Ellwood is an American

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band formed in the

Santa Ynez Valley The Santa Ynez Valley is located in Santa Barbara County, California, between the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north. The Santa Ynez River flows through the valley from east to west. The Santa Ynez Valle ...

in 2009. The group consists of

Mad Caddies The Mad Caddies (or the Caddies) are a ska punk band from Solvang, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. To date, Mad Caddies have sold over 500,000 albums worl ...

frontman

Chuck Robertson The Mad Caddies (or the Caddies) are a ska punk band from Solvang, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. To date, Mad Caddies have sold over 500,000 albums worl ...

, Caddies members Graham Palmer and Todd Rosenberg, and former Caddies member and former

Cherry Poppin' Daddies The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are an American swing and ska band established in Eugene, Oregon, in 1989. Formed by singer-songwriter Steve Perry and bassist Dan Schmid, the band has experienced numerous personnel changes over the course of its 30 ...

keyboardist

Dustin Lanker Dustin Ross Lanker (born October 7, 1976) is an American keyboardist, known for his work as a member of the ska- swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and the ska punk band the Mad Caddies, as well as the singer-songwriter for the rock trio The ...

Biography

Ellwood formed when Robertson relocated back to his hometown of

Solvang, California Solvang (; ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 6,126 at the 2020 census, up from 5,245 at the 2010 census. Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May ...

in the late 2000s. After reconnecting with Palmer and Rosenberg, and finding the Santa Ynez Valley music scene lacking, the trio decided to form a new band just for fun, eventually recruiting longtime Caddies touring keyboardist Dustin Lanker. In contrast to the more punk rock and

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

sound of the Mad Caddies, Ellwood focused more on sunny, mellow and mid-tempo ska and reggae. In 2010, after a period of playing local shows, Ellwood chose to move forward and record an album. Spending six months putting together material, the group demoed an album in Palmer's garage, then recorded it in a Santa Barbara studio in only two days. After putting Ellwood on hold for almost a year to focus on the Mad Caddies, Robertson eventually passed a copy of the album onto

Fat Mike Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me F ...

at a party, who called Robertson several days later and agreed to put it out on

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) in 1990. The label has released mater ...

. ''Lost in Transition'' was released on June 21, 2011, meeting with positive critical reviews from the likes of ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'',

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

and Punknews.org. In promotion of the album, Ellwood carried out a headlining tour of Europe in November and December 2011, followed in January 2012 by a West coast United States tour supporting

NOFX NOFX () is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. Vocalist/bassist Fat Mike, guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin are original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

and Old Man Markley. Shortly after the release of ''Lost in Transition'', Robertson stated that Ellwood was already working on new material for their next album, noting that the music would be a drastic departure from their debut, dabbling in "heavy, aggressive, poppy rock". According to Robertson, "The plan for Ellwood is really to just take it record by record, and whatever the theme we want to go for, just go for it.... 're just going to keep expanding, and not be a band that's chained to one sound or style". Robertson also noted that the band hoped to complete five records in five years. In an update posted to

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

on November 1, 2012, the band confirmed that work had begun on a second studio album, though Ellwood would be "put in the freezer for a little while" as Robertson returned to writing and touring with the Caddies. After years of inactivity, however, Robertson finally confirmed in an October 2020 interview that Ellwood was officially "defunct.”

Discography

*''Lost in Transition'' (2011,

)

Band members

- vocals, guitar *

- keyboards, vocals *Graham Palmer - bass, vocals *Todd Rosenberg - drums, vocals

References

External links

Official Ellwood website
* {{Authority control American reggae musical groups American ska musical groups Fat Wreck Chords artists Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2012 Musical groups from California