Wyatt Ellis backstage at Neyland Stadium with country singer-songwriter Ernest
Joe Compton, Christian Stolz, Wyatt Ellis, Ernest, Jud Harris, Jordan Merrigan – photo © Joseph J. Cash
When country artist Ernest played Knoxville’s Neyland Stadium last month, he invited local boy, mandolinist Wyatt Ellis, to join him on stage opening for Morgan Wallen. Born Ernest Keith Smith, a Nashville native, he goes simply by Ernest as a performer, and has made a career for himself in the music business after a tough youth, that included suffering a heart attack at 19 and developing a drug addiction while playing college baseball.
In recent years his songs have been recorded by a number of popular country acts, Wallen among them, leading to Ernest being signed on his own by Big Loud Records in 2019.
Ellis has made quite a name for himself in bluegrass for his remarkable mandolin playing at only 14 years of age, not to mention the wonderful instrumentals he writes that recall the music of Bill Monroe. Many of those are included in his current recording, Happy Valley. Wyatt and Ernest met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry last year, and when he brought the young prodigy out on stage during his Knoxville set, he introduced him as “one of the best mandolin players on planet earth!”
Ernest asked Wyatt to join him for the September 20 show in Knoxville, in the stadium where the University of Tennessee Volunteers play football, and Ellis had his first huge arena concert experience. He was on stage with Ernest for the first three songs, and then returned for a grand finale.
You can catch a glimpse of him in they fan video from that afternoon.
Teresa Ellis, Wyatt’s mom, shared this gallery of photos taken by Joseph J. Cash of Wyatt’s day at Neyland.
Well done young man!
