Austin Ellis
- Nashville, TN
- Singing Guitarist
- 261 Verified Bookings
Michael T. said “Besides being a fantastic singer and musician, Austin related well to the audience and captivated all. We went into this event hoping our guests would…”
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Singing guitarist for any size event.
Solo or duo
Acoustic and/or electric guitar.
1920's-1940's Jazz Standards
Americana, Rhythm and Blues, Classic Country and Rockabilly (see songlist below)
Over 25 years experience playing for audiences in North America and Europe
Be the first to review Ben Blankenship
Price Range: $100 and up
Solo, duo, or trio. See Set List for a variety of songs.
Growing up on the “mean streets” of Enid, a small Oklahoma town surrounded by vast wheat fields and known for its huge grain elevators and a boom and bust oil economy, the middle son of the town urologist, Ben Blankenship may seem an unlikely person to feel the call of the troubadour. There was always music in the air, though no one in his immediate family was a musician. In the music he plays today you can still hear the influence of his parents vinyl record collection, consisting of large doses of Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Charlie Rich, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings, the intense love of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash that he absorbed from his uncles, the diverse sounds of Neil Young, Bob Marley, the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, and the Beatles through his highly musical childhood friends, and his mother Carolynne's singing Patsy Cline and Hank Williams songs around the house, songs she learned from her father. At the age of 10 he was given a Fender dreadnought acoustic guitar and began what has become a lifelong musical odyssey.
Ben attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, graduating with a B.A. in Letters in 1988. While there he played guitar for a locally popular reggae band, Streetpeople, eventually moving with the band to San Francisco in a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to transplant Okie reggae to the Golden Gate. In his short time living in Frisco, he learned valuable lessons playing on the streets of Chinatown with the Sharp Cats, a band led by Lee Keskela, who had been a player in the Haight Ashbury music and art scene since the 1950's.
Upon moving back to Norman in 1989, Ben helped found the country rock band the Silver-Tongued Devils. The Devils' rough blend of classic country and blues, irony-infused, intelligent lyrics, with front man Doyle Primm's gravelly voice demanding all listeners to drink and drink plenty were a hit with fans and bar owners from the very first gig until their eventual break-up in 1993. Over the band's four years together, besides their regular central Oklahoma haunts, they played to packed clubs in Denver, Dallas, and Kansas City, capped by an appearance at La Zona Rosa in Austin at the South By Southwest Music Festival. Ben continued to play with members of the Silver-Tongued Devils after the band's break-up, recording and releasing his first solo CD, Black Lipstick, in 1997 with their help.
Leaving Norman in 1998, Ben took six months to travel throughout continental Europe, busking and playing clubs nearly everywhere he went, experiencing particularly memorable musical adventures in the German college town of Goertingen, as well as Prague and Amsterdam. When he returned to the States, he settled in New York City, taking a job as an English teacher in a Bronx high school and continuing to play the bars, coffee houses, and sometimes the subways of the city. He recorded his second solo album, Solitaire, in his apartment in West Harlem with a four track recorder bought with money from his teaching job.
After three exciting but difficult years of teaching and playing in New York, Ben felt it was time for another move, this time to Nashville, to play with the best and be pushed to write better songs. In Nashville he has continued to write, play, and teach English. He co-founded the rock and roll band the Double Intenders with the help of fellow songwriter Tony Garcia. Ben loves playing with the DI's at various Nashville venues but in recent years he has felt drawn back to the challenge of getting a song across with only his voice and a guitar. While he likes to weave in the occasional cover song to help listeners place his own music in context, these solo shows primarily feature the ever expanding catalog of original songs he has composed over the last twenty-five years. “This is how the old troubadours did it, so all I'm doing is replacing their lute with my Martin D-18. If the songs are good enough, folks will listen.”
Sound can be provided by Ben if needed at an additional fee.
Americana/Rhythm and Blues/Classic Country/Rockabilly
Mystery Train—Elvis Presley
Hey Porter—Johnny Cash
Waiting For a Train—Jimmy Rogers
The Running Kind—Merle Haggard
Hey Good Lookin'--Hank Williams
Cleaning Windows—Van Morrison
Don't Start Me Talkin—Sonny Boy Williamson
Honky Tonk Blues—Hank Williams
If Not For You—Bob Dylan
I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink—Merle Haggard
Ring of Fire—Johnny Cash
Little Sadie--Traditional
She Belongs to Me—Bob Dylan
St James Infirmary Blues—Traditional
Good Rockin' Tonight—Elvis Presley
Spoonful—Howlin' Wolf
Shame, Shame, Shame—Jimmy Reed
Mother Earth Blues—Memphis Slim
When the Lights Go Out—Jimmy Witherspoon
Ramblin' Round—Woody Guthrie
All Tomorrow's Parties—Lou Reed
Well Alright—Buddy Holly
I Still Miss Someone—Johnny Cash
She Thinks I Still Care—George Jones
Dead Flowers—Rolling Stones
Please, Please Me--Beatles
What Goes On?--Beatles
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry—Hank Willians
Carol—Chuck Berry
After Midnight—J J Cale
All Along the Watchtower—Bob Dylan
I Can't Help it if I'm Still In Love With You—Hank Williams
Always Late With Your Kisses—Lefty Frizzell
All Shook Up—Elvis Presley
Cry, Baby Cry--Beatles
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight—Bob Dylan
Mama Tried—Merle Haggard
Swinging Doors—Merle Haggard
Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor--Traditional
I Shall Be Released—Bob Dylan/The Band
That's the Way Love Goes—Merle Haggard
Dire Wolf—Grateful Dead
I'm a Dweller on the Threshold—Van Morrison
Spike and Boffyflow—Traditional
Shady Grove--Traditional
Master's Bouquet/Red River Valley--Traditional
False-Hearted Lover/He Will Set Your Fields on Fire--Traditional
1920's-1940's Jazz
All of Me
Ain't Misbehavin'
It Aint' Necessarily So
Any Old Time
As Time Goes By
Basin Street Blues
The Birth of the Blues
Blue Skies
Chinatown
Dinah
Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Exactly Like You
Fly Me to the Moon
Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
Georgia
Has Anybody Seen My Gal
I Can't Give You Anything But Love
I'm Confessin'
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing
Jeepers Creepers
Up a Lazy River
Our Monday Date
On the Sunny Side of the Street
Over the Rainbow
Rockin' Chair
Russian Lullaby
The St. James Infirmary Blues
Satin Doll
Shine On Harvest Moon
Sister Kate
Someone to Watch Over Me
Stormy Weather
Summertime
Sweet Georgia Brown
Sweet Sue
Tea for Two
Them There Eyes
The Way You Look Tonight
Trouble In Mind
See bio
Michael T. said “Besides being a fantastic singer and musician, Austin related well to the audience and captivated all. We went into this event hoping our guests would…”
Jeannie O. said “Not only is he kind and appreciative he’s so talented. He’s professional. He gives way more than I expected. Have no reservation in booking this young…”
Joan H. said “Kyle was scheduled to play during a corporate/sporting event in our downtown Nashville office. His voice and playing was wonderful! He played his own…”
Katie D. said “Steve did a fantastic job at our rooftop corporate reception in DC! Super nice, helpful, fun songs to get the party going. Thanks Steve!”