AMEHOF - 2011 Hall of Fame Inductee - Dolan Ellis
Channel: GNAV TV
Date: 2014-07-05

AMEHOF 2011 Hall of Fame Inductee - Dolan Ellis - http://dolanellis.com/
http://www.azmusichalloffame.org/
After almost 46 years as Arizona’s Official State Balladeer, Dolan Ellis still hangs his professional hat on the title that first came to him in February 1966, as an appointment by Governor Sam Goddard that has now been endorsed by eleven consecutive governors.

Many well-deserved awards have come to Dolan Ellis over the years: a Grammy, gold records, the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame.  Senator John McCain read Dolan and his music into the Congressional Record.  He was the first to be inducted as an Arizona Culture Keeper.

As wonderful as these awards and titles are, nothing means as much to this great musician and folklorist as being The Balladeer.  He even wrote a song about it:
 
I write the songs but not for fame
My songs belong to the sun and rain
Forget my face, forget my name
Just call me The Balladeer
 
The lyrics are true.  Dolan Ellis is a very talented poet and tunesmith who could have directed his efforts toward the commercial market.  Instead, he chose to write about, sing about, and teach us, Arizonans and visitors alike, about the state he loves.
Young Dolan in the studio

In Phoenix , Dolan spent some time in the television industry while he worked at a great little coffee house in Scottsdale called Portofino ’s. He soon quit the television job and became the house act, opening for and learning from the best of the era’s folk artists.  Gigs at Portofino ’s and other “happening” coffee houses throughout the West provided an opportunity for his music to be noticed at the national level.

Christy Minstrels

When Randy Sparks was recruiting solo artists and small groups to become part of the New Christy Minstrels, Dolan was a natural fit, with his great baritone voice and 12-string guitar, his enthusiasm, and his clean-cut good looks.  By 1963, the Christies were at the top, with a Grammy for best group, five albums including some that were gold, 39 consecutive weeks on the nationally televised Andy Williams show, and appearances at the best concert venues in the nation.  That was when the future Arizona Balladeer left the group to move back to his beloved, adopted state and once again explore its back roads, canyons, and mountains—and meet its unique people.
 
Upon leaving the Christies, Dolan wrote another autobiographical song, “Goin’ Home to Springerville." Springerville, a real but very small town in the Whtie Mountains of Eastern Arizona, was a metaphor for Scottsdale and Phoenix, which at that time still had the small town feeling. He wrote it on the airplane back to Phoenix, after they finished an engagement in Lake Tahoe. Dolan had just made a huge decision, and the song lyrics and bluesy sound seemed to echo his feelings.
 
More than 42 years and 300 songs later, Dolan Ellis is still going strong.  In 1996, he began performing at the non-profit, 501c3, Arizona Folklore Preserve, which he founded in Ramsey Canyon south of Sierra Vista.  It had taken more than five years to restore the property and go through all the necessary legal steps. Now the Preserve is under the ownership of the University of Arizona South and operated by the AFP Board of Directors.
 
The Balladeer remains Artist-in-Residence and appears there one weekend each month, presenting different shows based on the seasons of the year and holidays and such.  On other weekends, he books the best of Arizona cultural and folk artists to appear at the rustic stage in the Preserve’s theater, which Dolan designed specifically for presentation of acoustic music.  

The Balladeer takes his own one-man show on the road throughout the state and sometimes beyond, for formal concerts, conventions, cowboy poetry and music gatherings, folk and storytelling festivals, private parties, and occasional benefit performances.  His shows consist mostly of his own songs about Arizona people, places, and things.  At the Arizona Folklore Preserve and at other venues on demand, he uses large screen photography, mostly his own and occasionally historic, to illustrate the songs.  His baritone voice is better than ever, with an almost unbelievable resonance, and his 12-string guitar adds a special dimension to the music.  Dolan connects with his audiences as few performers can do, relying on his humor and storytelling skills to enhance his considerable musical talent.

#DolanEllis #OfficialBalladeerOfArizona #AMEHOF