Rory Ellis

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“When the big fella opens up his chest and lets fly with that lusty, rumbling voice, even then it's as if he's pulling back on the reins in fear of what might happen to innocent bystanders - it's that potent. Jeff Glorfeld The Melbourne Age
Rory has spent many years touring locally and internationally taking inspiration from suburban street culture, some of the seedier Melbourne pubs he has worked in, not just as a performer, regular glimpses of the Melbourne underworld, people he’s loved, lost, and from his own eventful life, rich in contrast. Audiences at Rory’s numerous festival appearances and more intimate performances have been captivated by his powerful vocal command and subtle acoustic instrumentation that bring the vivid stories to life.
Ellis launched his debut CD “Ride” in March 2001 to a four star review in The Age EG section by Lyall Johnson who challenged the readers "If you’re not deeply moved by this superb debut by Melbourne singer-songwriter Rory Ellis, it’s doubtful you’re human. Ellis, with his wonderfully deep, resonant voice, plumbs the depths of the human experience to come up with a sophisticated, inspiring album of predominantly earthy ballads about life on the streets"
Jackey Coyle of Rhythms acclaimed ’Road Of The Braver Man’ (released in 2003) "that the quality of Rory Ellis’s voice alone the richness of the timbre, the skill of his technique - that he conveys an irresistible charisma, and that’s not even counting his song writing skills. The first few verses I heard, I was done for - instant fan". Ellis’s particular style, that he calls "urban folk", was melded living in a boxing gym, honed playing in Melbourne pubs and polished gigging the festival circuit. He recorded this, his second solo album, over three days live in the studio with Dave Steel (guitars, accordion, percussion, mandolin and it’s celtic cousin the cittern). Jackeys enthusiasm continues "He is a master of light and shade, of knowing when not to sing in order to give full effect"
Armed with two media acclaimed albums Rory toured the UK in 2004 for the first time. He spent 3 months there performing over 60 hugely successful shows at venues and festivals alike. So successful his time there he decided to return in November of that year to do another 16 shows.
On the back of those tours in 2004, 2005 saw the UK release of Rory’s third release, “The Rushes” followed up by 7 months of touring all over the UK to promote it. This third tour of the UK saw Rory performing around 120 shows in 7 months. He performed at festivals such as Larmer Tree Festival, Fylde Folk Festival, Southsea Festival, Middlewich Festival, Broadstairs Festival, Great British R&B Festival, and many more as well as venues all over the UK including Londons famous Borderline, The Spitz and The Garage. Whilst on tour in the UK he has also supported, amongst others, Eric Bibb, Chumbawamba, The Beautiful Girls, Rory McLeod and Gordon Haskell and has performed live to air on BBC Jersey, Cornwall, Devon, Cumbria, Leicester and Blackburn.
2006 saw the Australian release of “The Rushes” album and it received as much attention as the man who, to quote Jeff Glorfeld of The Age "is one of those quintessential Australian singer-songwriters with buckets of talent, heaps of stories to tell, and impossible to pigeonhole. He’s got blues man in him, some soul belter, red-dirt country and home-grown folkie.
Rory has been a regular at many Australian Festivals over the years including Port Fairy Folk Festival, National Folk Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Blue Mountains Blues and Roots Festival, Maldon Folk Festival, Cygnet Folk Festival, Skandia Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival, Thredbo Blues Festival, Guildford Blues and Roots, Torquay Blues and Roots Explosion as well as touring extensively performing at venues Australia wide.
In April of 2008 Rory signed “Two Feathers” to UK label Villainous Records, taking Rory on his 5th UK tour to support its release. He is performing at festivals and venues in the UK, some include: Shetlands Folk Festival, City Blues Weekend, Off the tracks festival, Middlewich Folk Festival, Glastonwick Festival, North Devon Festival, Larmer Tree Festival, Two Rivers Festival, Southsea Festival and Stokes Bay Festival, with many venue dates in between.
Officially released on July 7th this year, Two Feathers is a masterpiece of Alternative Country and Blues music fusing acoustic and electric instruments into a rich sounding album, true in tone, with a warmth that only embellishes the mood of this stunning piece of work. It’s like a trip back to the old vinyl’s we knew and loved. The album was recorded by Rory Ellis at the Drysdale Manor, mixed and mastered by Barry Stockley at Fatsound in Melbourne and produced by Rory Ellis and Dave Steel.
This new album features some of Australia’s finest musicians performing songs about childhood hideaways on the tin roof of the old shed and primitive thoughts of flight from its lofty heights, dreams of finding home in strange lands, new love, new chapters, through to poignant songs about regret, separation, the passing of his long time stage co-hort. It also touches on the involvement of Australians in Iraq from the perspective of their families, governments and public, the Sydney riots and its racist tones, unfair work laws, Johnny Cash’s last album, and the kids that hang around the streets of his hometown.
WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE SAID ABOUT "TWO FEATHERS"
“A beguiling voice of an entirely different stripe. Rory sings with such basso profound resonance that in the old days some record buyers would have been jumping up to switch the turntable speed to 45rpm, only to discover that they had also voided their bowels in the process. Rorys new album Two Feathers is, not surprisingly, supurb so thoroughly suffused with rootsy character, down home integrity, and proper old-school humanity that its like listening in sepia to an altogether better and more dignified world. From the sawing country blues of Bringin Daddy Home, to the brooding, ruminative acoustica of the title track, its a piece of work alright, setting the film reels in your mind flickering into life and unrolling an endless highway vista before your subconsciousness”. Dorset Echo UK June 2008 by Marco Rossi
“Ellis’s marvellously rich and warm voice would be enough on its own to whisk you away into a reverie, but when this is allied to his exceptionally well crafted songs it makes a potent combination”. ….Country Music People UK July 2008 by Michael Hingston
“Ellis is one of that group of musicians that just are. He is neither blues/folk nor country, instead he is an amalgam of the best of all three, fused together by one special ingredient, Rory Ellis. Although every note and line of Two Feathers comes from the heart, this is music that refuses to be hurried. Like a mighty river Two Feathers gets to the end in its own good time and carries all before it..The essence of Two Feathers is that of a powerhouse performer, a keen-eyed observer and a conscience seeking a voice. In the face of such odds what chance does mere genre have? This is a Rory Ellis album anything else is window dressing of his choosing.”.......Berwick and Borders Gazette Review July 2008
A voice so deep and gravelly, if this had been released on vinyl you’d swear your turntable was playing slow. But there’s something wonderfully enticing about it, from the Hammond organ to the clever guitar work. Imagine Kris Kristofferson with a sore throat and you’re getting close. Old fashioned bar music from the Wild West...... John Anson “The Guide” Lancashire Telegraph UK Friday, July 18, 2008
WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE LIVE SOWS
Ellis accompanied by Tim Hackett on slide guitar, was superb. As MC Mhari Pottinger told us, "What a voice". And he was also funny."How many of you have ever been in love?" he asked the audience. Not surprisingly very few hands went up. "well I was in love once, and thought i'd write a song about it.all fairly predictable you think, but what followed was one of the most commanding vocal performances of the festival. deep rich and passionate. ..... Jim Tait Shetland Times Shetland Folk Festival May 2008
Next up was Australian Rory Ellis. He produced a spellbinding performance, playing guitar and singing his own songs, some inspired by his life in Melbourne, In a deep gruff, gravelly voice, expertly accompanied on slide guitar by Tim "The Professor" Hackett.In the darkened hall with colored lights illuminating the stage, Ellis sang of dives frequented at 3.00am, of doomed relationships of poverty and grinding hard work. A powerful brooding presence, the bald headed Ellis belted out his throaty messages about Railway Parade, where as you remove your body, your shoes stick to the carpet, and a strident Dylanesque composition about a couple being taken "from heaven to hell" and another about finding no common ground. The outstanding "Old Man Butterfly", a song about a war veteran begging on the bus, a man glimpsed and forgotten about, was particularly passionate. The soulful desperate rendition seemed to echo from the wood panelled stage and around the hall as the audience listened intently. His influences, he said later, ranged from Johnny Cash to Elvis, to opera and all were apparent, as well as blues and rock, in a performance that was all too short and could easily have headlined the show. Rosalind Griffiths The Shetland Times Shetland Folk Festival May 2008
Rory Ellis is a big bear of man from Australia. Accompanied by a marvellous slide-guitarist, he gave us some of his own songs. He has a deep growl of a voice that seems to come out of the very ground itself. Think of Chris Rea, but a lot deeper voiced. He played two of my favourite songs of his most recent album – “The Rushes” and “Road of No Return.” The latter closed his set – a slow song ending in a blinding steel guitar solo and a gentle hum of feedback from Rory’s guitar, reminiscent of the whirr of tyres on tarmac ... BBC Scotland 7/5/08
"What a bloody festival, ladies and gentlemen," was Aussie singer-songwriter Rory Ellis's gobsmacked verdict. "Do you guys do this every year?" Ellis was another standout of 2008's line-up, wrapping shades of Satchmo, Springsteen, Tom Waits and Chris Smither in his epically rugged voice. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Fishers-of-folk.405 5291.jp The Scotsman 7/5/08
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