Hear the Balladeer’s Ballads at Arizona Folklore Preserve
Dolan Ellis, Official State Balladeer. Photo Credit: Sam Lowe
RAMSEY CANYON — Dolan Ellis figured that if Arizona was going to have an Official State Balladeer, it should also have a place where he could hang out, sing his songs and study the work of those who came before. But after being appointed to the state position, Ellis discovered that nobody was collecting songs and folklore about Arizona. So he did something about it. The result is the Arizona Folklore Preserve, located in Ramsey Canyon outside of Sierra Vista.
A 50-seat theater is the core of the preserve. It opened in 2001 and now, musicians display their wares and talents and also make use of its audio-visual recording studio. Ellis, one of the original nine members of The New Christy Minstrels, appears on a regular basis.
For information on times, dates and performers, call (520) 378-6165.
I don’t see it included in his biography at his website, but I seem to remember that Mr. Ellis owned – or at least headlined at – a club in Scottsdale, at the SE corner of Scottsdale Rd. and Camelback, just across the canal. That would have been in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I think it was called the Lumberjack and it had a big log or plank or spire, or some danged thing, that stuck up high, I assume to make it more visible because it was tucked in there below street level. Anyone else remember that place, or did I dream that?…