Friday, August 19, 2011

LOCAL: Robert Ellis - Photographs

Young Houston upstart, Robert Ellis, is finally getting the sort of recognition we all knew he would. In July he hit the ground running with a highly-touted debut for the rest of the world. If you've been with him from the beginning, the tracks won't surprise you. There are no gimmicks or desperate ovations. It's Ellis being himself.

I heard "Bamboo" for the first time a few months ago while at the Free Press office. It was the dead of night, maybe 2 or 3 o clock, and I was feverishly trying to meet an imminent deadline but as the song started playing I stopped writing. Delicate finger-picking and lyrics about our memories being thrown asunder by the steady march of time made it impossible not to listen.

It's hard to express again the lack of cheesiness or forced sentimentality in Ellis' music. He's more of a timeless bard than a country artist. These are not your typical modern country ditties about dead dogs or why he's proud to be an American. Ellis, instead, is far more like story-telling country legends like Hayes Carll or Townes Van Zandt (who both also hail from the Houston area). It's a rare revival of classic country.

Key tracks include: "Photographs", "Bamboo", and "Two Cans of Paint"

Grade: B+

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