Dolan Ellis Facts

Dolan Ellis has devoted much of his life to telling the world about Arizona through song, photography, music and poetry.  Just a few of his accomplishments:

• Arizona's Official State Balladeer since 1966
  • A Governor-appointed position
  • 10 Governors have made the appointment
  • First and only Official Arizona Balladeer
  • Arizona was the first state to appoint an Official Balladeer
• Original member of the famous 1960s folk music group, The New Christy Minstrels
  • "Best Group" Grammy in 1963
  • Recorded 5 albums with the Christies
  • 39 consecutive appearances on the nationally televised Andy Williams Show
  • Concerts at the best venues in the nation, including Carnegie Hall
• Now performing with the New Ch risty Minstrels AGAIN!
  • With four other originals: Randy Sparks (the leader then, now, and always; Jackie Miller Davidson, Art Podell, and Clarence Treat
  • Plus great younger ringers: Becky Jo Benson, Buffalo Bill Boycott, and occasionally Chuck Cole
  • Their touring schedule and other information is available on the NCM site.
• Founder and Artist-in-Residence of the Arizona Folklore Preserve
  • Performed at hundreds of shows there (taking no fees)
  • Brought in more than 200 guest artists to date
  • Still performing there one weekend each month
  • AFP facilities now owned by the University of Arizona South
• Has written 300 songs about Arizona: its people, places, events, history, and scenic wonders
  • Also in Dolan's repertoire are songs about Arizona and the American Southwest, written by other artists, with special Dolan Ellis arrangements
• Has made numerous recordings as Balladeer
  • CDs (including re-releases of some older albums)
  • "Balladeer Cards" (musical greeting cards)
  • Video DVD
• Television Work
  • Writer, producer, and host
  • Arizona travelogues and musical variety shows
  • Aired on ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates in primetime slots
  • Appeared as the subject of many television documentaries and "short stories"
• Cowgirls (a stage play)
  • Wrote all original music
• Special awards received:
  • First person inducted as an Arizona Culture Keeper
  • Cited in the Congressional Record by Senator John McCain
  • Inducted into the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame
  • Citizen of the Year in 1996
• Has performed for hundreds of thousands of school children throughout the state of Arizona
• Has represented Arizona in 20 nations
• A professional photographer who brings his visual art to the stage, illustrating many of his songs with beautiful large-screen photography
• An explorer extraordinaire
  • Stopped counting miles in his CJ-7 4-wheel drive Jeeps when he reached 1 million miles, well over 10 years ago
  • Has explored caves, mountains, waterways, valleys, deserts, forests, canyons, and especially enjoys the areas that are most remote
  • Has met and interviewed thousands of interesting Arizona characters

Arizona has truly been blessed for more than 42 years now, having Dolan Ellis as its Official Balladeer.  His voice, a strong baritone that is either powerful or sensitive as the song calls for, seems to get better as the years go by.  He plays a beautiful 12-string guitar that adds versatility to his one-man shows.  His is an accomplished storyteller, one who can portray a dramatic story or tell a joke with the best of them. 

Dolan calls upon his journalism major to find the most interesting of stories and write about them.  And he writes about them in that artistic and memorable way only a songwriter can do.  Many of us have learned more about Arizona history from Dolan Ellis than from from any history books.  He makes it fun!

(And many a visitor has remarked that he/she learned more about Arizona from one 90-minute Balladeer show than from numerous tours.)

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Dolan Ellis Biography                                                                                      Details on dolan's career