You can hear an extended version of this interview in the player at the bottom of this post.
Robert Ellis may have grown up south of Houston, but his provenance has never been especially easy to pin down. A few years back, when the buzz first started building around a hot new singer/songwriter from the Lone Star State, his long-haired look was more heavy metal than Texas troubadour. But a few months later, he was hardly recognizable: short hair, blue jeans, a beard and some wicked guitar chops.
Fast forward to 2019 and Robert Ellis had undergone yet another transformation. This time, he shed the traditional T-shirt and jeans favored by singer/songwriters, and dons attire that’s a whole lot more slick and formal. He also rebranded himself as the Texas Piano Man.
“This, ironically, is my casual attire,” Ellis says of the black-outfit-and-bolo-tie look he wore during his visit to the Texas Standard studios. “Normally, when I go on stage, I have the full-white tuxedo that you can see on the record cover. And I wear a white hat. But you know, that’s show business.”