ELLEN McILWAINE
Java CoffeeHouse - Victoria - Sept 6, '96
by Phil Rossner
from issue #33 - Cosmic Debris Musicians Magazine - Sept '96
Even though Ellen McIlwaine has been on the music
scene for years, I can't recall ever having had the pleasure
to hear her play before, live or on record. It's always
interesting to attend a concert of an artist that I haven't
heard - I feel a different type of anticipation as compared to
when I'm familiar with a musician's material
and eagerly wait to hear my favorite
songs. I always try to go into any
performance that I'm going to review
without any pre-conceived notions
about what to expect. However, this is
usually easier said than done...
The only female guitarist that I had
heard play live before was Debbie Davies,
from the "Icebreakers", Albert Collins' back-up band.
Debbie was certainly no slouch on guitar,
but I think she may be considered an
"exception to the rule" by the male-dominated guitar community.
The myth of the impassionate and tame female guitar player
seems to be perpetuated by
the industry...
Ellen herself even admitted (albeit with tongue in cheek)
that her mother would probably have preferred if she ended
up on the "lighter" end of the musical scale - more like a
Loreena McKennitt. However, this world-renowned electric
slide guitar player, who called her first band "Fear Itself" hit
on the other end of the spectrum - raw, passionate,
uncompromising guitar wizardry.
When she kicked into her first song this night at the Java
Coffeehouse, I was taken aback and felt my mind running
through the myriad of musical influences in my head, trying
to "pigeon hole" what I was hearing. It came up blank - I
had never heard anything quite like this before.
Plucking on the lowest strings of her Guild "batman"
guitar, Ellen pounded out a funky fuzz-bass riff that sounded
somewhat reminiscent to "Standing on Shaky Ground". Her
vocals were powerful, alternating between upper range
clarity and a bluesy edge.
Her second song was Big Mama Thornton's "Hound
Dog", complete with yelps... the song was not immediately
recognizable, as Ellen has re-worked this and other blues
standards to fit her own particular syle. Apparently, upon
asking John Lee Hooker what he thought of her version of
his "Crawling Kingsnake" that she had just played in her
opening-act set, he replied "which one was it"??
In between songs, Ellen gave us some interesting, funny
and thought-provoking experiences from her life - going to
school in Japan - "I was in a classroom with kids from 28
other nationalities", the 70's - "I slept around to avoid
dating", performing with a youthful Jimi Hendrix, and her present work with sick
children. Her experiences in growing up and touring around the
world led her to present her world vision as a preface to one of her songs -
"We're all so beautiful - why can't we be friends"? In the middle of this song,
Ellen made use of an E-Bow - an electronic device that causes the string to vibrate
without having to pluck it, thereby giving a drone effect over which she played an
incredible slide solo.
Other songs of the night included her version of a Hendrix
song - "Waterfall", Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign",
and a wonderful "raga" called "We the People", where she
accomplished an authentic Indian feel by tuning her guitar
strings to octaves of C.
Ellen McIlwaine defies comparison. She is one of the
most interesting and inspiring musicians that I have seen for
a long time and I am looking forward to seeing her again the
next time she passes through town. Many thanks go out to
Doug Cox (MALAHAT MOUNTAIN MUSIC) for his gracious
invitation to attend this fine concert... and what a blessing it
was to attend a performance of this calibre in a "smokeless"
setting - let's have more of the same!
Ellen's recordings are available from STONY PLAIN
RECORDS, Box 861, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2L8 or from Ellen
McIlwaine Music, P.O. Box 611, Station M, Calgary, Alberta T2P
2J2.
