Date Signed: Summer 2025
Publisher: Limited Edition Music Publishing/Warner Chappell
Type of Music: Bluegrass
Management: Neil Mason - Red Light Management, neil.mason@redlightmanagement.com
Booking: Carter Green - WME, cgreen@wmeagency.com
Publicity: Erin Morris Huttlinger - Morris Public Relations, erin@morrispr.biz; Alison Auerbach - AAPR, alisonapr@aol.com
Web: wyattellis.com
A&R: Wyatt Ellis, Teresa Ellis, Neil Mason
One way of gaining a foothold in the music industry is by racking up so many accomplishments and accolades that powerful people come to you. It’s even better if you can make those achievements happen at an early age. Wyatt Ellis is such an individual. Raised in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains region, the 16-year-old mandolin player has jammed with everyone from the late Bobby Osborne to Billy Strings. He received two IBMA New Artist of the Year nominations, and his collaboration with Marty Stuart topped the bluegrass charts for over 10 months.
One evening, his prodigious talent was on display at The Station Inn. In wandered Greg Sowders, Vice President of Warner Chappell Music, who had been staying at a nearby hotel and had nothing better to do. His interest piqued, he searched online for the picking prodigy and began following him on Instagram. He also messaged Ellis’s mother.
Sowders rang Neil Mason, the young artist’s manager, the next day. They connected on both a personal and professional level. “It was a perfect scenario, because we were just wrapping up promoting Happy Valley,” explains Mason, referencing Ellis’s independent debut, an album of instrumentals that went to No. 1. “Wyatt is going to spend his life in music, and I think that was clear to Greg and the Warner team.”
Conditions were ripe for formulating a deal, yet Sowders and everyone else helping steer the rising star’s career was willing to wait. Penning songs with lyrics would be a natural progression, and all understood Ellis needed time to develop his artistic voice. The last thing they wanted was to lock him down with a restrictive contract. So wait they did before forging a low-pressure agreement with Sowder’s Limited Edition Music Publishing.
Since inking the contract, the team has helped the teen performer grow by arranging co-writes and helping him penetrate the Nashville scene. “I’ve written a bunch of great songs since then, but we’re just now getting into the swing of things,” chirps Ellis, who’s also a formidable vocalist. “I’m real excited.”
