Well… the musical journey continues, come and enjoy
and Happy Trails. PWE
Paul W. Ellis
Paul W. Ellis is a self taught musician that grew up in the small town of Maple Ontario. At 16, he started to play along with such great artists like Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, Neil Young, Cat Stevens and John Denver. At 19 he had played his first gig.
By the age of 21, Paul had joined up with Kelly Jackson and David Storey to form a band called, “Split Rail.” Paul played acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica, and a ton of bluegrass music. They played in local hotels such as Woodbridge, Loretto, Beaton, Kleinberg, and kept quite busy on the barroom circuit.
In 1977, Paul entered the Kleinberg Bindertwine talent contest, and won first prize. His award was $250, and a coffee with a rising new comedic star, Jim Carrey.
When 1978 rolled around, Paul was playing at the Aurora Factory Theatre on Friday Folk Night. It was here he met some great musicians, among them was Hurricane Mike Thompson. Mike invited Paul to come and back him up on CFGM’s 1310’s Opray North. So in August 1978 both were on the radio, in a nation wide broadcast playing Mike’s songs, it was great!
In 1980 the music continued, Paul and Hurricane had gone their separate ways with Paul forming a band called, “Paul and the Pollywogs.” They played the Molson Amphitheatre and the Zum Rhein tavern at Ontario Place. A bunch of solo gigs followed for Paul including the Nags Head, Rumplemeyers, Red Lantern, the Richmond Inn and the south Ontario circuit of clubs and hotels.
As 1985 came into view, Paul got off the road. His sister Elaine got him a full time job at a toy factory where he worked until June 1987. He took his holidays in Arizona, February of that year. He attended a church called the Tucson Tabernacle and there he met his wife Carol. They were married in October of that year and had 2 children, Christa and Benjamin.
In 1991, they packed up, sold everything and moved to Israel to walk the land of the Bible. In Netanya, Israel, their 3rd child, Adina was born. They left Israel in 1994 and arrived in Canada in June of that year. Paul kept playing guitar and upon his return played in various churches and charity events.
Paul has once again jumped into the music scene. He has again gone back to some solid grass roots music. Meeting up again with Hurricane Mike in a small club in Aurora, they started playing together again. With Paul Snelgrove providing some solid bass playing, they have formed a band called, “The Dustaleros. “ A Country Western swing band with, country, bluegrass and gospel influences.
by Paul Snelgrove (;{)
