Ellis Gaddie

Ellis brings exactly the kind of energy we want our students to experience at Coletrain. He’s patient, enthusiastic and genuinely excited about sharing music with other people. He’s also an active musician here in the Ark Valley, and I think there’s something really valuable about students learning from someone who is part of the same music community they’re growing into.

— Coleman Smith, CMA Founder & Music Director

Ellis Gaddie

Beginner to Intermediate Guitar, Electric Bass, Ukulele + Music Theory

Ellis Gaddie is a multi-instrumentalist and educator with a particular love for electric guitar, improvisation and the endless possibilities of sound.

Raised in a musical household, Ellis grew up surrounded by everything from the Grateful Dead and Phish to Umphrey’s McGee. He first picked up a ukulele in third grade and spent his early years participating in choir and musical theater, where he was introduced to music theory. As a young adult, his dad inspired him to pick up the guitar, and it quickly became his primary instrument.

Today, Ellis plays electric and acoustic guitar, bass and ukulele, with electric guitar holding a special place for its ability to create what he describes as “cosmic sounds.” He performs and collaborates across several projects spanning rock, metal and improvisational music, and is developing a live-looping project incorporating guitar and drum machine.

Ellis is also deeply connected to the live music world behind the stage. He currently works as a Front of House Audio Engineer at the Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, mixing sound and working production for concerts and events. Before moving to the Arkansas Valley, he worked as a stage crew lead with IATSE Local 15 in Seattle, including serving as a primary audio lead at The Gorge Amphitheatre, where he worked with large-scale professional audio systems and touring productions. His production background has taken him from theaters to stadiums and gives him a real-world understanding of how musicians, crews and venues work together to bring live music to life.

His musical influences are just as wide-ranging, including King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Primus, Tool, Khruangbin, Billy Strings, John Prine and Blaze Foley. Across genres, Ellis is especially drawn to rhythm and the way it connects musicians and styles of music.

As an educator, Ellis helps students develop their ears, instincts and confidence while learning music they’re genuinely excited to play. His teaching encourages students to listen, respond and become comfortable making musical decisions in real time, building the skills to improvise, play with others and ultimately develop a sound of their own.