ELLISVILLE NEWS Update 10/6/21

Hi Everyone,

I hope it was a good summer for you, and that you have all remained free from the effects of fires and floods and COVID (Oh my!).

I have some BIG NEWS! I released a new CD this year and am having a CD Celebration (Release Party) in November. The event will be held at CSLN (Center For Spitirual Living), 6705 Charlotte Pike in Nashville on Friday, Nov. 5th at 8 p.m.

The CD was actually released the first week of February, but with COVID concerns and restrictions, I had to delay it. Now, I am getting to celebrate the accomplishment, and I invite you to come out and celebrate with me.

The CD is titled “MESSAGES” because all the songs have social or spiritual themes (Religious inclusivity, faith, unity, mental health, and bullying, among others), and I am very proud of it.

I will have a great ensemble backing me, there will be some light refreshments afterwards, and of course, CDs for sale. The only remaining ingredient to make this special is you!

There is a suggested love offering of $5.00, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Though this event may be streamed for those who can’t come out, it would be much nicer if you can be there in person, as there is nothing like live energy. Although I don’t usually send out updates more than once every month or two to keep from spamming people, I know how busy we all get, so I will probably send out a reminder or two before then.

Meanwhile, I will also be doing a few songs (Not necessarily all from the CD) at the CSLN Service on the Sunday before (Oct. 31st) at 11 a.m.

Okay–back to event planning. Have a great month, and (If you choose) a spooky Halloween.

Gordon

ELLISVILLE NEWS UPDATE 8/10/21: Bobby’s Idle Hour and Brown’s Diner Gigs Cancelled

Hi Everyone,

With this new and more contageous surge of COVID cases spreading rapidly, we have decided to cancel Bobby’s Idle Hour on 8/14 and Brown’s Diner on 8/18.

We were all looking forward to getting out there and playing and seeing some of our friends out there, but with this version spreading so fast, and some people in the ensemble having some legitimate health concerns, keeping the gigs was really not an option at this time.

I am hoping that when things settle down, we will be able to re-schedule these or schedule some new ones. In the meantime, I apologize if you were planning to come out.

Stay safe.

Gordon

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder (Actually two).

Next Saturday, August 14th, I will be performing with my ensemble from 3 – 4 p.m. at the new Bobby’s Idle Hour, 9 Music Sqare S. (Grand Ave. between 16th and 17th Ave. S.).

We will also be at Brown’s Diner on Wednesday, Aug. 18th from 6:30 – 8:30. It’s at 2102 Blair Blvd.

I hope you can make one or the other (Or both).

—————————————————

Meanwhile, the first CSLN Writers Night last night came off well, and we hope the Board will approve this as an ongoing event. If you were there and enjoyed the night, please let Lynn and the Board members know. Thanks, to the Events team for organizing this, the Hospitality team for all the yummy food, our sound people Ray and AJ, Spotlight Performer Julie Grower and Featured Performer Sean O’Shea, and to the performers in the Open Mic.

See you soon.

Gordon

Hi Everyone,

I hope summer is going well, and you have dodged all the COVID bullets. If you live out on the West Coast with 115 degree heat and lots of wildfires, you have our sympathies. Prayers for relief!

This is my first attempt to send out this newsletter via my website. The last edition was sent out by my webmaster, and prior to that, I simply sent it via email. Recently Pam (My webmaster) trained me on how to do this. I am still fumbling a bit, but hopefully, it will become second nature to me before the start of the next millennium (LOL). As I understand it, people can now go to this site (gordonellismusic.com) to add their name to the mailing list or remove it on their own. It makes things simpler. Now, on to the news.

UPCOMING GIGS

I have been rehearsing with a small ensemble this year (Arnie Reed on Keyboards and David Johnson on lead guitar). I am still calling it the Gordon Ellis Ensemble–but it’s a slightly different incarnation from what it was before COVID shut things down. Our first two gigs are coming up in August. We will be at the new BOBBY’S IDLE HOUR on Saturday, August 14th from 3 – 4 p.m. Then, we will be at BROWN’S DINER on Wednesday, August 18th from 6:30 – 8:30. Frank Wood and Pam Atha will be joining us with backup vocals at both gigs.

Bobby’s Idle Hour is under new ownership and has moved from its old address. The new one is 9 Music Square South (AKA Grand Ave) between 16th and 17th Ave. S. Brown’s Diner, also under new ownership is still at 2102 Blair Blvd., a half-block west of 21st Ave. S. in the Hillsboro Village area. I hope you can make it out to see us.

NEW CSLN WRITERS NIGHT

A lot of people have asked, “When will the Coffeehouse be starting up again? Well, CSLN has just approved (On a trial basis) a new Writers Night. The first event is Friday, Aug. 6th . In some ways, it will be similar to the old Coffeehouse, but the emphasis will be on original material. If this goes well and is well attended, it could (And hopefully will) become a regularly occurring event.

AJ Bigler will once again be in charge of the event and will also be running sound. I will be the MC and part of the team that will guide and manage this event.

The format (Which may evolve if this becomes a regular event) will be as follows: A sign-up Open Mic (Original material) from 6:30 – 7:15. We will probably be able to accommodate 9 performers–maybe 10 (Figuring a maximum of 5 minutes/performer). We will then have a “Spotlight” act doing a 25 minute set at 7:15, and a second ” Spotlight” at 7:45. Around 8:15, we will have a Featured Performer doing 45-minute set.

The Spotlight acts for August 6th are Julie Grower and Gary Cavanaugh–two well established performers in the songwriting community. Our Featured Performer will be SEAN O’SHEA. Sean was the Music Director at CSLN for 3 years. He is a dynamic performer with some great songs, who opened for Wayne Dyer a number of years back, and is also an up-and-coming motivational speaker.

The three best ways to make this a regular monthly event are: Attendance, attendance, attendance.

That’s all for now. Be well and stay cool.

Gordon

ELLISVILLE NEWS–Vol. #230 06/16/21

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a long time since I sent out a newsletter, so this may be a long newsletter, but hopefully worth reading.  With COVID, a lot of things came to a halt, so there wasn’t much to talk about.

I did spend some of the downtime in the studio recording my new CD “MESSAGES”.  I chose the title because all the songs have social or spiritual messages.  I did all the vocals, and the multi-talented Steve Goodie (Owner of Quality Recording) played most of the instruments, however, I did bring in Arnie Reed for keyboards on a few songs and Robin Ruddy for steel guitar.  I was a bit concerned about having one person play most of the instruments, but it came out fine, I  am proud of this long-overdue project and have already gotten some really good feedback.  

The CD was actually released in February, but I haven’t promoted it until now, because there were no places to play and I wanted to wait until my website was completed, which took longer than expected (Talk about not having your ducks in a row!).  But the website is done now (Thanks to Pam Saxon of Saxon Creative), so please check it out:  gordonellismusic.com.  At some point, I may do a belated CD Release Party; however, I don’t know when yet.  In the meantime, the CD is on Amazon, Apple/iTunes, and most of the other platforms.  You can go to my site to link to these platforms and hear clips of the music (And see other interesting info), or go directly to Amazon, etc., to hear clips.  Search for Gordon Ellis and “Messages”.  You can even purchase my music if you are so inclined–the CD has been #1 in my living room for months (LOL).

In the meantime, I have started lining up a few nursing home gigs again.  All of that came to a screeching halt with COVID, and they have been slow to open up for entertainers.  But CSLN is open again, thanks to the hard work of Rev. Lynn Bennet and many volunteers.  I have performed at a few of the Sunday Services and will be performing again on Fathers Day, June 20th.

I went to my first party in over a year recently, have gone on some hikes, and even went down to Grayton Beach Fl., sharing a cabin with 4 friends (All of whom were fully vaccinated, of course). Yes, Virginia, there really is life after COVID.  

Grayton Beach has pristine white sand (I think I have only seen that before at Jones Beach on Long Island).  I had never been to the Gulf before and was looking forward to swimming in the warm water.  It didn’t happen (Phooey!).  First of all, the Gulf isn’t as warm as you would think in mid-May, but that wouldn’t have stopped me.  And the 5-6 foot waves were actually enticing–body surfing, here I come! The Gulf rarely has big waves except when there is a storm.  Well, there apparently was a storm somewhere, because in addition to the big waves, there was a strong riptide, and no one was allowed to swim, the whole time we were there. The ranger even told us we couldn’t stand in the wet sand (Are you kidding me!), or we would face a $500 fine (Are you kidding me!).  But I still enjoyed being on the beach and watching the waves come in for three days.

Grayton Beach is a quaint town, and there are no high rises on the beach (Yet).  The town has stood firm against big developers (You go boys and girls!).  The five of us got along amazingly well, considering we had never shared a living space before.  The cottage was really spacious and immaculate.  We got to hike at Grayton Beach State Park and eat in some great restaurants, and just hang out together and have fun for a few days.  I even got to enjoy my first “Low Country Shrimp Boil.  Hopefully, life is returning to normal.

I may not be sending out this newsletter monthly like before, but I will send it when there is enough to share, and it will probably be sent via my website (As soon as I figure out how to do that).  In the meantime, I hope you are all doing well, are fully vaccinated (Remember, this isn’t a political thing–it is a health thing), and are starting to emerge from our long hibernation.

Until next time—

Gordon