"He conjures up a type of nostalgia on tracks such as 'Wonder Babe' and 'Stand Ashore,' hearkening back to tracks easily found in catalogues of Dylan or even Woody Guthrie... As folk music appears to be returning to the music stage, Ellias seems to be in the right position to move the genre forward." - David Fisch / The Examiner
George Ellias is a singer/songwriter from Los Angeles. In 2004, Ellias left high school and his old bands to travel with his guitar. He moved and performed as much as possible in Berkeley, San Francisco, and other bay area cities. In 2006, he moved to New Orleans where he landed a job performing regularly as the house act of a local pub and restaurant in the French Quarter. In 2007, he returned to L.A. to enroll in college, where he studied poetry, as well as a private folk song archive assembled by one of the members of the Lomax family. During this time, he continued heavily playing the local popular clubs such as The Echo, Spaceland, Hotel Cafe, and others.
Through his travels, he spent time with the music legends that influenced him in the first place such as Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Arlo Guthrie and many more. Ellias has performed with the likes of T Model Ford (who jokingly threatened to stab him because he was so good on harmonica), Dave Rawlings, Becky Stark (The Decemberists, The Living Sisters, Lavendar Diamond), Farmer Dave Scher and He's My Brother, She's My Sister (currently on tour with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros).
MP3: George Ellias - "Ghost Town"
Aside from performing, Ellias makes a living teaching guitar, and selling his art and ink drawings. He studied poetry in college and regularly shares his writings with good friend, Devendra Banhart. He is an avid reader of old literature, especially myths and folktales from the Middle Ages and earlier, which influence his music and art. Ellias started playing guitar at the age of nine and harmonica at fifteen. He has listened to folk music since he was a child, but has always had an affinity for contemporary music, including punk, rock n’ roll, and especially avant-garde musical styles, all of which he infuses into his music. Musicians that have inspired Ellias along the way include Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Leadbelly, Nick Drake, Donovan, Syd Barrett and many more.
The folk song archive that Ellias was influenced by in his college years was assembled by Bess Lomax Hawes. Bess is the daughter of the folk musicologist John Lomax, and sister of Alan Lomax (famous for his vast recordings for the Smithsonian's Folkways Label, and also as the manager and person who helped free the blues singer Leadbelly from prison). Bess was in The Weavers and The Almanac Singers with fellow musicians Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie.
EP was born from a collection of Ellias's favorite recordings when fans of his live performances requested that he release something for them to enjoy outside of his concerts. Instruments on EP include guitar, harmonica, recorder, and jaw harp, all played by Ellias. It was recorded in his home studio in L.A. and at AMP Studios in North Hollywood. Keep an eye out for his full-length coming late fall.
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