Ellis Paul

Ellis Paul (born Paul Plissey; January 14, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Aroostook County, Maine, Paul is a key figure in what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, a literate, provocative and urbanely romantic folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s.[1] His pop music songs have appeared in movies and on television, bridging the gap between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.[2]

Having grown up in a small town in Maine, Paul attended Boston College on a track scholarship where he majored in English. An athletic injury sustained during his junior year changed the course of his professional career.[3] Paul picked up a guitar to pass the time while sidelined, and discovered that playing guitar and writing songs was the creative outlet he had been looking for. After graduating from college he began playing at open mic nights in the Boston area while working with inner-city school children. Paul's growing popularity at Boston coffeehouses, coupled with winning a Boston Acoustic Underground songwriter competition and national exposure on a Windham Hill Records compilation combined to give him the confidence to resign his day-job and pursue a career as a professional musician.[4]

To date, Paul has released 19 albums and has been the recipient of 14 Boston Music Awards, considered by some to be a pinnacle of contemporary acoustic music success.[5] He has published a book of original lyrics, poems, and drawings and released a DVD that includes a live performance, guitar instruction, and a road-trip documentary. In 2014 his children's CD Hero in You was published as a book by Albert Whitman & Company. As a touring musician, Paul plays close to 200 dates each year and his extensive club and coffeehouse touring, together with radio airplay, has brought him a solid national following.[6]