LIVE SHOWS
News & Updates
News
Desert Gold
IF I HAD A HAMMER (Feat. Kam Franklin)
SOME PEOPLE
GREYHOUND 89
THANK YOU LOS ANGELES
HEART OF MINE
RIVER TOO WIDE
PHOTOS
PHOTOS BY J.D. NARRO - FOLLOW @JDNARRO
MATT ELLIS
Matt Ellis is an independent, award-winning singer/songwriter and producer from Sydney, Australia. Based in the U.S. since 2005, his music has taken him across Australia, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and Mexico, sharing the stage with Calexico, Paul Kelly, DeVotchKa, Kasey Chambers, LeAnn Rimes, and John Doe, to name a few. Over the years, Ellis has built a catalog of critically acclaimed albums and singles, collaborating with world-class musicians including Nels Cline, Greg Leisz, and Merry Clayton, while earning international airplay and placements with Sony PlayStation, Audible, ABC, LMN, MTV, Qantas, and The Food Network.
Ellis’ sound sits firmly on the rock end of the Americana spectrum, pulling from classic singer-songwriters like Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan. His songs combine driving guitars, atmospheric textures, and his distinctive low croon to create music that feels both urgent and timeless. With equal parts grit and melody, Ellis’ work resonates with listeners who crave authenticity wrapped in bold, expansive production.
Over the years, Ellis and his band have performed at iconic venues and festivals including The Troubadour (L.A.), Pappy & Harriet’s (Joshua Tree), the Santa Monica Pier’s Twilight Series, The Americana Festival (Nashville), Abbot Kinney Festival, Desert Stars Festival, The Texas Crawfish Festival, and more. Whether opening for Kasey Chambers in front of 15,000 fans or sharing bills with acts like Calexico, Iron & Wine, and The White Buffalo, Ellis has carved out a reputation as a powerful live performer who thrives on connection with his audience.
In recent years, Ellis has balanced raising his daughter with releasing a series of singles and working on a forthcoming full album. Desert Gold, Coming Back, and Broken Mind were all met with a warm response, receiving spins in the U.S., Europe, and back home in Australia.
Desert Gold
Released in 2020, Desert Gold is Ellis’ postcard from the Hi-Desert of Southern California, where he relocated with his family in 2019, just before the pandemic. Recorded remotely with bandmates in Australia and L.A., the track captured the strangeness and gratitude of that time. Mixed by fellow Hi-Dez resident Nicolas Vernhes (War On Drugs, Spoon), the single introduced a new sonic chapter for Ellis and is available now on all streaming platforms.
Coming Back
In 2022, Ellis followed with Coming Back, a celebration track recorded at the tail end of the pandemic. With the swagger of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and the pop sensibility of Big Star, the song captures resilience and release. Produced by Ellis and mixed by longtime collaborator Craig Schumacher (Neko Case, Calexico), Coming Back became a class project for Schumacher’s students at Mesa Community College, embodying the collaborative spirit that has long fueled Ellis’ music.
Broken Mind
Most recently, Ellis released Broken Mind (2024), a single inspired by Stewart Burton’s novel Number 4, which chronicles Burton’s survival through heroin addiction and imprisonment in 1990s Hong Kong. The song, recorded near Joshua Tree with Ellis’ band and mixed by Adrian Hall (Tori Amos, Depeche Mode), revisits the rebellious soundscape of Ellis’ teenage years in Hong Kong. Released alongside the novel, Broken Mind stands as both a musical and personal reconnection to those formative years.
Ellis is currently completing mixing on his seventh album with Nicolas Vernhes at the Rare Book Room / Sand to Snow Studio in California’s High Desert.
His previous releases include Rambler Pacifico (2019), hailed as “an Americana treasure” (Daily Ripple), and The Greatest Escape (2014), which became one of the most-added records on Americana radio alongside The New Basement Tapes. Earlier albums such as Births, Deaths & Marriages (2008) featured collaborations with Greg Leisz, Tim Young, Nick Luca, Jacob Valenzuela, and Merry Clayton, further cementing Ellis’ place in the folk-rock and Americana landscape.
From folk-rock ballads to urgent, defiant anthems, Ellis’ catalog continues to evolve while staying true to his signature low croon and sharp songwriting. With a seventh album on the way, he remains a restless storyteller, always searching for fresh ways to connect his journey to the wider world.
Follow Matt Ellis on Instagram and Facebook for upcoming release dates and live shows.