Nashville, Tennessee
27 Years Old
Band, Singer-Songwriter, Lyricist

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"New Album Out Now!"

BIOGRAPHY

"3 1/2 out of 4 Stars. Jeff Tweedy and Josh Ritter are among the names dropped on the Nashvillian's latest bio — and fittingly so, it turns out, as Ellsworth shares their knack for twisting old-soul sensibilities into unmistakably modern tunes... There's the punchy piano work and light soul vocal inflections of classic Elton John, but it's charged with the sort of funky snap and schoolyard melodies that currently light up VH1's Top 20."
~ The Tennessean ~

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So it’s cliché. That doesn’t mean it’s not true. That we live in an era of blinding speed, of 160-character limits and fiber optics and dizzying TV ads, of instant gratification in every conceivable industry niche. That we are the generation of the immediate. That we’d much prefer to soak in the brine of pseudo-social media than in a nice, piping hot bath. And so it has become this seemingly impossible task to just slow up a sec, to take that extra minute with our paper cups of morning, pre-office coffee and just, you know, take in the scenery.

And yet there is hope, or so it would seem. Amid the din of modernity comes the sound of a new idea, an idea in the not unattractive shape of a band by the name of Daniel Ellsworth and The Great Lakes. Or, more precisely, in the shape of the honest but audacious sound that has come to define their music. Now, mind you, we’re not talking about simple reminiscence here, and Ellsworth’s songs are certainly not throwbacks, but there’s a sense of (dare I say it?) timelessness and even wonder to the melodies and the distinctive voice that drives them.

Though they now call Nashville their home, the members of The Great Lakes hail from across our great nation (Joel, drummer, Wichita, KS; Marshall, bass guitar, Columbus, OH; Ricky, regular guitar, Huntsville, AL; Daniel, everything else, Minneapolis, MN), bringing with them (besides their clothes and stuff) a unique mélange of stories and the diverse cultures of their respective hometowns. Their upcoming, self-produced album, Civilized Man, (slated for release May 2011), recorded by Mark Nevers (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Andrew Bird, Yo La Tengo) at Beech House in Nashville, TN, is itself something of a departure from the singer / songwriter category of the rest of Ellsworth’s catalog. As the first official release from the band, it represents a fresh start musically- a whole new set of influences, from The Talking Heads to Wilco, is welcomed into the mix.

When all is said and done, what most of us need is a distraction from distraction, a reminder of the things (and the people, for some of us) that we love. Daniel Ellsworth and The Great Lakes, through the songs and through the stories, provides just that. Theirs is the sort of music that suggests (maybe without actually coming out and saying it) that you stop and smell the roses or, if you really, truly can’t afford to spare those precious seconds, then at least to enjoy the pleasant, rosy blur that they form in your periphery as you sprint by.
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Daniel Ellsworth: Keys, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vox
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Marshall Skinner: Bass
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Joel Wren: Drums
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Ricky Perry: Electric Guitar
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GENRES

Indie Rock, Pop, Americana/Roots

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Daniel Ellsworth Music, I own my own publishing

Contact

Management: Sam Fein // management@danielellsworthandthegreatlakes.com
Publishing: Daniel Ellsworth Music // daniel@danielellsworthandthegreatlakes.com
Label: N/A
Booking: booking@danielellsworthandthegreatlakes.com

P.R.O.

ASCAP

INSTRUMENTS

b3 organ / acoustic guitar / electric guitar / keyboard / piano / vocals

INFLUENCES

Jeff Tweedy, Josh Ritter, Ryan Adams, Elton John, Neil Young, Paul Simon, M. Ward, Mason Jennings, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke

DAY JOB

Dreamer. And sometimes a barista....

I AM INTERESTED IN

in co writing online
in co writing in person
in networking with songwriters
in pitching songs to artist
in pitching songs to tv
in getting a record deal
in getting a publishing deal

I WRITE:

For a living

I Also Write:
by myself
for others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics
melody
music

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