Henderson’s longest running music festival is Aug. 8-9 in Audubon Mill Park
See music schedule at bottom of article
To hear Wyatt Ellis talk about his life so far, his young voice sounds like a very old soul.
The rising bluegrass star who’s bringing his band to headline Henderson’s Bluegrass in the Park Folklife festival this August uses words like “tradition,” “heritage” and “roots of American music” to describe what’s been on his mind since he’s vaulted head-first into the genre.
It hasn’t been all that long ago. He was 9 years old when he decided to learn how to play the mandolin.
He’d just heard the instrument for the first time and it was in the hands of Bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne, who was playing “Rocky Top.”
As a born and bred Tennessean, Ellis was inspired to learn that particular song and started taking lessons in his hometown of Maryville, while also seeking out opportunities to learn from other musicians at local jams.
But just a few months later, the whole world took a step back and eventually shut down with the arrival of a worldwide pandemic — Covid 19.
Like many other people, Ellis had time on his hands that was valuable for learning something new. According to the biography on his website, he turned to YouTube and social media for instruction and managed to stay connected to the music.
He learned lots of Bill Monroe songs note for note and listened to advice from other musicians to use his ear.
Soon he became a virtuoso mandolin player who fuses East Tennessee tradition with heartfelt vocals and an original youthful songwriting voice learned in the digital footprint of Osborne, Bill Monroe, Marty Stuart, his self-identified idol Sierra Hull and others.
In a Tennessee Arts Commission virtual apprenticeship program in 2020, Ellis spent eight months learning virtually not just technical skills from Hull but also how to navigate becoming an acclaimed musician, just as she had done at an early age.
Now that he’s reached the ripe old age of 16, he’s already walked in some other big shoes and not so much virtually anymore.
He appreciates that they’re big shoes, and that’s why he sounds like an old Bluegrass soul when he talks, expressing respect for tradition with ease.
As he was about to play at the Carter Family Fold recently, he told the Bristol Herald Courier about playing the Grand Ole Opry in his official debut at age 14.
“I was wearing Jimmy Martin’s old Bluegrass Boys belt buckle (which was given to Martin by Bill Monroe),” Ellis recalls. “I got to ride to the Opry in Jimmy’s old coon hunting pickup truck.”
He must be one of those rare talents that comes along every generation or so, and instantly has the ability to distill a natural musical gift into something that grabs those who are listening in.
After only a handful of years—months really—spent watching and learning, he was off and running.
He’s played the Grand Ole Opry multiple times now and top festivals like MerleFest, CMA Fest, Newport Folk Festival and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival.
He’s collaborated with bluegrass legends Peter Rowan, Dailey & Vincent, Stuart and Hull, to name just a few, and has International Bluegrass Music Association award nominations to back up the acclaim.
This year he’s nominated for New Artist of the Year (for the second straight year). His 2024 debut album “Happy Valley” is a collection of original songs composed when Ellis was 11 years old, and it reached the top spot on Billboard’s Bluegrass chart in the first month of release. Ten of the album’s 12 tracks charted in the Top 10.
In January of 2025, Wyatt released “Winds of Rowan County” alongside bluegrass legend Rowan, a collaboration that honors Rowan’s legacy while passing the torch of the “old-school” to bluegrass music’s newest flame-keeper.
He eventually even got to work with the Osborne, who passed away in 2023, and played mandolin at Rowan’s induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2022.
Currently, Ellis is working on his second studio album and “paying forward” what he has learned about Bluegrass music. This summer he was an instructor at a Songwriting Camp at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
“I’m proud to represent my generation in the roots of American music,” Ellis said.
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Bluegrass in the Park Folklife Festival will take place for the 39th time on Aug. 8-9 in Audubon Mill Park. The festival is free.
Here’s the music schedule:
Aug. 8
4 p.m. — Ridgetop Ramblers
5 p.m. — Love Sick Blues
6 p.m. — Price Sisters
7 p.m. — Ridgetop Ramblers
8 p.m. — Love Sick Blues
9 p.m. — Price Sisters
Aug. 9
8 a.m. — Maggie Hollis
10:30 — Mackville
Noon — West Liberty Mountain Boys
1 p.m. — Kings Highway
2 p.m. — Tennessee Bluegrass Band
3 p.m. — Green River Review
4 p.m. — Wyatt Ellis
5 p.m. — Mackville
6 p.m. — West Liberty Mountain Boys
7 p.m. — Kings Highway
8 p.m. — Tennessee Bluegrass Band
9 p.m. — Green River Review
10 p.m. — Wyatt Ellis
The festival also features children’s activities, folklife exhibits and food booths.
Info: BluegrassInThePark.com
