When Wyatt Ellis was barely able to talk, he’d sing along to “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. His mom, Teresa, has a video of her two-year-old singing “Rocky Top,” perfectly on key, albeit with a few muffled toddler words. By five, he was taking piano lessons, which went on to form his earliest concept of music arrangement.
“He was obsessed with this blue toy guitar, but he’d hurt himself – his fingertips on the strings – so I put him on piano, which I bought at an auction for $300,” says Teresa. “He has a natural ability to hear notes. He could tell us what note the toilet flushes in or what note the blender was, so learning about music, in general, made it a lot easier to pick up the mandolin.”
By all accounts, Wyatt’s early childhood looked typical. There was travel soccer, Boy Scouts, and Taekwondo, and he attended a private Christian school. However, by the third grade, David and Teresa Ellis decided to homeschool their son. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the transition to staying home was easy. Wyatt continued with Taekwondo (he’s a second-degree black belt), dropped his other outside hobbies, and jumped fully into exploring music, specifically playing the mandolin. As the pandemic wore on, music became his sanctuary.
“Hearing Bobby Osborne play the mandolin in ‘Rocky Top’ inspired me to get one. I liked the sound of the music, so I started taking lessons locally when I turned ten,” says Wyatt, 14. “Then after that, I heard Bill Monroe, who’s the father of bluegrass and the first person ever to play music in that style.”
With plenty of time on his hands during the pandemic, the young musician started making connections online and earning a few accolades, such as receiving a Tennessee FolkLife Apprenticeship through the Tennessee Arts Commission. This grant afforded one-on-one lessons via Skype with Paul Brewster of the Knoxville Grass, a relationship that still continues today.
In addition to online lessons and participating in local jams – musicians getting together to form a circle and play – Wyatt started writing his own tunes, the bluegrass version of an instrumental. In fact, he’s written more than 30 tunes with Danny Roberts, an award-winning mandolin player who’s recorded with George Jones, Hank Williams Jr., Charlie Daniels, and Dolly Parton.
“[Danny] felt like Wyatt was beyond being taught, so as soon as they started meeting, they wouldn’t even talk to each other with words. They’d communicate with the mandolins. It was so creative,” says Teresa. “For Wyatt to get to do that, it created a monster.”
“Some of the first tunes I wrote were not that great, but they were our ideas,” says Wyatt. “They kept getting better over time.”
A few key things happened for Wyatt that set his trajectory toward composing his first album, Happy Valley, due out this month. First, in December 2021, he sat on the front row of a Marty Stuart concert at the Bijou wearing a Bill Monroe t-shirt. Marty saw it and gave Wyatt his pick. Then, once Wyatt had an idea for an album in early 2022, he wrote Marty a letter and asked if he’d record a few songs with him.
“Marty invited me to the opening of his theater down in Philadelphia, Mississippi, so I played a tent show outside,” says Wyatt.
Then, in February of this year, Wyatt – like Marty Stuart, coincidentally – debuted at the Grand Ole Opry at 13 years old. He played alongside Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent on stage, then jammed with Vince Gill and Mark O’Connor backstage.
“I was slightly nervous,” says Wyatt. “Being the first act out there, with the curtain raising, it was so big. There’s no rehearsal. You just get out there and go to town.”
The young teen received a standing ovation, which he calls the highlight of his musical career thus far.
The following month, Wyatt was invited by Billy Strings to play in front of 15,000 people at the 100th Anniversary Celebration of Doc Watson in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For bluegrass fans, Wyatt made a splash. The timing for an album seemed right.
“During the pandemic, I’d always go fishing down at Abrams Creek in Happy Valley, and I thought that would make a good name for a tune. But, when we went into the recording studio, it was on Happy Valley Road. So, it was a sign,” he says. “I saw Happy Valley everywhere.”
The first single off Happy Valley, called “Grass Cove,” was released last month and features singer-songwriter and mandolinist Sierra Hull.
“All the tunes are named after East Tennessee and Nashville, which is the tradition of bluegrass. They’re usually named after places,” says Teresa. “It’s mountain music. It’s a tradition that will die off if more kids don’t play it.”
Fortunately for Wyatt, he has connected with other young musicians online over the years, and some of those relationships led to the building of a band, Wyatt Ellis and Friends. Though these teenagers live elsewhere – Florida, New Jersey, Georgia – they get together at festivals and, last year, performed at the PBS musical series Bluegrass Underground.
Still, it’s not lost on musicians that the generations are shifting. In late June, the day after this interview, Bobby Osborne passed away at 91.
“I want to keep putting out albums, play more gigs, and keep writing music,” says Wyatt.
Learn more at WyattEllis.com