Ellis Paul

By Greg Tutwiler

Ellis Paul is not a native of Virginia. He really doesn’t have any musical roots here. But for now,he’s calling Charlottesville home. And as long as he does that, this area can expect to be treatedto some of the finest Contemporary Folk music on the circuit today. His credentials speak forthemselves. Ellis has released 11 CDs (with number 12 on the way), a DVD, a book of poems andshort stories, earned Thirteen Boston Music Awards, and collect a mailing list of 20,000 loyal fansduring his relatively short 15+ years as a full time entertainer.

That’s not the kind of career you just step into though. It takes talent and creativity for sure, but italso requires a deep passion for doing it. In speaking with Ellis recently, that was the one thingthat struck me; Ellis Paul thrives on his career as a musician, it’s who he is, not what he does.

Ellis grew up in Maine but got his start during college in Boston while studying to be a socialworker. He started playing open mic nights in the Boston music scene during a time whenContemporary Folk was beginning to come into the main stream markets. “Around that time therewere a lot of great musicians in that area who’ve gone on to have career length longevity,” Ellistold me. “Vance Gilbert, Martin Sexton, Eddie Griffin and Dar Williams; all those folks were doingit at the same time as I was.”

He spent a couple years working with inner city youth after graduation where he drew inspirationjust focused on learning the songs, and how to began to require more time, and he was beingasked to open for a lot of national acts. “When I was about 26 I quit my fulltime position and hit theroad touring,” he said.

Writing With Intension
The key to being a successful songwriter is understanding your audience and being able toarticulate your ideas in a way that pulls the listener in, and then them something to take with them.You can’t do that with shallow lyrics. And lyrically, Ellis is considered among the top in his field.

I asked Ellis about his songwriting. “To me, they’re supposed to be three-dimensional wells thatyou can go to; more than just for entertainment,” he said. “I try to create pictures that tell stories,and maybe have some lessons involved, some truth involved, and something beyond just theenergy and vibe. I write about where my life is at; whatever point I’m in when I’m starting thecollection of songs.”

Ellis says he writes from a combination of truth and fiction. “And sometimes the fiction is used toenforce or support the truth. Because of that, I write songs that are inspired by other people who Iknow. I don’t generally write from the headlines or about stuff on the forefront of the news. It wouldbe hard for me because I’m not affected by it directly. But if my life does become affected by it, orI know someone affected by it, and I can witness that, then I can write about it a lot easier.”

Ellis is a fan of all genres of music. Not limiting himself to just his own personal style, he can drawfrom all forms to enrich his songwriting. “When I listen to other musicians, I listen for someonewho can motivate my imagination into creating pictures in my head. I like story tellers. I gravitateto the kind of people doing that kind of writing. They can be straight, gay, black, white, old oryoung, it doesn’t matter really. Even the motive of a rap artist can captivate my mind as well. I justlike great lyricists.”

Why A Songwriter
“I like the art form,” he said frankly. “I’m too lazy to be a novelist,” he said with a chuckle. “But I dolike writing a lot. And I do love traveling though it is a little bit harder now that I have kids andbeing married. But I do like the life style. It works for me. It’s not easy at times, but it manages tobe fun even after 20 years of doing it.”

“I think the best part is when you get done writing a song and you know that you really capturedwhat you were trying to capture. When you set the trap and you catch what ever creature it wasyou were looking to knock down. That’s when it’s most fulfilling. And you listen to the song forabout a week or two and you play it out, and hopefully people like it as much as you do. And thenyou’re on to the next one. Those little moments are what keep me going. I’ve had a lot of greatshows and put out a lot of albums, and been in the studio and worked hard in there, but I think thebest moments are really just writing a song and looking at it when it’s finished and saying, ‘wow, Ireally caught what I wanted to catch there.”

Ellis admitted that sharing it with other people makes you know if it was worth the time and effort,and whether or not your perspective is something you can trust. “But if I was just writing songsand sticking them under the bed, and never playing them for anybody, I would probably do itanyway, whether people heard them or not. If I was stuck up in Alaska working for the forestryservice and had a guitar up there, I’d probably be writing every day. So, I don’t need any people tohear them, but it’s always good to have friends and family to play them for.”

We all know children change things, including a songwriter’s perspective. “You know, I’m writingsongs for my daughter now,” he said. “I don’t know if they’re going to show up on records or not,but I’m having a lot of fun watching a person so young react to music like that. It’s a real thrill towatch. I’ll probably be writing from the perspective of a songwriter who’s a parent, even if I’m notwriting about being a parent, it will probably affect the perspective.”

A Planned Career
When someone starts something, he should have a vision of where he’d like to end up. And Elliscertainly didn’t enter his career blindly. “Well, the goal was to be Bruce Springsteen; and it didn’tend up that way, funny thing that,” he laughed. “Then I learned how to be really happy to be EllisPaul and get what I have been able to get out of it. I like the songs I’m writing, and I like the showsthat I put on. From my side of the stage it’s been really fulfilling. Of course, I would like to makemore money, I would like to meet more people, I’d like to be on the cover of Rolling Stone, but it’sfine that I’m not.”

Something NewEllis has a new CD coming out on Rounder Records in late September, 2006 called Ellis PaulEssentials. If you’ve never heard his music, this will be a great introduction. This a great collectionof songs; 32 of them on two CDs.

“Under different circumstances it would be considerd a greatest hits record,” Ellis said, thenlaughed. “But since there are no hits, it’s going to be called The Esseciatal Ellis Paul. I re-recorded five songs and added two new songs and added in some live stuff.”