Wyatt Ellis

Wyatt Ellis’ connection to the bluegrass music community began in the darkest, most isolated days of the pandemic, as the then-10-year-old mandolin player began a deep musical exploration at the virtual knees of his heroes. When access to regional musicians at local jams and lessons vanished, he turned to online lessons from professional musicians who were also stuck at home. During the first year of the quarantine, Wyatt’s fascination with the eight-stringed instrument grew exponentially. He went from playing mandolin a few hours a week to playing mandolin a few hours a day. By the second year, Wyatt was writing and co-writing tunes that, while respecting the traditions of mountain music, began to evoke a sense of excitement and discovery in everyone around him.  

Happy Valley is a curated collection of twelve original instrumentals written and co-written by Wyatt when he was twelve years old. The album, named for a quaint holler near his home in East Tennessee, showcases the skill of a thirteen-year-old Wyatt playing alongside his mandolin heroes, backed by an all-star bluegrass band. Produced by Justin Moses, the project was serendipitously recorded on Happy Valley Road (a homestead once owned by Grand Ole Opry member Grandpa Jones and his wife Ramona outside of Nashville) in an out-building turned state-of-the-art studio now known as The Tractor Shed. Although purely coincidental, the picturesque title reflects not only a love of Tennessee’s natural beauty but also the rich musical legacy of the musicians who were here before him. Rooted in tradition but adventurous in spirit, Happy Valley illustrates Wyatt’s reverence for the genre’s pioneers, as well as a respect for its trailblazers.  

Throughout Happy Valley, Wyatt switches styles with ease, from the upbeat twin mandolins of “Grassy Cove” to the haunting “Two Rivers Waltz” which features Wyatt playing Vassar Clements’ fiddle. Alongside the lively, whistleable melody of the title track, “Happy Valley,” tunes such as “Maryville,” “Goin’ to Townsend,” and “Little Pigeon” were inspired by his childhood in East Tennessee. Wyatt pays homage to the clean, bluesy playing of David McLaughlin, one of his mentors and closest friends, on Johnson Mountain Blues; while “Whites Creek,” “Wildwood,” and “Sandy Gap,” tunes that mirror the tradition and style of Bill Monroe, were co-written with three of the genre’s top Monroe-style mandolin players. “Get Lost,” a tune named as a nod to the legacy of Johnny Cash, showcases Wyatt’s more progressive musical leanings; the many meanings of the familiar phrase and what it may have meant to Johnny flashed through Wyatt’s mind when he read it the day Marty Stuart recorded his iconic solo on Wyatt’s rousing fiddle tune “Blue Smoke” at Cash Cabin.  

Happy Valley is a vivid snapshot of Wyatt’s boundless musical creativity and curiosity in its earliest stages. Throughout his debut album, the young multi-instrumentalist effortlessly layers his respect for the history and tradition of bluegrass with humble virtuosity. At any age, a debut album this impressive is an incredible accomplishment. However, in referencing Wyatt Ellis, mentions of his age become irrelevant. Taken together, these twelve tunes seem to echo from somewhere beyond his years, beyond Wyatt’s home in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains; echoes that are still there, still alive, still inspiring, still pulsing the way they have been since the beginning of time — guided by the metronome of ancient tones to which we are all connected.  

ABOUT WYATT ELLIS:

Born in the rich music bed of East Tennessee, Ellis has quickly become one of the most-watched young musicians in bluegrass music. In a recent review, Billboard magazine stated, “Ellis has quickly cemented himself as a sterling newcomer in the bluegrass scene.” A true statement, as evidenced when his debut single, “Grassy Cove,” went to #1 on the Bluegrass Today charts, and his second single, “Get Lost,” debuted on the same chart at #5. He was also recently tapped to make an appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, and on November 10 received a standing ovation while making his debut on the Grand Ole Opry.

A devotee of Bill Monroe, Ellis has been mentored by many iconic musicians, including Sierra Hull, Bobby Osborne, Mike Compton, and others. Ellis has studied with mandolin masters, composed his own original instrumentals, and transitioned from playing alone in his living room to performing seamlessly alongside bluegrass legends and Hall of Famers. In his two short years on the scene, Ellis has become a multi-instrumentalist and has been invited to perform on stage with some of the most iconic musicians of this era, including Billy Strings, Dierks Bentley, Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton, Dailey & Vincent, and Marty Stuart.