Live From Paste: Robert Ellis

When I picked up Robert Ellis after a radio gig in Chicago, Ill. last month, I was initially surprised that this was the young man behind the recent record Photographs. For anyone who’s heard the album, it’s a pure country-folk record founded on the sheer dynamic of Ellis’ powerful voice. At one moment, the Houston-based songwriter can be as mellow and poignantly easygoing as Kris Kristofferson. The next, he’s belting out honest truths and life lessons with a country croon that recalls none other than George Jones.

Both of those predecessors come with distinct personalities carved out over decades of road-worn wisdom and experiences to give their stories perspective. Ellis is 22-years old. While he may be like any young adult away from the stage, put a microphone and guitar in front of him and he’s able to conjure simple life observations into something much more tangible and important. It’s not so much the stories he tells at this point, but the way that he sings that’s the most compelling aspect of his music and personality. You can’t help but wonder if that’s how the folk and country greats that came before him were in their early adulthood.

I’d like to think that’s the case with Robert Ellis—that we’re currently watching a similar storyteller bud into an established songwriter whose songs command our attention through the everyday stories and shared sentiments they convey.

Watch Robert Ellis perform three stripped-down songs along Lake Michigan’s shores in Chicago, Illinois here.