About Us

Ellis Reed is a fusion of acoustic rock – old time country – blues – jazz – singer/songwriter – folk music that deconstructs the things we are and feel into a nice 3-5 minute package of sound, soul, and thought.

Ellis Reed was formed in the late Spring of 2004. After some searching and some nudging, the name “ellis reed” was chosen because we liked the sound of the name as well as having a mythical member to channel and occasionally blame.

We finished our demo/CD which we called Still Life. Thanks to this CD, we were selected by Radio Volta’s “Kinetic Cuts” show as one of the top picks of that year.

 

We have appeared at many venues in the area including the Tin Angel, John and Peters, and The Khyber. We have been fortunate to appear on Gene Shay’s WXPN Folk Show. We also have been hosted at several internet radio stations as well. Our festival shows include the Bloomfield Harvest Festival, Collingswood Music Festival, The Fairmount Arts Crawl, the Love Park Summer Concert Series, and the 1st Acoustic Philly Festival. We have also played at benefits for the Relay for Life and Huntingdon’s Disease.

 

We were proud to have been part of the “Acoustic Philly” group of bands and solo artists. They are a great group of people and we enjoyed sharing many shows with our fellow acoustic Philadelphians.

 

We recorded our second CD, “BarbaraLand” and are beginning work on our third (currently untitled)  Ellis Reed’s musical influences are diverse and we try to incorporate all of our musical past in our songs. The members have had long experience in various bands playing heavy metal, urban contemporary, spiritual, rock and plenty of other styles we have encountered in jams, parties, festivals, and retreats.

Ellis Reed has had a lot of past to look back on, but we are presently looking steadfastly towards tomorrow. As you know – The future is where will be living the rest of our lives.

 

Hope to see you soon – Ellis Reed

 

Still Life Band

Matt Cicalese                              guitar, vocals

Rebecca Vlam                             vocals, guitar

Michael Donato                          bass guitar

Bob Tinsman                               percussion

Steve Vlam                       guitar, mandolin, violin, vocals

BarbaraLand Band

 

Michael Donato               bass guitar

Rebecca Vlam                  vocals, guitar

Stephen Vlam                  guitar, fiddle, vocals, edrums

Bill Finlay                          guitar, madolin, harmonica, vocals

Spirit Members

Ty Smith 

Brian Pierce

Current Lineup

Flexible –

Rebecca and Steve now –

But Old Friends Always Stay Friends and New Friends May Be Just Around the Way

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