hear of children attending school online or “at home” for many of us but now-a-days it is very familiar for children and parents of children today. Wyatt attended Whitmore School (an online high school) and it gave him the flexibility of setting his own schedule. With the free time that was created by pandemic restrictions, Wyatt was able to truly connect with the sounds in nature, the feelings that were felt from all the surroundings to create songs that contained their own inspiration. As the restrictions of the pandemic eased up, Wyatt’s musical journey only strengthened. Wyatt worked with many of his heroes like Deanie Richardson, Jason Carter, David McLaughlin, Sierra Hull, Christopher Henry, Danny Roberts, Lauren Price-Napier, Jake Workman, Scott Napier, Alan Bibey, Dominick Leslie, and Justin Moses whether it was learning how to play an instrument or composing a song. Wyatt said, “Because of the pandemic I was able to co-write a bunch of instrumentals with my hero’s and the album is a snap shot of a few of those tunes. The experience was awesome because in a way I got to learn how to record an album from the best!”.

When Wyatt stepped into the recording studio it became apparent that the beginning of his dream was coming true but the moment, he played with the studio band live on the Grand Ole Opry, Wyatt’s dream of becoming an artist became a reality. Now that Wyatt has absorbed the knowledge of becoming an artist, he has new goals and dreams that have developed. One goal or dream of Wyatt’s is to be able to do a collaboration with David Grisman, known as “Dawg”, was inducted into the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Hall of Fame in 2023. Getting the chance to play his original tune during the debut appearance on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry is absolutely his most memorable moment as of today.

One of the most inspirational people in Wyatt’s life musically is Christopher Henry. The IBMA has labelled Chris Henry as “the premier Monroe-style mandolinist of his generation”. Having the desire to learn the Bill Monroe mandolin style, it’s obvious why Wyatt sought out and learned skills from Chris Henry. Having the chance to sit down and talk with Bill Monroe to speak about the creation of bluegrass is definitely the dream that is unfortunately unable to come true.

As Wyatt is in the time of his life where most people are learning about themselves and growing in their personalities, strengths and so much more, the biggest challenge that he felt was the fear of singing in front of people. Overcoming that fear, he would tell all new/up-coming artists to get out of their comfort zone and not to be afraid to do anything.

Creating the first album of Wyatt’s career is so important in developing his style along with establishing connections with well-known artists that have been able to give profound advice and guidance. The hardest thing for Wyatt during the recording process was the fact that he had never done it before. There are so many aspects involved in putting a record together. The easiest part of the process was obviously doing what he loves to do, playing the music.

Rapid fire questions –

What is your favorite Holiday and why? Christmas, I like Christmas the best because of the decorations and all of the good food.

What is your dream destination? My dream destination is the Rocky Mountain.

What state has been your favorite to do a concert/event in? Although I have enjoyed playing in many states, my favorite will always be Tennessee.

What is your favorite type of car? Any old pick-up truck, especially Jimmy Martin’s old truck!

Do you have a hobby outside of music? Bass Fishing

What is your favorite kind of Ice Cream? Peanut Butter

What is your favorite junk food? Hot Fudge Cake

Do you have any pet(s) and what are their names? We have six collies (Ruby, Las, Daisy, and Bertha. Other two are pups and have not been named yet), Pomeranian named Annie, and three cats named Maybelle, June and Helen.

What is your favorite book that you read or author that you like to read? The Secret Garden

Who is your favorite Actor/Actress? Max Baer Jr

What is your favorite movie line? “How much you wanna bet I can throw a football over them mountains?” – Uncle Rico from the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

Announcements:

Album released Feb 2, 2024

Record Company – Knee High Records

Title of Album – Happy Valley

Wyatt loves how the entire album turned out but if he had to pick, Blue Smoke and Whites Creek are two of his favorite songs on it.

• Wyatt completed a short tour with Marty Stuart.
• On April 5^th, Wyatt will be doing a show with Del McCoury.
• At the end of April, Wyatt will be doing a show with Molly Tuttle in Memphis, TN.
• On May 5^th, Wyatt will be doing a show at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN.
• In November, Wyatt will be the Artist in Residence at the Industrial Strength Bluegrass Festival in Wilmington, OH.

Quotes from a couple well-known artists that have worked firsthand with Wyatt:

“Every single tune on this record grabs my attention. I’m sure that anyone who listens is going to be knocked out by it. Wyatt has quickly become one of his generation’s greats” – David McLaughlin

“Wyatt and I have written many songs since we started working together online during the pandemic. He was learning so many tunes with other teachers that I thought it would be good for him to try writing something of his own and boy did he! Writing seemed to open a whole new world to him and I’m glad that I got to be part of his musical foundation” – Danny Roberts

Make sure to head over to www.wyattellis.com for all up to date information and merch.