A Prairie Mountain Boy
Ray Elliott, born and raised in Jasper Alberta, moved to Saskatoon almost twenty years ago to raise his family; during that time he has firmly established himself in Saskatchewan’s music community. Distinctly Canadiana, Ray is the consummate storyteller, and with his songs he artfully captures the heart of Saskatchewan and Alberta through its places and - more importantly - its people. Consequently, he has been invited to perform the main stage at many festivals and venues across Western Canada, including the Wild Mountain Music Festival, the Jasper Heritage Folk Festival, Pembina Nights River Festival, Ness Creek Music Festival, the Northern Lights Bluegrass Festival, Chesterfest Music Festival, the Napatak Ramble, Dog Patch Music Festival, the Saskatoon Blues Festival, Buds on Broadway, The Capitol, Amigos, The Bassment and the Mercury Cafe & Grill (just to name a few). On top of hosting songwriter workshops and jams, Ray Elliott has also held a residency in Jasper, Alberta with Jasper’s Habitat for the Arts several years running, which includes a full week of shows at numerous venues within the town.
Ray is, indeed, the consummate storyteller. This fact is reflected in his work being selected in 2011 as CBC’s Canada Reads Regional winner for his song Hotel Albion (from his first album Good Prairie Folk) which was also used in a play written by Judy Knightly called Murder At The Albion Hotel - The Retrial of Fred Elliiott, and his song Separate Ways (from his second album Prairie Mountain Resonator) was chosen for a television show that was aired in Canada, Australia and New Zealand in September, 2018 on APTN. In addition, his song Johnny Canuck has been featured on CBC Radio’s Remembrance Day specials several times since its release in 2010, and was included in the soundtrack of the 2017 Saskatchewan film, The Invincible Sergeant Bill.
With the Ray Elliott Band's third full length album Storyteller Wilderness (released May 1st of 2023), Ray continues his legacy as a storyteller. Each song is an integral part of the album's story as a whole: a story about Saskatchewan, a story about Alberta, a story about what links us all as individuals. This collection of songs beautifully reveals the breadth of the land of which we are all a part of, the loneliness, love and anguish that we share, with a sound that is bare-boned, exposed and honest.
The Ray Elliott Band is:
Ray Elliott (guitar & voice), Peter Abonyi (bass & voice), Fabian Minnema (drums & voice), Gillian Snider (accordion & voice)