SCOTT ELLISON

Blue on Blues
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
2/16/2007
Scott Ellison's new CD ventures into new territory while keeping its roots.
Scott Ellison has the blues.
Listen to his new album, "Keys to my Heart" out Saturday, and he'll show you.
The 14-song CD, his Publishsixth, shows Ellison mixing pop, rock, Motown and some gritty slide-guitar blues in songs featuring guest spots from a host of Tulsa Sound musicians, from drummer Jimmy Karstein to pianist Rocky Frisco.
"I think every artist that plays the blues has gotta have some sort of blues," Ellison said. "And that comes from just the music business in general. That comes from life circumstances, like in my case."
That makes it almost a self-feeding malaise: He plays blues music because he has the blues and he has the blues partly because he's in the music business, playing the blues. Ellison's wife has been in and out of the hospital the last three or four years suffering from a serious stomach ailment, he said.
So he's got the blues. He'll fete his new album, his first since 2003's "Bad Case of the Blues,"in a 9 p.m. release show Saturday at Blues City Cafe, 3156 S. Mingo Road. There'll be no cover charge, he said.
He's also playing a show Thursday at the Vault in Owasso.
This album shows the Tulsan branching out, incorporating styles he hadn't utilized before, he said. That's something he tries to do with each album, but this time he's getting help from local musicians Casey Van Beek, Ron Getman and Walt Richmond, all of whom were former members of the Tractors. He's also got Dick Sims on the organ.
"All the guys from Tulsa that are on this project are really versatile players and I'm that way myself," said Ellison, who toured with bluesman Clarence Gatemouth Brown in 1981.
He songs delve into all of the usual blues topics -- women, lies and booze -- and the album includes ballads, like "Thinking of You" as well as strutting Americana rock, such as "Precious Time."
"I like all kinds of music. I'm basically a blues artist as far as what I'm known for, but I'm not a traditional blues artist. I like to stretch out and take it to different places."
You'll find his new album online at www.cdnow.com, www.amazon.com, www.buy.com and locally at Borders, he said.
At 52, he has had songs appear on a variety of television shows, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Sister Sister" and "Joan of Arcadia, and his tune, "I'm Ready Baby," will be featured on the unreleased indie film, "Moguls," starring Jeff Bridges, he said.
Ellison joked that he spends his nights playing gigs at local clubs, and his days helping his wife convalesce while keeping his 10-year-old son away from the music business. His son is a good student at Grissom Elementary as well as a talented baseball player, he said.
But, despite what happens in life or where his music takes him, Ellison said he won't ever leave his roots in the blues.
"It's such a great music to play when you're going through something bad because it's so real," he said. "It's such a satisfaction on a good night when the band's clicking and you're in your element and you feel like you're delivering the goods.
"So, it all works out in the end."
www.myspace.com/scottellisonband
SCOTT ELLISON CD RELEASE SHOW When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Blues City Bar & Grill, 3156 S. Mingo Road
Admission: Free