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- Verified Buyer
The first time I saw Robert Ellis he must have been 19 years old. It was downstairs at the Avant Garden and he opened for Sideshow Tramps who I'd heard was a must see act. I went to find out what this Sideshow Tramps thing was all about, but I went home raving about the opener. Robert Ellis just felt like the "real deal". He even reminded me of Nick Drake, one of my favorite singer/songwriters of all time. I followed him mostly from afar after that as I could never seem to get out to see him at his residency on Wednesdays at Mango's or Fitzgerald's. I'd catch him on the weekends when I could. When his new album came out I started listening to it and dove deep into it. "Side A" is stark and gorgeous while "Side B" is good old fashioned country in the vein of Charlie Rich, probably one of my favorite Country singers ever. Seems like he's hitting more with the public on the Country side (he's amazingly versatile), but I hear him as an American version of late 60s British Folk, again like Houston's answer to Nick Drake. That Houston has an answer to Nick Drake is pretty amazing ain't it?!
