Sisters songwriter kickstarts CD project

Raman Ellis found his voice as a singer, musician and songwriter growing up in Sisters. Now he's working on producing a debut CD of his original songs in his hometown.

Ellis has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $7,000 to record and produce "We Are The Light." The CD will be as homegrown as it can be - recorded in Sisters with producer and engineer Brent Alan and featuring the accompaniment of Sisters musicians.

"All the instrumentalists will be friends who I have been playing with for up to 12 years," Ellis notes. "This will be my first album and it will stand as a culmination of 16 years of playing music and 13 years of writing songs. The songs are written, the voices and instruments ready, all we need are the funds to make it happen."

Ellis got his start as a standout member of the Americana Project, the Sisters Folk Festival's music education outreach program. He frequently partnered with Benji Nagel, and Nagel will feature prominently on "We Are The Light."

"I need him!" Raman said. "All my songs, I couldn't pull them off properly without the right accompaniment."

It's not just having the right instruments - it's a feeling that grows out of friendship and camaraderie.

"My favorite thing musically is to accompany good songwriters," Nagel said. "I love singing harmonies and all that."

Ellis, like most artists, is a bit at a loss to describe his own music, so Nagel did it for him: "Soulful; lyrically unique; very melodic. Roots in country and folk as well as hip-hop influences in some of the songs. An eclectic mix of influences."

Raman plays guitar, banjo and fiddle as well as singing, and he "dabbles" with the mandolin and dobro. Finding his singing voice and a performance presence has been very important to the artist.

"Singing helped my whole life, basically," he said.

Quiet by nature, he learned to "take your whole self and put it out to the audience." He found in the Americana Project that "it was exhilarating to be on the stage."

He also finds great joy in songwriting.

Creating his debut CD in the environment that nurtured him as a musician is very satisfying to Ellis.

"Sisters is the place to do it," he said. "It's home, for one, but the support of the music community and the whole environment is conducive to this kind of thing."

Ellis and Nagel jam regularly with Dennis McGregor and other friends at The Depot Café on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m.

To support "We Are The Light," go to http://www.kickstarter.com and enter Raman Ellis in "Search Projects.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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