LISTEN: Jeff Ellis Shares “Doors He Could Open”

New album, Vacancy Hearts, out August 4th

July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 Ron Hart 0 Comments Alice in Chains, Bruce Springsteen, Bud Carroll, Jeff Ellis, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Vacancy Hearts

Jeff Ellis has been a lot of things in his life: A police officer in South Charleston, West Virginia. A training officer for the 528th Special Operations Support Battalion (Airborne). A drill sergeant for the Army Reserves. He currently works at the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in Fort Bragg, NC, commuting home to his family once a month.

Needless to say, Ellis joins the ranks of Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash and Maynard James Keenan of Tool as a musician who’s served in the military. And one can easily ascertain how his experience has tempered the combination of sounds on display across his latest album Vacancy Hearts. It’s a collection of country-kissed electric rock ‘n’ roll made for the road, be it at home in the American South or overseas in Afghanistan, Kuwait or Iraq driving along from mission to mission.

For Vacancy Hearts, the veteran crafted these songs to flow together like a book of short stories, though each song can stand on its own all the same. Yet, taken as a whole, these tales of loss and suffering, love found when least expected, and burdens laid down speak to a deep understanding of the human condition.

“Everyone is trying to fill that hole inside them with something,” says Ellis. “Be it drugs, love, sex, exercise, travel, God, what have you. Sometimes happiness is achieved, sometimes tragedy ensues. Such is life, but it often makes for good stories.”

Jeff Ellis Vacancy Hearts, self-released 2023

Recorded at Bud Carroll’s studio, Trackside Recordings, in Point Pleasant, WV, Vacancy Hearts featured Ellis on vocals, guitars, harmonica, and keys, Carroll on guitars, drums, percussion, vocals, bass, Phil James on keys, and Rodney Crihfield on bass. It was produced by Ellis and Carroll.

“When I was a kid, I used to love riding around with the car windows down, blasting out the latest from Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains and the like. You could just let those records play from start to finish” says Ellis. “That’s the kind of album I wanted to make, where the listener goes on a journey from beginning to end.”

Rock & Roll Globe is proud to premiere one of our favorite tracks off Vacancy Hearts today on the site – the E Street Band-evoking “Doors He Could Open.”

“I wanted to write a song that read like early Springsteen (if Springsteen was writing about southern West Virginia instead of New Jersey) and sounded like early Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,” Ellis says of the tune.”I think ‘Doors He Could Open’ is about as close as I could get to that.”

Listen to the song below and learn more about Ellis on his Facebook page.

Thank you for your service, Jeff.