William Lee Ellis

Born in Lynchburg, Va., William Lee Ellis is the son of banjo composer Tony Ellis and the godson of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe. An acoustic/blues musician and writer by profession, Ellis earned a Master of Music in classical guitar from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music. He also spent nine years as the pop music critic for the Memphis daily paper, the Commercial Appeal. Among his recordings are Conqueroo, picked by Acoustic Guitar magazine as one of 2003’s best albums. 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. He also co-produced with musical partner Larry Nager the Handy-nominated album "Big Joe Jumps Again" by Cincinnati blues piano master Big Joe Duskin. Among Ellis's writing honors are a 2002 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for print media and a 2004 first place Arts & Entertainment win in the Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards, the oldest and best-known feature writing accolade for American newspapers. 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 and has just recorded his latest album, God’s Tattoos, with acclaimed producer Jim Dickinson. Ellis records for blues and roots indie Yellow Dog Records.