A teen in East Tennessee has gained recognition throughout the music industry for his mastery of the mandolin. Wyatt Ellis is a young virtuoso when it comes to bluegrass music.
Last night, Grammy-award-winning bluegrass guitarist and singer-songwriter Billy Strings celebrated what would’ve been the 100th birthday of Doc Watson, one of his greatest influences. The celebration took place at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., and featured the stylings of Strings along with Bryan Stutton, Molly Tuttle, Wyatt Ellis, T. Michael Coleman, Wayne Henderson, Jack Lawrence and Jack Hinshelwood.
Bluegrass Today, February 2023
At age 13, Wyatt Ellis has already checked the top item off his bucket list, performing before a live audience at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.
The Daily Times, February 2023
The history of the music business is littered with the names of artists who managed to make a big breakthrough well before adolescence. Michael Jackson, Tanya Tucker and Stevie Wonder are only a few that come to mind, but within bluegrass realms, the talent is nurtured early on by way of a timeless tradition.
Billy Strings teamed up with 13-year-old mandolinist Wyatt Ellis and many more for a pick in a Nashville hotel hallway. Ellis shared a video of the musicians performing Bill Monroe’s “Road To Columbus.”
Mandolin wunderkind Wyatt Ellis from Maryville, Tennessee, had a thirteenth year full of experiences that most of us wouldn’t believe if we hadn’t seen his story unfold before us on social media.
The Advocate and The Democrat, Nov 2022
Wyatt Ellis has been making a name for himself in the realm of music through his interest and talent in bluegrass, playing his mandolin as well as other instruments such as the guitar and fiddle...
The IBMA World of Bluegrass was overall an inspired music event. While the sessions and performances harkened back into the past, we saw that bluegrass music is in good hands, with the likes of Molly Tuttle, Christopher Henry, Wyatt Ellis, Sierra Hull, and so many other younger players who will carry our music forward to the future...
Take a group of kids gathered at a Tennessee summer camp, add an iconic venue (The Caverns, home of the PBS musical series, Bluegrass Underground), and multiply that by a five-piece talented youth bluegrass band for their entertainment, and you have the perfect formula for an amazing and memorable event for everyone involved…
The WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, an all-volunteer-run non-profit Kentucky-based organization that is a worldwide multimedia celebration of grassroots music, is expanding. Filmed in front of a live audience, the one-hour musical conversation focusing on artists and their music has always featured aspiring young musicians...
Mandolin Mondays #342, July 2022
Returning to Mandolin Mondays this week we have 13 year old Wyatt Ellis from Maryville, TN near the foothills of the Smokey Mountains playing an original tune called "Whites Creek" on his Gibson mandolin...
Straight Up Strings, July 2022
Aside from being our youngest endorsing artist, Wyatt is one of our most recent. Wyatt is now 13 years of age, and we asked him to share his experiences getting into mandolin playing and bluegrass…
Bluegrass Hall of Fame, June 2022
Sam Bush, a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music, known as New Grass. Sam was Honored by fellow Kentuckian folk artist, Michael Johnathon and Kentucky Humanities for 50 years of music…
Twelve year old mandolin prodigy, Wyatt Ellis of Maryville, TN, made his Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour debut on Monday, March 7. Featured on the international broadcast as this week’s Woodsongs Kid, he was accompanied by his mentor, Sierra Hull.
Abby Kousoris WVLT February 2022
Wyatt Ellis, a 12-year-old from Maryville plays the mandolin. Magazines like Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass Today, and The Bluegrass Standard have recognized his talent at such a young age.
Bluegrass Unlimited February 2022
The last few years of Wyatt Ellis’ young life have been remarkable in several different ways. Before the pandemic he was spending upwards of three hours a day shuttling between Boy Scouts, Taekwon-Do, soccer practice, and squeezing in a weekly 30-minute mandolin lesson: pretty much the life of an active 10-year-old boy. Abruptly, most of that stopped, leaving him at home (fortunately with his mandolin).
The Buegrass Standard January 2022
Because of bluegrass music’s nurturing background, it’s relatively common to spot those early rising stars. However, the sudden success of twelve-year-old Maryville, Tennessee-based, bluegrass musician Wyatt Ellis was quite unexpected, especially since he spent the first six months playing mandolin with a broken arm.
Tennessee Folklife November 2021
Paul Brewster, of Gallatin, has remained one of the most respected and sought-after singers in bluegrass music for over forty years. Originally from Knoxville, Paul was born into one of East Tennessee’s best-known musical families. “I have been a bluegrass musician for most of my entire life,” Paul says. “At first music was never a planned career path, but more of a hobby.”
Gibson Generation (G3) July 2021
In July 2021, Wyatt Ellis was announced as a member of the Gibson Generation Group (G3) class of 2023. He is the first bluegrass musician and the first mandolin player ever chosen for the program.
Mandolin Mondays #264, January 2021
11-year-old Tennessean Wyatt Ellis has only been playing the mandolin for 2 years, but he's already playing with the best of them. Watch him go on this Bill Monroe classic with his Gibson F5 Master Model...
Live at Five at Four (Knoxville, Tn) Feb 2021
Channel 10 reporter Emily Devoe interviews Wyatt Ellis and Sierra Hull. The duo discuss their apprenticeship, mandolins, music and more.
One thing bluegrass music has always done is identify future luminaries while they are still young. You can probably think of several examples – from Josh Williams to Sierra Hull, Chris Thile to Michael Cleveland – budding artists with a special talent are found and given a stage long before they reach the age where a professional career is possible.
It’s a glass-half-full way of looking at the COVID-19 pandemic, but both 29-year-old bluegrass standout Sierra Hull and 11-year-old Blount County boy Wyatt Ellis agree: If it wasn’t for the virus, they probably would have never found one another. (more)
Tennessee Folklife November 2020
Sierra Hull is a multiple time International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning mandolin player and songwriter. Born in Byrdstown, Tennessee, Sierra starting playing mandolin at 8 years old when her grandmother gave her the instrument as a gift.
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