Song Premiere: Robert Ellis, “The High Road”

In the music world, the battle lines between art and commercialism have always been blurred, regardless of what the purists and gatekeepers of “authenticity” have to say on the subject.

Robert Ellis understands this. His song “The High Road,” which appears on his forthcoming self-titled fourth album and premieres today on this website, pokes a little fun at the notion of the art-for-arts-sake performer losing ground to his more commercially-minded competitors.

“The song is about some of the anxieties we face in this business,” Ellis says. “As always we mean for everything to be taken completely literally with no sense of humor. Nudge nudge, wink wink.”

As an artist and songwriter, Ellis operates in the vanguard of country music, drawing on a kaleidoscope of influences that are far too numerous to cite. His music is challenging, to be sure, and not what you might call “radio-ready.” And though “The High Road” is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, there is always a little bit of truth to every joke, as they once said on Seinfeld. For instance, you can hear the weariness in Ellis’s voice when he sings, “No one cares about songs anymore.” 

Ellis wrote “The High Road” with his compadre Jonny Fritz, with whom he traveled to India last year, criss-crossing the country as a busker in search of adventure and finely-tailored suits. The high road indeed.