July 11, 2025 • 51 mins
Meet Dom Ellis, a 19-year-old country artist whose soul-stirring voice and emotional songwriting transcend his years. What begins as rapid-fire questions quickly evolves into a fascinating story about unlikely beginnings and extraordinary talent discovered through adversity.
Growing up in Maurice, Louisiana in a strict, sheltered household without television or electronic devices, Dom's path to music was anything but conventional. His early passion wasn't strumming guitars but performing gymnastics at a competitive level. When a serious Olympic trampoline training injury left him bedridden at 15, he picked up a guitar simply to combat boredom. Through self-teaching on YouTube and eventually vocal coaching, Dom discovered not just a new talent but his life's calling.
The turning point came during the pandemic when Dom recorded a cover of "Jersey Giant" from his back porch swing. Within an hour, the TikTok video garnered 300,000 views, propelling this former gymnast into a viral country music sensation. Now with over 200,000 TikTok followers and multiple original releases including the emotionally charged "Left to Hold," "Addictions," and "Right Person, Wrong Time," Dom shares how he crafts songs that connect despite his limited life experience – often drawing from others' stories when his sheltered upbringing provided few personal heartbreaks to mine.
Having relocated to Nashville and performed internationally from London to Canada at just 19, Dom represents a fresh voice in country music that somehow carries the weathered wisdom of classic artists like Keith Whitley. Listen as he previews upcoming songs and reflects on the unlikely journey that transformed a gymnastics injury into a blessing that revealed his true purpose. Follow @DomEllisMusic on all platforms to witness the continuing rise of this remarkably authentic young artist.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chris Bennett's Country Climb.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Star of the Week, Dom Ellis Dom.
Thank you so much for being ourStar of the Week.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Thank you, man.
Thank you for letting me be onhere.
I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
How about we start the show with a little
icebreaker, a little rapid-fire?
Questions with Dom.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Ellis.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Ready, go ahead.
Yeah, shoot him.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Favorite 90s country.
Artist.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Oh, I'd have to say probably either Keith Willey or
Alan Jackson.
Oh, good choice, that's a hardone First album you ever bought.
Let's see Chris Stapleton'sTraveler.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And you're young.
You're a lot younger than me,you're 19.
So did you buy an album, or wasit a digital album?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
No, it was an album, it was a vinyl.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh yeah, Chris Stapleton, Travel, your favorite
song from that album.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Ooh, let's see, let's see, you got me on that one
Probably Fire Away.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Oh, that's a good one .
What's one food you absolutelyrefuse to eat?
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You're going to get me on this one.
Is it fruit or food Food?
Sorry, I couldn't hear thatFood.
Yeah, mashed potatoes, mashedpotatoes.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
You don't like mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, my mom shoved it down my throat growing up.
For some odd reason, I justdon't like it anymore.
I think it might be the textureof it.
The texture really like gets meevery time.
First thing you do aftergetting off stage Chug an entire
water bottle.
What's something fans would besurprised to know about you.
(02:02):
Fans would be surprised to knowabout you.
I feel like every time I saythis people kind of you know
eyebrows flare up.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Whenever I say that I was a gymnast before all of
this, before everything started,heck, yeah, so you could do
flips.
You could do like you did thecompetitions yes, sir Woo flips,
you could do you like you didthe competitions.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yes, sir.
And then, uh, how'd you decideto to get out of that?
Uh, I picked I.
Well, I had an injury, uh, fromthe olympic trampoline, and I,
I did that, I wanted to try itout.
After the gymnastics entirescenery I fell upon the Olympic
trampoline, did it for about ayear and the next, you know, I
was training I fell, I bailedout a flip, hurt my ankle and
(02:56):
from there I, you know, wasbedridden.
I didn't have a TV, I didn'thave any video games, I just sat
in my room, played with aRubik's Cube, was bored, went
through the house, saw a guitarand decided to pick it up on
myself to try it out.
And you know, from there on, Ijust started playing and next
thing, you know, I was singingand picking.
So it was a great journey.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Heck, yeah, that was Rapid Fire Questions with Dom
Ellis, today's Country ClimbStar of the Week.
All right, I'm going to ask youthe hardest question you'll
probably get today.
If you had one country song torequest for the rest of your
life, at all events on the radio, whatever what country song are
(03:41):
you requesting?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Of mine or.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Of any, not of yours, but of all time.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I would have to say Gosh, that is a very, very hard
question, that is extremely hard.
It's gotta be Jeez, you got meon that one.
That one's very hard.
Um, I'd say, I'd say, uh,somebody's Doing Me Right by, uh
(04:20):
, by Keith Whitley, heck, yeah,can't go wrong with some Keith
Whitley?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Heck, yeah, can't go wrong with some Keith Whitley.
Actually, let's play that songright now on Q Country 92.5.
All right, that was the hardestquestion you'll probably get
today.
It was pretty hard, right.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, that was a difficult one, for sure.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So let's find out a little bit about Dom Ellis.
Where did you grow up and whendid music first grab you?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So I grew up in Maurice, louisiana.
I grew up in a very humble home, god-fearing household, and we
did not own a TV in my house.
We did not own any electronics.
We were very strict on uh,being outside Outside is your
(05:12):
entertainment and um, you know,uh, school and education was a
priority, um, and throughout mytime growing up and throughout
my time growing up, you know mebeing able to be alone and enjoy
and entertaining myself reallyhelped me out.
I have ADHD, so of course I gotto, like you know, be around
(05:36):
and do a bunch of things at once, and so entertaining myself was
very, very hard.
I always needed something toentertain me, and finding that
and completing that was a bigexecution for me growing up.
And finally, what got me intothe whole entire music scenery
(06:03):
was, um, living out here, uh,watching.
Louisiana has a very highculture of music.
Um, the zotico scenery ismassive.
Everywhere you go, you hearsomeone playing, you hear
someone singing, you hearsomeone um expressing their
emotions through some chord,that they're playing some fiddle
(06:25):
, that they're messing withanything and a good amount of
blues out here, and I've alwaysbeen connected to the music
scenery.
I just never tried singing,never tried playing an
instrument.
I was more into the very, veryboyish, masculine sports of just
being a football player anddoing all these things and that
(06:48):
was the main goal.
And finally, you know, I stoodupon gymnastics.
One day my mom caught me doingflips off my roof because it was
cool to do flips around my timebeing in middle school and if
you could do a backflip you werecool.
So of course I wanted to trythat out and being so active and
(07:10):
outside with no electronics oranything, I learned a good
amount of them and became verygood at it and decided to try
out gymnastics and that I justfound a passion for it.
And you know there's not manyout here, it's not very popular
out here, but the ones that theyhad, they were very supportive
(07:32):
and it was a great community andI was very thankful, still
thankful and grateful to join.
That and from learning fromgymnastics was a lot of
determination that I had to setmy mindset upon and I think in a
way, after the injury, afterall that getting out of
(07:53):
gymnastics and whatnot, thatdetermination kind of got me
into doing what I'm doing now.
It's just full forward, all thedrive that I can into music and
becoming full time.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
So how old were you when you got injured?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I was 15.
I'm pretty sure 16.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And that's when you picked up the guitar and you
just taught yourself.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Self-taught.
Wow, like watching YouTubevideos or just practicing.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Marty Schwartz was a guy, I'd steal my mom's phone.
I didn't have a phone, so I'dsteal my mom's phone.
I had this little iPod that Icould only connect to the Wi-Fi
and our Wi-Fi is just horribleout here, and so I'd steal my
mom's phone and I'd look up justknow just short little clips of
you know the riff of the day.
(08:47):
So it was really cool.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And so what year is this Like when you're 15, like
2018, 2019?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, During COVID.
Actually, COVID was a big timewhenever I was really cracking
down on the guitar.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
And then you started writing your own songs too, or
you were just at this point justplaying your favorite covers.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
If I were to give you the notebook from the old songs
you'd be, you wouldn't say thegreat things that you've been
saying about me now.
I mean I was, of course,learning a lot, me, uh.
Now I mean I was.
I was, of course, learning um,a lot, a lot of uh.
I didn't have much life thatI've lived, uh, in that time I
(09:34):
uh again, I lived in a veryGod-fearing household, my entire
family's together.
No one, you know, there's nobad blood or anything.
I've never, you know,experienced um, experienced a
lot of deaths or anything in mylife.
I've had a very, very great andgrateful life.
God is definitely very blessedto be where I'm at and been
(09:58):
where I've been.
And so you could say, aroundCOVID time I was trying to write
and I did lose someone veryimportant in my life, which was
my aunt Beck, and she played abig part on my middle school
(10:20):
life doing football.
You know peewee football, youcould say um, she was my number
one fan and number one supporter, um, and when we lost her it
was a hard time and I think thatwas the first song that I've
ever written about anything,anyone, and so on.
(10:40):
I, I just I didn't know how toput it into words, and so I just
wrote it down into a piece ofpaper.
Um, and that's what reallyfired the engine.
Um, and when COVID was justending, that's whenever I was
like I'm gonna take it uponmyself to try to write something
and just keep writing.
And if something ever happens,if I'm ever down or anything,
(11:03):
and if something ever happens,if I'm ever down or anything,
you know I'll write about it.
And I knew that I was always ina jilly-golly mood to want to
hop, skip and a jump.
I didn't have, you know, anydepressing days or anything, and
I watched the people around mehave those days and so I watched
their lives unfold.
Again, I'm the youngest of thebunch out of my family, so I
(11:28):
watched my siblings grow andflourish throughout the years,
for sure, and watching them.
You know I have multiple songsabout them, so that was kind of
the inspiration of thesongwriting as well.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
How many siblings do you have?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I have three.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Oh, okay, the oldest is okay, oldest is two of them
are sisters so you reallystarted uh learning the guitar
2019 ish and then uh 2022.
Like you started uh puttingyour music and on tiktok and is
that about right?
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yes, sir, timeline around that time.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And then you're, you're posting, you're not
seeing much happen.
And then TikTok kind of helped.
You decide hey, guess what?
This isn't a hobby anymore.
You're going to be, you'regoing to be doing this as a
living, Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yes, sir, it was a very shocking reality check to
me.
I was definitely not preparedfor it, but also so thankful.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, so tell the listeners, kind of, what
happened.
You decided to you have thisbeautiful uh porch, this area.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Well, go ahead, you tell the story and what song and
what happened, uh, when thiswent viral so I was just getting
back around my um, my friend'shouse, just got home and my mom
said, hey, I think you, I thinkyou need to post a tiktok, I
think you should.
(13:06):
I was like, okay, um, and so Iwent on the back porch, grabbed
a little mic stand, hooked up myphone.
Um, grabbed my guitar, sat onthe porch swing and just started
swinging, playing whatever,looking for a song, scrolling
through like a list of songsthat are trending on tiktok,
whatever, scroll upon jerseygiant, the cover of jersey giant
(13:30):
, and uh, um, I think it wasevan hauner that I saw first, um
, and when I saw him play I waslike, man, it'd be cool if you
went ahead and just held thatnote a little bit longer.
Again, I was doing vocallessons around this time and so
my creativity and curiosity forthings were very, very high and
(13:54):
I just wanted to see what wouldhappen, what would work, what
could I do.
And, of course, I had a coupleof takes where I sounded like a
goose call and a couple of takeswhere I sounded like a goose
call and a couple of takes whereit was.
It was all right, and that onetake that I had was the was the
best.
I thought it wasn't the bestone, but was the best to other
(14:18):
people and people reallyconnected to it, and they made
it into a trend and within um,within the next hour, I had
300,000 views and I was with myfriend in the car.
I'm like is you know, what do Ido to this?
And they're like we'll respondto them.
Okay, um, so I was very new toall of that and it was a
(14:39):
blessing from above the factthat God gave me the opportunity
to you know, um, try somethingout and then end up becoming my
passion.
Um, so it was definitelydifferent.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
And that's what inspired you.
Uh, you've realized you strucka chord.
You had a lot of followers.
You now have over 200,000followers on Tik TOK, 40,000
followers on Instagram, and youdecided you need to give them
more.
So you started, you recordedand released some of your own
original music, right?
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yes, sir, I had some scraps, little bitty songs that
I, you know, I fiddled with, ofcourse, and I took it upon
myself to finish them.
And then, after they werefinished, I was like I might as
well just make an EP out of this, might as well just put Jersey
(15:36):
Giant out and then someoriginals and just see how that
hits.
And it hit.
It was great.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
How about we play one of those originals that hit
right here on Q Country 92.5.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yes, sir, that sounds great, yeah what song do you
want to play?
Left to Hold.
Shoot that one out there.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
What's it?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
called Left to Hold.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Left to Hold by Dom Ellis, today's Country Climb
Star of the Week.
Here you go, some new musicLeft to hold.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Now your lies cut deeper than I remember the
holding on to me, cause youdidn't want to be so damn lonely
Till a tall, blue eyed, brownhair boy came along unexpectedly
(16:45):
.
That this boy was just a friend, not to worry about a thing.
How I trusted you and loyaltyMe, thinking that you love me
(17:08):
and no one in between.
There's the lies and the cheats.
Who can I talk to?
Who can I trust, causeeverything you done told me, I
left it out to rust.
Who can I love?
(17:30):
Who can I hold, cause I thoughtI'd held the world in my arms.
There's nothing left to hold,left to hold, left to hold.
Well, I remember all the laughsand all the joys, but I didn't
(17:52):
last Till I found out I was justa toy, tried to talk to you
about it for a bit and all I gotback was his blue eyes and a
tattoo on his wrist.
Who can I talk to?
Who can I trust, causeeverything he done told me, girl
(18:17):
, I left it out to rust.
Who can I love?
Who can I hold, cause I thoughtI'd hail the world, mom, cause
there's nothing left to hold.
Left to hold, left to hold,left to hold, left to hold, left
(18:43):
to hold?
Who can I talk to?
Who can I talk to?
Who can I trust?
Cause everything you done toldme I left it out to rust.
Who can I love?
(19:05):
Who can I hold?
Cause?
I thought I'd held the world inmy arms, there's nothing left to
hold, left home, that's domellis left to hold on q country
92 5.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Uh, dom, that is incredible.
That was the first song youreleased after uh, you had your
viral moment on tiktok.
Yes, sir, and tell me a littlebit mean your voice is
definitely does not match yourage.
You're 19.
You have a voice beyond youryears.
It's amazing and your lyricsare beyond your years.
(19:42):
I feel like Tell us a littlebit about Left to Hold and how
that song came about and whatinspired it.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Well.
So I really did not have, uh,run that time, much life of um.
You know, I didn't live muchlife, as most songs are, and I
felt as if I needed to and I Iknew that my only option was to
be watching people um and theirlives unfold.
(20:14):
And one of my buddies he ofcourse, got his heart broken and
you know some again tallbrown-haired, blue-eyed guy came
walking in this girl that heliked so much her life and swept
her off of her feet from himand you know, he definitely um
(20:37):
hurt and uh talked to me aboutit and I was like, hey, you
don't mind if I I use that, I'mjust just for fun, I'll try it
out.
He's like, yeah, go ahead.
And uh, one thing led to theother and now it's a song, you
know um, so that was kind of howit came upon and and getting
the whole entire production ofit was with Brad Phillips, who
(20:59):
lives out in Youngsville, aboutfive minutes down the road from
where I live, and he helped outwith the production.
I told him that I wanted itvery stripped and very clean and
just simple and let the songhave a little bit of emotion and
a little bit of heart and justas simplistic as that can be.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
And then, once you released that song that was the
first song you've ever releasedwhat was the response like after
that?
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It was good.
You know, it was very good.
I didn't know how to expecteverything to go.
Um, I was kind of like, okay,so if this song gets a thousand
you know a thousand streams, I'mgonna be bouncing off the wall.
(21:50):
And it hit a thousand streamswithin, like the first way.
More than five, five thousandstreams within the first day and
I was like freaking out.
I didn't know what to do withit.
I was like I wrote this songjust for fun and just for like
you know, nothing I reallydidn't like.
(22:11):
This is not even.
This has nothing to me, like itdoesn't tie to me or nothing.
And uh, it just it hit.
I was very, very surprised and,of course, my friend was very
excited as well.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, and then so you have this out, have at this
point, and this is probably, Ithink we're 2023 now Do you move
to Nashville?
What's going on now?
Are you getting more music gigs?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I moved actually from now.
I moved to Nashville about it'scoming up on a year, so I moved
to Nashville in 2024.
It's coming up on a year, so Imoved to Nashville in 2024.
So, yeah, I have had a couplegigs, I've had some shows, very,
very blessed to have theseshows.
(23:08):
Especially, I started my firstshow, real show venue show was
out in, um, london, centrallondon.
Um, it was kind of like thebreaking of breaking point for
me was just like didn't knowreally what was going on.
Um, very new to everything,everything, um, you know, we, we
(23:34):
left out there 2023, I'm prettypretty sure, if I'm not no,
2024, sorry, uh, beginning of2024.
We ran out to london, uh, didthe show came back.
I mean, I'm exuberant, I'mexcited.
I met great folks out there,great people, and then that was
(24:01):
kind of the start of the showsand of course, I played around
out of state, you know, texas,georgia, iowa, iowa played a
show out in Missouri, Alabama,done a couple of them, very,
(24:21):
very exciting shows.
And then now this year, 2025,what we had was the
Baker-Blakeenship tour, theMaxtop tour tour, which was in
february, uh, and it was just asupport tour for about, you know
, uh, I'd say almost two weeks.
Um played out in new york,played all the northern states.
(24:44):
I was not used to the cold, Iwas not ready for the cold at
all.
Uh played out in new y theManhattan, let's see, I went to
play.
We played in Washington DC.
That was a great venue.
Some in Philadelphia, some inPittsburgh.
We went all the way up toCanada as well, which was
(25:07):
definitely another experiencefor me.
As soon as we came back homefrom the whole entire tour, we
got on a flight and went back toLondon again, and that was a
great time for our secondgo-round, for C2C.
So C2C is just a tour that theyhave like a festival.
You could say A very, very bigfestival.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Heck yeah.
So you move basically from yourvery sheltered home, your small
town, to Nashville, the bigcity.
What's that transition beenlike and what's the weirdest
thing you've seen since being inNashville?
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think the weirdest thing is probably I've've
watched a mazda miata.
Um, the traffic's just horribleout there.
Yeah, that's the only thing youcould complain about.
The weather's nice, uh, it'snot hot and moggy like louisiana
, for sure, um, but it's green,everything's green out in
(26:12):
Nashville Definitely not used tothe big city Still to this day,
getting used to the big tallbuildings and everything.
But the traffic was definitelyone thing you need getting used
to and finding my way out there,getting to rights, leaving like
an hour early so I'm not intraffic or anything.
(26:35):
And the big thing was theweirdest thing I've seen out.
There was a Mazda Miata wentunder an 18-wheeler to cross
into another lane.
They're just crazy out there.
It was like a Fast and Furiousclip.
I swear I realized.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
That sounds like the title of your next country song.
I saw Mazda drive under apickup truck or something like
that.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah, oh yeah, no 100%.
Yeah, it was definitely a sightto see, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Well, we've already played one song from you.
Let's play another song.
What do you want to play next?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
You can go ahead and shoot to them Addictions.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Addictions.
This is another song thatsounds wise behind your ears,
and is it kind of the same thingYou're just looking at things
around you, or is this more of apersonal story?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
This was in a more of a personal story.
Um, this was in a way apersonal story, um, but not
exactly.
It was, uh, definitelysomething that, um, I could
grapple to, um, also my friendscould grapple to, and it was
kind of like an imagery of like,hey, what if we made a song
about a man becoming soberthrough love?
It's very hard to quitsomething that you've been
(28:06):
dedicated to, just addicted to,for so long.
And if a woman just comes intoyour life and just changes that
completely, you know, obviouslyyou're gonna love her and
obviously it's, you know it'smeant to be.
After that and, uh, that's kindof how the song was interpreted
(28:26):
.
Um, definitely formed was just,you know, finding that good
love that can get you out of theaddictions that you've made,
and, uh, that's the song.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
So, and uh, did you write this by yourself.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Was this a group effort?
Uh, I actually.
I wrote it, um, with a guynamed Pablo Pellerin.
Um, he was, he's out fromLouisiana.
Um, we wrote rode out inNashville.
Whenever I lived in Nashvillefor a month, we tried it out
while I was in high school justto see how things were going,
because I had a couple meetingsout there and one thing led to
(29:07):
the other, we ended up renting ahouse for that month and then a
month came into two months andthen it was one thing after the
other and I had to come backhome.
I had to move from nashville tohere because of school.
I wanted to finish out my yearand, uh, and they stayed up
there.
They're still there now.
Um, but, yeah, we, we wrote itin our living room heck, yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
well, let's's take it from the living room to the
airwaves of Q Country 92.5.
Here is this week's CountryClimb Star of the Week, dom
Ellis, with his song Addictionssunken eyes and a shaky smile.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
No, I don't recognize myself.
The anger of my weakness, theseaddictions I keep on pleasing
and had it for a while.
The day goes by, still smoke inthe air, empty bottles became
(30:31):
souvenirs.
Because she came along and madeit clear that love could fix
and heal.
Mary Jane had her last danceyesterday and the marble man
(30:57):
said goodbye.
Jack and Jim were my bestfriends.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
(31:21):
Now there's rain on a rustedtin roof and love is pouring
(31:43):
through Till I have craving.
Some things are worth explaining.
It's a substitute.
Mary Jane had her last danceyesterday and my old man said
(32:09):
goodbye.
Jack and Jim were my bestfriends and all I need is your
love to get me high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
Guitar solo Whoa.
(32:40):
Oh, I'm Mary Jane.
I had a last dance yesterdayand my woman said goodbye.
Jack and Jen were my bestfriends.
All I need is your love to getme high.
(33:01):
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
That's Dom Ellis Addictions on Q Country 92.5.
I love music that gives me thefeels, and every one of your
songs, man, I feel something, Iget goosebumps and it's just so
deep and it's great.
When did you learn You've takenvocal lessons?
When did you learn you had thisvoice?
(33:42):
Was that something that youjust were always born with or
something that you developed?
Speaker 1 (33:49):
It was kind of like a developed thing, I guess you
could say.
I loved folk music growing up.
I also loved rock and whatnot.
But my sisters would listen tothis group called Iron Wine and
I always loved how soft it wasand simple, very, very simple
(34:10):
but metaphorical at the sametime, simple but metaphorical at
the same time.
And, uh, it was very um, it wasa very big inspiration on me,
um, especially on my guitarplaying as well, just very soft
playing, um, and uh, lyricallywise, uh, also a big inspiration
(34:31):
with rela montane.
But one thing for sure was thewhole entire scenery on me being
vocal and vocal taught outagain.
I was not nowhere good.
(34:53):
Whenever I showed my parents itwas kind of like, hey guys, can
you just hear me?
I just want to try this out.
And they were like, well, wedon't have any musical talent,
so we don't know.
So they brought me to a vocalteacher.
They told me that I was gettinga new guitar and they brought
me to a vocal teacher, which Idid not want.
So of course I pitched a fitand and I was like I'm not going
(35:19):
in there.
And they're like, well, justtry it.
And um, it was kind of weird howme and the vocal teacher her
name is valerie um kuiper and meand her clicked I mean right
off the bat, we clicked andbecame best friends and she
taught me what I need, what Iknow, um, and till this day I
still, I still talk to her everynow and then and go into for a
(35:40):
tune up from a voice and, um,she's helped me out so much on
so many levels, um, getting theruns and getting the pushes and
everything, and so it was a verybig develop, um, from going to
a soft, a soft home to where I'mat now.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Sometimes parents do know best.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
They do.
Mother knows best, for sure.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Well, let's listen to a song from our Country Climb
Star of the Week, Dom Ellis.
This one is called Right Person, Wrong Time.
When did this come out?
Tell us a little story aboutthis one.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Right Person, wrong Time came out.
I think it was around Novembertime, around that winter area,
and I was.
It was a personal experience Um, I, I had the song in the in
the guts, um, and I was wantingto find out if, you know, I
(36:44):
could connect with other people.
So I've always heard the termhey, I just don't think this is
right.
It's right person, wrong time,like you know, and I just I
don't believe in that kind ofstuff.
I think you know God has areason for everything.
I think it's more lessons,because when it's the right
person, it's the right person.
There's just no ins or buts orbouts.
It's just the right person.
(37:05):
I think you find that rightperson.
But sometimes things get in theway and the lessons are taught.
Sometimes things get in the wayand the lessons are taught, and
so I kind of made a song aboutthat and I wanted to see if it
would connect with the rightcrowd and it did, and a lot of
people like it.
Of course you get requestsabout it, so that makes me out
(37:29):
of joy for that song.
So I wrote it I'd say, um, inmay, june, june, maybe, yeah, I
think, june, time of 2024 andthen released it in, uh,
november well, let's listen toit right now.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
This is right person, wrong time.
With dom ellis, today's countryclimb star of the week.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
We'll be right back to something that ain't been
holding me and I've come to findthe truth in the lies between
your teeth.
We were never gonna make.
It was the point in the tribe.
When you say right person,wrong, I've got a million dollar
(38:49):
questions, but I ain't seen adime and an ashtray full of
answers to burn you out my mindwhen you bring me down the slope
.
Got no choice but to get thishigh.
But hey, right person, wrongtime.
But I'd lie awake staring atthe ceiling, wishing I was naive
(39:32):
enough to believe your reasons.
I'm Sharing memories in abottle.
(39:58):
Now it's broken glass.
Know you'll find another man.
Know that won't last when youbreak his heart, like mine, use
an old line Right person, wrongtime.
But I lie awake staring at theceiling, wishing I was naive
(40:41):
enough to believe your reasons,wishing I was naive enough to
believe your reasons, wishing Iwas naive enough to believe your
reasons.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
That's Dom Ellis right person, wrong time.
He is this week's Country ClimbStar of the Week and I just see
big things for you.
It's been amazing spending sometime with you and letting you
share your music with ouraudience.
I can't wait to follow yourjourney.
(41:24):
What are your goals in thenot-too-distant future?
What should we expect?
What are you looking forward to?
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Well, we have some new songs coming out.
We're trying to get them pushedout as quickly as possible.
In fact, whenever I get back upto Nashville me being in
Louisiana right now I'll beshooting out there tomorrow and
Thursday.
First, we're going to go recordsome more songs, so we're
pushing in the studio, we'repushing in the rights and it's
(41:56):
going to be great.
So we'll have some more piecescoming out, one called Life
Story, another one called hey,mrs Lucky, and another one
called Falling Out of the Sky.
So very, very pumped.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
And if we want to support you and follow you on
all your socials so we can catchall this new music it's.
Dom Ellis.
At Dom Ellis.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
At Dom Ellis Music At Dom Ellis.
At Dom Ellis.
At Dom Ellis Music.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
At Dom Ellis E-L-L-I-S Music.
Go ahead, give him a followtoday.
Let's show him the Q CountryNation support and listen to all
his music.
He's got a lot more availableto listen to and he's got a lot
more yet to come, so follow himon TikTok, Instagram and on all
socials.
All right, Dom, thank you somuch for being this week's
(42:44):
Country Climb Star of the Week.
Speaker 5 (42:46):
Woo, that's my blog Good.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
Bob Beaumont said so.
Yee-yee, yee-yee, everyone'sfavorite redneck from Beaumont,
texas, on his favorite day ofthe week, friday.
Buddy, hey, I've been thinking.
You told us a couple weeks agoyou found this brand-new TV show
that you were loving, and thisbrand-new TV show was actually
over 20 years old.
(43:09):
It was Lost.
Have you finished Lost and whatdid you think?
Speaker 5 (43:15):
Look man, they lost me because it got stupid.
Yeah, it got stupid.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Yeah, it got stupid.
Yeah, don't give any spoilers.
Speaker 5 (43:24):
So you're going to make it to about where I did and
be like this is stupid andyou're going to be lost too.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
So what season did Lost, lose you?
Speaker 5 (43:38):
All I know is I lost a lot of my life.
I'll never get back.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
I'm sorry, buddy.
So Paul's on a scale of 1 to 10.
When you first found Lost, yougave it a 10 out of 10 yee-yees.
How many yee-yees do you giveLost now that you've watched a
bunch of it?
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Maybe a two, two.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Sorry.
Paul from Beaumont says if youhave not watched Lost, don't
start now, I'll waste your life.
Hey, I thought we'd play a fungame on Friday called Fix it or
Forget it, Paul's Friday RedneckEdition.
You ready?
Okay, let's do it.
Your truck door only opens fromthe outside.
(44:24):
Fix it or forget it.
Hey, just do it to hazard, son.
Do it to hazard, buddy.
You don't need it to open upfrom the inside, Alright.
Next one your cooler lid isbroken, but you've been using a
cutting board and a brick and itworks just fine.
Fix it or forget it.
Speaker 5 (44:43):
I don't know, man Forget it, man Forget it, forget
it yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I mean you have a lid on there.
As long as the drinks stay cool, you're good you can always cut
lime and lemon on it.
That's right.
Your recliner only reclines ifyou pull it with the fishing
line that's connected to yourceiling fan.
You gotta fix that.
That sounds like some redneckingenuity right there.
And last one, your dog chewedthe handle off the screen door,
(45:24):
so now you've got to open it upwith the screwdriver that's
taped to it with the spatula.
Your wife is fixing that, butnot Paul.
Paul's not fixing it.
That was Fix it or Forget it.
Our redneck edition with Paulfrom Beaumont.
It is now time for.
Are you Smarter Than a Redneck,paul?
Today is Collector CarAppreciation Day, so we're going
to do some vintage car trivia.
(45:45):
If you know the answer, sayyour name.
That's your buzzer.
It is multiple choice.
Here we go.
What movie brought the DeLoreanto the public's attention?
Paul, go ahead.
Back to the Future.
Is it Back to the Future?
Ding, ding, ding.
It is Back to the Future.
We're going to do best of five.
First one to three.
Correct answer wins.
Any car in the horselesscarriage club of America must
(46:08):
have been made before 1916.
True or false, chris?
I'm going to say false.
Ah, incorrect, it is true.
All right, paul, you're up 2-0.
If you get the next one right,you win it.
What's the most valuable carsold in auction in 2008?
(46:29):
Was it a Triumph Spitfire, aLamborghini, a Ferrari 250 GT
California or an Austin Healey3000?
A Ferrari 250 GT California oran Austin Healey 3000?
Chris, I'm going to say anAustin Healey 3000.
Speaker 5 (46:45):
Nope, paul, it's either Triumph, spitfire,
lamborghini or a Ferrari 250.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
GT California, I'm going to say the Ferrari.
Is it the Ferrari?
Gosh, dang it.
He is smarter than a radio DJ.
That's three questions, threecorrect answers for Paul Yep.
The 1961 Ferrari GT sold forhow much, do you think?
Couple million, eleven million.
Speaker 5 (47:12):
Okay, I'd say a couple couple million.
Okay, I can say a couple,couple millions, that's the car
that Ferris and Cameron took fora spin in the movie Ferris
Bueller's Day Off.
Ah, okay, okay, there you go.
That's why he was freaking out.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Yeah, it's worth $11 million.
That was Are you Smarter Than aRedneck?
And today I am not smarter thana redneck.
Paul, we love you.
I hope you have a great weekendand we'll talk to you on Monday
.
Speaker 5 (47:42):
Hey, on a serious note, with everything that's
going on, I want to say my sonleft behind going after people
affected by the floods andthere's people in other parts of
the country not affected bythem Absolutely and there's
people in other parts of thecountry not affected by them.
In New Mexico, North Carolina.
Yeah, just keep everybody inyour prayers and be nice to
(48:05):
everybody.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
All right, here's Left Behind from Paul, from
Beaumont.
We love you, best friend.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
All right, y'all have a great weekend.
Bye, bye.
Speaker 4 (48:37):
Bye to do, flashbacks coming every which way and I
knew things had to change.
This problem was bigger than me, so I tried to drink it away.
Won't somebody save me?
I can't do this on my own.
The pain's too real, the cut'stoo deep.
My mind won't let me sleep.
(49:00):
I still think it should havebeen me that left the earth that
day, but God had a differentplan in mind.
That's why he left me behind.
I look back to where I was andI see how far I've come.
(49:30):
This once lost boy had no ideaAbout the life he had won A
lovely wife, beautiful kids.
Boy had no idea about the lifehe owned A lovely wife,
beautiful kids and a growingfamily.
God knew just what he was doingwhen he left me here that day.
(49:52):
Won't somebody save me?
I can't do this on my own.
The pain's too real, the cut'stoo deep.
My mind won't let me sleep.
I still think it should havebeen me that left the earth that
day, but God had a differentplan in mind.
(50:14):
That's why you left me behind.
(50:49):
I can't do this on my own.
My pain's too real.
It cuts too deep.
My mind won't let me sleep.
I still think it should havebeen me that left the earth that
day.
But God had a different plan inmind faith and grace and
(51:16):
trusting in His time.
That's why he left me behind.
He left me behind.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
Chris Bennett's Country Climb.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Star of the Week, Dom Ellis Dom.
Thank you so much for being ourStar of the Week.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Thank you, man.
Thank you for letting me be onhere.
I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
How about we start the show with a little
icebreaker, a little rapid-fire?
Questions with Dom.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Ellis.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Ready, go ahead.
Yeah, shoot him.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Favorite 90s country.
Artist.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Oh, I'd have to say probably either Keith Willey or
Alan Jackson.
Oh, good choice, that's a hardone First album you ever bought.
Let's see Chris Stapleton'sTraveler.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And you're young.
You're a lot younger than me,you're 19.
So did you buy an album, or wasit a digital album?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
No, it was an album, it was a vinyl.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh yeah, Chris Stapleton, Travel, your favorite
song from that album.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Ooh, let's see, let's see, you got me on that one
Probably Fire Away.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Oh, that's a good one .
What's one food you absolutelyrefuse to eat?
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You're going to get me on this one.
Is it fruit or food Food?
Sorry, I couldn't hear thatFood.
Yeah, mashed potatoes, mashedpotatoes.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
You don't like mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, my mom shoved it down my throat growing up.
For some odd reason, I justdon't like it anymore.
I think it might be the textureof it.
The texture really like gets meevery time.
First thing you do aftergetting off stage Chug an entire
water bottle.
What's something fans would besurprised to know about you.
(02:02):
Fans would be surprised to knowabout you.
I feel like every time I saythis people kind of you know
eyebrows flare up.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Whenever I say that I was a gymnast before all of
this, before everything started,heck, yeah, so you could do
flips.
You could do like you did thecompetitions yes, sir Woo flips,
you could do you like you didthe competitions.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yes, sir.
And then, uh, how'd you decideto to get out of that?
Uh, I picked I.
Well, I had an injury, uh, fromthe olympic trampoline, and I,
I did that, I wanted to try itout.
After the gymnastics entirescenery I fell upon the Olympic
trampoline, did it for about ayear and the next, you know, I
was training I fell, I bailedout a flip, hurt my ankle and
(02:56):
from there I, you know, wasbedridden.
I didn't have a TV, I didn'thave any video games, I just sat
in my room, played with aRubik's Cube, was bored, went
through the house, saw a guitarand decided to pick it up on
myself to try it out.
And you know, from there on, Ijust started playing and next
thing, you know, I was singingand picking.
So it was a great journey.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Heck, yeah, that was Rapid Fire Questions with Dom
Ellis, today's Country ClimbStar of the Week.
All right, I'm going to ask youthe hardest question you'll
probably get today.
If you had one country song torequest for the rest of your
life, at all events on the radio, whatever what country song are
(03:41):
you requesting?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Of mine or.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Of any, not of yours, but of all time.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I would have to say Gosh, that is a very, very hard
question, that is extremely hard.
It's gotta be Jeez, you got meon that one.
That one's very hard.
Um, I'd say, I'd say, uh,somebody's Doing Me Right by, uh
(04:20):
, by Keith Whitley, heck, yeah,can't go wrong with some Keith
Whitley?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Heck, yeah, can't go wrong with some Keith Whitley.
Actually, let's play that songright now on Q Country 92.5.
All right, that was the hardestquestion you'll probably get
today.
It was pretty hard, right.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, that was a difficult one, for sure.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So let's find out a little bit about Dom Ellis.
Where did you grow up and whendid music first grab you?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So I grew up in Maurice, louisiana.
I grew up in a very humble home, god-fearing household, and we
did not own a TV in my house.
We did not own any electronics.
We were very strict on uh,being outside Outside is your
(05:12):
entertainment and um, you know,uh, school and education was a
priority, um, and throughout mytime growing up and throughout
my time growing up, you know mebeing able to be alone and enjoy
and entertaining myself reallyhelped me out.
I have ADHD, so of course I gotto, like you know, be around
(05:36):
and do a bunch of things at once, and so entertaining myself was
very, very hard.
I always needed something toentertain me, and finding that
and completing that was a bigexecution for me growing up.
And finally, what got me intothe whole entire music scenery
(06:03):
was, um, living out here, uh,watching.
Louisiana has a very highculture of music.
Um, the zotico scenery ismassive.
Everywhere you go, you hearsomeone playing, you hear
someone singing, you hearsomeone um expressing their
emotions through some chord,that they're playing some fiddle
(06:25):
, that they're messing withanything and a good amount of
blues out here, and I've alwaysbeen connected to the music
scenery.
I just never tried singing,never tried playing an
instrument.
I was more into the very, veryboyish, masculine sports of just
being a football player anddoing all these things and that
(06:48):
was the main goal.
And finally, you know, I stoodupon gymnastics.
One day my mom caught me doingflips off my roof because it was
cool to do flips around my timebeing in middle school and if
you could do a backflip you werecool.
So of course I wanted to trythat out and being so active and
(07:10):
outside with no electronics oranything, I learned a good
amount of them and became verygood at it and decided to try
out gymnastics and that I justfound a passion for it.
And you know there's not manyout here, it's not very popular
out here, but the ones that theyhad, they were very supportive
(07:32):
and it was a great community andI was very thankful, still
thankful and grateful to join.
That and from learning fromgymnastics was a lot of
determination that I had to setmy mindset upon and I think in a
way, after the injury, afterall that getting out of
(07:53):
gymnastics and whatnot, thatdetermination kind of got me
into doing what I'm doing now.
It's just full forward, all thedrive that I can into music and
becoming full time.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
So how old were you when you got injured?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I was 15.
I'm pretty sure 16.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And that's when you picked up the guitar and you
just taught yourself.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Self-taught.
Wow, like watching YouTubevideos or just practicing.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Marty Schwartz was a guy, I'd steal my mom's phone.
I didn't have a phone, so I'dsteal my mom's phone.
I had this little iPod that Icould only connect to the Wi-Fi
and our Wi-Fi is just horribleout here, and so I'd steal my
mom's phone and I'd look up justknow just short little clips of
you know the riff of the day.
(08:47):
So it was really cool.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And so what year is this Like when you're 15, like
2018, 2019?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, During COVID.
Actually, COVID was a big timewhenever I was really cracking
down on the guitar.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
And then you started writing your own songs too, or
you were just at this point justplaying your favorite covers.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
If I were to give you the notebook from the old songs
you'd be, you wouldn't say thegreat things that you've been
saying about me now.
I mean I was, of course,learning a lot, me, uh.
Now I mean I was.
I was, of course, learning um,a lot, a lot of uh.
I didn't have much life thatI've lived, uh, in that time I
(09:34):
uh again, I lived in a veryGod-fearing household, my entire
family's together.
No one, you know, there's nobad blood or anything.
I've never, you know,experienced um, experienced a
lot of deaths or anything in mylife.
I've had a very, very great andgrateful life.
God is definitely very blessedto be where I'm at and been
(09:58):
where I've been.
And so you could say, aroundCOVID time I was trying to write
and I did lose someone veryimportant in my life, which was
my aunt Beck, and she played abig part on my middle school
(10:20):
life doing football.
You know peewee football, youcould say um, she was my number
one fan and number one supporter, um, and when we lost her it
was a hard time and I think thatwas the first song that I've
ever written about anything,anyone, and so on.
(10:40):
I, I just I didn't know how toput it into words, and so I just
wrote it down into a piece ofpaper.
Um, and that's what reallyfired the engine.
Um, and when COVID was justending, that's whenever I was
like I'm gonna take it uponmyself to try to write something
and just keep writing.
And if something ever happens,if I'm ever down or anything,
(11:03):
and if something ever happens,if I'm ever down or anything,
you know I'll write about it.
And I knew that I was always ina jilly-golly mood to want to
hop, skip and a jump.
I didn't have, you know, anydepressing days or anything, and
I watched the people around mehave those days and so I watched
their lives unfold.
Again, I'm the youngest of thebunch out of my family, so I
(11:28):
watched my siblings grow andflourish throughout the years,
for sure, and watching them.
You know I have multiple songsabout them, so that was kind of
the inspiration of thesongwriting as well.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
How many siblings do you have?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
I have three.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Oh, okay, the oldest is okay, oldest is two of them
are sisters so you reallystarted uh learning the guitar
2019 ish and then uh 2022.
Like you started uh puttingyour music and on tiktok and is
that about right?
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yes, sir, timeline around that time.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And then you're, you're posting, you're not
seeing much happen.
And then TikTok kind of helped.
You decide hey, guess what?
This isn't a hobby anymore.
You're going to be, you'regoing to be doing this as a
living, Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yes, sir, it was a very shocking reality check to
me.
I was definitely not preparedfor it, but also so thankful.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, so tell the listeners, kind of, what
happened.
You decided to you have thisbeautiful uh porch, this area.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Well, go ahead, you tell the story and what song and
what happened, uh, when thiswent viral so I was just getting
back around my um, my friend'shouse, just got home and my mom
said, hey, I think you, I thinkyou need to post a tiktok, I
think you should.
(13:06):
I was like, okay, um, and so Iwent on the back porch, grabbed
a little mic stand, hooked up myphone.
Um, grabbed my guitar, sat onthe porch swing and just started
swinging, playing whatever,looking for a song, scrolling
through like a list of songsthat are trending on tiktok,
whatever, scroll upon jerseygiant, the cover of jersey giant
(13:30):
, and uh, um, I think it wasevan hauner that I saw first, um
, and when I saw him play I waslike, man, it'd be cool if you
went ahead and just held thatnote a little bit longer.
Again, I was doing vocallessons around this time and so
my creativity and curiosity forthings were very, very high and
(13:54):
I just wanted to see what wouldhappen, what would work, what
could I do.
And, of course, I had a coupleof takes where I sounded like a
goose call and a couple of takeswhere I sounded like a goose
call and a couple of takes whereit was.
It was all right, and that onetake that I had was the was the
best.
I thought it wasn't the bestone, but was the best to other
(14:18):
people and people reallyconnected to it, and they made
it into a trend and within um,within the next hour, I had
300,000 views and I was with myfriend in the car.
I'm like is you know, what do Ido to this?
And they're like we'll respondto them.
Okay, um, so I was very new toall of that and it was a
(14:39):
blessing from above the factthat God gave me the opportunity
to you know, um, try somethingout and then end up becoming my
passion.
Um, so it was definitelydifferent.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
And that's what inspired you.
Uh, you've realized you strucka chord.
You had a lot of followers.
You now have over 200,000followers on Tik TOK, 40,000
followers on Instagram, and youdecided you need to give them
more.
So you started, you recordedand released some of your own
original music, right?
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yes, sir, I had some scraps, little bitty songs that
I, you know, I fiddled with, ofcourse, and I took it upon
myself to finish them.
And then, after they werefinished, I was like I might as
well just make an EP out of this, might as well just put Jersey
(15:36):
Giant out and then someoriginals and just see how that
hits.
And it hit.
It was great.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
How about we play one of those originals that hit
right here on Q Country 92.5.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yes, sir, that sounds great, yeah what song do you
want to play?
Left to Hold.
Shoot that one out there.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
What's it?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
called Left to Hold.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Left to Hold by Dom Ellis, today's Country Climb
Star of the Week.
Here you go, some new musicLeft to hold.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Now your lies cut deeper than I remember the
holding on to me, cause youdidn't want to be so damn lonely
Till a tall, blue eyed, brownhair boy came along unexpectedly
(16:45):
.
That this boy was just a friend, not to worry about a thing.
How I trusted you and loyaltyMe, thinking that you love me
(17:08):
and no one in between.
There's the lies and the cheats.
Who can I talk to?
Who can I trust, causeeverything you done told me, I
left it out to rust.
Who can I love?
(17:30):
Who can I hold, cause I thoughtI'd held the world in my arms.
There's nothing left to hold,left to hold, left to hold.
Well, I remember all the laughsand all the joys, but I didn't
(17:52):
last Till I found out I was justa toy, tried to talk to you
about it for a bit and all I gotback was his blue eyes and a
tattoo on his wrist.
Who can I talk to?
Who can I trust, causeeverything he done told me, girl
(18:17):
, I left it out to rust.
Who can I love?
Who can I hold, cause I thoughtI'd hail the world, mom, cause
there's nothing left to hold.
Left to hold, left to hold,left to hold, left to hold, left
(18:43):
to hold?
Who can I talk to?
Who can I talk to?
Who can I trust?
Cause everything you done toldme I left it out to rust.
Who can I love?
(19:05):
Who can I hold?
Cause?
I thought I'd held the world inmy arms, there's nothing left to
hold, left home, that's domellis left to hold on q country
92 5.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Uh, dom, that is incredible.
That was the first song youreleased after uh, you had your
viral moment on tiktok.
Yes, sir, and tell me a littlebit mean your voice is
definitely does not match yourage.
You're 19.
You have a voice beyond youryears.
It's amazing and your lyricsare beyond your years.
(19:42):
I feel like Tell us a littlebit about Left to Hold and how
that song came about and whatinspired it.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Well.
So I really did not have, uh,run that time, much life of um.
You know, I didn't live muchlife, as most songs are, and I
felt as if I needed to and I Iknew that my only option was to
be watching people um and theirlives unfold.
(20:14):
And one of my buddies he ofcourse, got his heart broken and
you know some again tallbrown-haired, blue-eyed guy came
walking in this girl that heliked so much her life and swept
her off of her feet from himand you know, he definitely um
(20:37):
hurt and uh talked to me aboutit and I was like, hey, you
don't mind if I I use that, I'mjust just for fun, I'll try it
out.
He's like, yeah, go ahead.
And uh, one thing led to theother and now it's a song, you
know um, so that was kind of howit came upon and and getting
the whole entire production ofit was with Brad Phillips, who
(20:59):
lives out in Youngsville, aboutfive minutes down the road from
where I live, and he helped outwith the production.
I told him that I wanted itvery stripped and very clean and
just simple and let the songhave a little bit of emotion and
a little bit of heart and justas simplistic as that can be.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
And then, once you released that song that was the
first song you've ever releasedwhat was the response like after
that?
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It was good.
You know, it was very good.
I didn't know how to expecteverything to go.
Um, I was kind of like, okay,so if this song gets a thousand
you know a thousand streams, I'mgonna be bouncing off the wall.
(21:50):
And it hit a thousand streamswithin, like the first way.
More than five, five thousandstreams within the first day and
I was like freaking out.
I didn't know what to do withit.
I was like I wrote this songjust for fun and just for like
you know, nothing I reallydidn't like.
(22:11):
This is not even.
This has nothing to me, like itdoesn't tie to me or nothing.
And uh, it just it hit.
I was very, very surprised and,of course, my friend was very
excited as well.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, and then so you have this out, have at this
point, and this is probably, Ithink we're 2023 now Do you move
to Nashville?
What's going on now?
Are you getting more music gigs?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I moved actually from now.
I moved to Nashville about it'scoming up on a year, so I moved
to Nashville in 2024.
It's coming up on a year, so Imoved to Nashville in 2024.
So, yeah, I have had a couplegigs, I've had some shows, very,
very blessed to have theseshows.
(23:08):
Especially, I started my firstshow, real show venue show was
out in, um, london, centrallondon.
Um, it was kind of like thebreaking of breaking point for
me was just like didn't knowreally what was going on.
Um, very new to everything,everything, um, you know, we, we
(23:34):
left out there 2023, I'm prettypretty sure, if I'm not no,
2024, sorry, uh, beginning of2024.
We ran out to london, uh, didthe show came back.
I mean, I'm exuberant, I'mexcited.
I met great folks out there,great people, and then that was
(24:01):
kind of the start of the showsand of course, I played around
out of state, you know, texas,georgia, iowa, iowa played a
show out in Missouri, Alabama,done a couple of them, very,
(24:21):
very exciting shows.
And then now this year, 2025,what we had was the
Baker-Blakeenship tour, theMaxtop tour tour, which was in
february, uh, and it was just asupport tour for about, you know
, uh, I'd say almost two weeks.
Um played out in new york,played all the northern states.
(24:44):
I was not used to the cold, Iwas not ready for the cold at
all.
Uh played out in new y theManhattan, let's see, I went to
play.
We played in Washington DC.
That was a great venue.
Some in Philadelphia, some inPittsburgh.
We went all the way up toCanada as well, which was
(25:07):
definitely another experiencefor me.
As soon as we came back homefrom the whole entire tour, we
got on a flight and went back toLondon again, and that was a
great time for our secondgo-round, for C2C.
So C2C is just a tour that theyhave like a festival.
You could say A very, very bigfestival.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Heck yeah.
So you move basically from yourvery sheltered home, your small
town, to Nashville, the bigcity.
What's that transition beenlike and what's the weirdest
thing you've seen since being inNashville?
Speaker 1 (25:49):
I think the weirdest thing is probably I've've
watched a mazda miata.
Um, the traffic's just horribleout there.
Yeah, that's the only thing youcould complain about.
The weather's nice, uh, it'snot hot and moggy like louisiana
, for sure, um, but it's green,everything's green out in
(26:12):
Nashville Definitely not used tothe big city Still to this day,
getting used to the big tallbuildings and everything.
But the traffic was definitelyone thing you need getting used
to and finding my way out there,getting to rights, leaving like
an hour early so I'm not intraffic or anything.
(26:35):
And the big thing was theweirdest thing I've seen out.
There was a Mazda Miata wentunder an 18-wheeler to cross
into another lane.
They're just crazy out there.
It was like a Fast and Furiousclip.
I swear I realized.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
That sounds like the title of your next country song.
I saw Mazda drive under apickup truck or something like
that.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah, oh yeah, no 100%.
Yeah, it was definitely a sightto see, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Well, we've already played one song from you.
Let's play another song.
What do you want to play next?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
You can go ahead and shoot to them Addictions.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Addictions.
This is another song thatsounds wise behind your ears,
and is it kind of the same thingYou're just looking at things
around you, or is this more of apersonal story?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
This was in a more of a personal story.
Um, this was in a way apersonal story, um, but not
exactly.
It was, uh, definitelysomething that, um, I could
grapple to, um, also my friendscould grapple to, and it was
kind of like an imagery of like,hey, what if we made a song
about a man becoming soberthrough love?
It's very hard to quitsomething that you've been
(28:06):
dedicated to, just addicted to,for so long.
And if a woman just comes intoyour life and just changes that
completely, you know, obviouslyyou're gonna love her and
obviously it's, you know it'smeant to be.
After that and, uh, that's kindof how the song was interpreted
(28:26):
.
Um, definitely formed was just,you know, finding that good
love that can get you out of theaddictions that you've made,
and, uh, that's the song.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
So, and uh, did you write this by yourself.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Was this a group effort?
Uh, I actually.
I wrote it, um, with a guynamed Pablo Pellerin.
Um, he was, he's out fromLouisiana.
Um, we wrote rode out inNashville.
Whenever I lived in Nashvillefor a month, we tried it out
while I was in high school justto see how things were going,
because I had a couple meetingsout there and one thing led to
(29:07):
the other, we ended up renting ahouse for that month and then a
month came into two months andthen it was one thing after the
other and I had to come backhome.
I had to move from nashville tohere because of school.
I wanted to finish out my yearand, uh, and they stayed up
there.
They're still there now.
Um, but, yeah, we, we wrote itin our living room heck, yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
well, let's's take it from the living room to the
airwaves of Q Country 92.5.
Here is this week's CountryClimb Star of the Week, dom
Ellis, with his song Addictionssunken eyes and a shaky smile.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
No, I don't recognize myself.
The anger of my weakness, theseaddictions I keep on pleasing
and had it for a while.
The day goes by, still smoke inthe air, empty bottles became
(30:31):
souvenirs.
Because she came along and madeit clear that love could fix
and heal.
Mary Jane had her last danceyesterday and the marble man
(30:57):
said goodbye.
Jack and Jim were my bestfriends.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
(31:21):
Now there's rain on a rustedtin roof and love is pouring
(31:43):
through Till I have craving.
Some things are worth explaining.
It's a substitute.
Mary Jane had her last danceyesterday and my old man said
(32:09):
goodbye.
Jack and Jim were my bestfriends and all I need is your
love to get me high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
Guitar solo Whoa.
(32:40):
Oh, I'm Mary Jane.
I had a last dance yesterdayand my woman said goodbye.
Jack and Jen were my bestfriends.
All I need is your love to getme high.
(33:01):
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
All I need is your love to getme high.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
That's Dom Ellis Addictions on Q Country 92.5.
I love music that gives me thefeels, and every one of your
songs, man, I feel something, Iget goosebumps and it's just so
deep and it's great.
When did you learn You've takenvocal lessons?
When did you learn you had thisvoice?
(33:42):
Was that something that youjust were always born with or
something that you developed?
Speaker 1 (33:49):
It was kind of like a developed thing, I guess you
could say.
I loved folk music growing up.
I also loved rock and whatnot.
But my sisters would listen tothis group called Iron Wine and
I always loved how soft it wasand simple, very, very simple
(34:10):
but metaphorical at the sametime, simple but metaphorical at
the same time.
And, uh, it was very um, it wasa very big inspiration on me,
um, especially on my guitarplaying as well, just very soft
playing, um, and uh, lyricallywise, uh, also a big inspiration
(34:31):
with rela montane.
But one thing for sure was thewhole entire scenery on me being
vocal and vocal taught outagain.
I was not nowhere good.
(34:53):
Whenever I showed my parents itwas kind of like, hey guys, can
you just hear me?
I just want to try this out.
And they were like, well, wedon't have any musical talent,
so we don't know.
So they brought me to a vocalteacher.
They told me that I was gettinga new guitar and they brought
me to a vocal teacher, which Idid not want.
So of course I pitched a fitand and I was like I'm not going
(35:19):
in there.
And they're like, well, justtry it.
And um, it was kind of weird howme and the vocal teacher her
name is valerie um kuiper and meand her clicked I mean right
off the bat, we clicked andbecame best friends and she
taught me what I need, what Iknow, um, and till this day I
still, I still talk to her everynow and then and go into for a
(35:40):
tune up from a voice and, um,she's helped me out so much on
so many levels, um, getting theruns and getting the pushes and
everything, and so it was a verybig develop, um, from going to
a soft, a soft home to where I'mat now.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Sometimes parents do know best.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
They do.
Mother knows best, for sure.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Well, let's listen to a song from our Country Climb
Star of the Week, Dom Ellis.
This one is called Right Person, Wrong Time.
When did this come out?
Tell us a little story aboutthis one.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
Right Person, wrong Time came out.
I think it was around Novembertime, around that winter area,
and I was.
It was a personal experience Um, I, I had the song in the in
the guts, um, and I was wantingto find out if, you know, I
(36:44):
could connect with other people.
So I've always heard the termhey, I just don't think this is
right.
It's right person, wrong time,like you know, and I just I
don't believe in that kind ofstuff.
I think you know God has areason for everything.
I think it's more lessons,because when it's the right
person, it's the right person.
There's just no ins or buts orbouts.
It's just the right person.
(37:05):
I think you find that rightperson.
But sometimes things get in theway and the lessons are taught.
Sometimes things get in the wayand the lessons are taught, and
so I kind of made a song aboutthat and I wanted to see if it
would connect with the rightcrowd and it did, and a lot of
people like it.
Of course you get requestsabout it, so that makes me out
(37:29):
of joy for that song.
So I wrote it I'd say, um, inmay, june, june, maybe, yeah, I
think, june, time of 2024 andthen released it in, uh,
november well, let's listen toit right now.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
This is right person, wrong time.
With dom ellis, today's countryclimb star of the week.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
We'll be right back to something that ain't been
holding me and I've come to findthe truth in the lies between
your teeth.
We were never gonna make.
It was the point in the tribe.
When you say right person,wrong, I've got a million dollar
(38:49):
questions, but I ain't seen adime and an ashtray full of
answers to burn you out my mindwhen you bring me down the slope
.
Got no choice but to get thishigh.
But hey, right person, wrongtime.
But I'd lie awake staring atthe ceiling, wishing I was naive
(39:32):
enough to believe your reasons.
I'm Sharing memories in abottle.
(39:58):
Now it's broken glass.
Know you'll find another man.
Know that won't last when youbreak his heart, like mine, use
an old line Right person, wrongtime.
But I lie awake staring at theceiling, wishing I was naive
(40:41):
enough to believe your reasons,wishing I was naive enough to
believe your reasons, wishing Iwas naive enough to believe your
reasons.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
That's Dom Ellis right person, wrong time.
He is this week's Country ClimbStar of the Week and I just see
big things for you.
It's been amazing spending sometime with you and letting you
share your music with ouraudience.
I can't wait to follow yourjourney.
(41:24):
What are your goals in thenot-too-distant future?
What should we expect?
What are you looking forward to?
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Well, we have some new songs coming out.
We're trying to get them pushedout as quickly as possible.
In fact, whenever I get back upto Nashville me being in
Louisiana right now I'll beshooting out there tomorrow and
Thursday.
First, we're going to go recordsome more songs, so we're
pushing in the studio, we'repushing in the rights and it's
(41:56):
going to be great.
So we'll have some more piecescoming out, one called Life
Story, another one called hey,mrs Lucky, and another one
called Falling Out of the Sky.
So very, very pumped.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
And if we want to support you and follow you on
all your socials so we can catchall this new music it's.
Dom Ellis.
At Dom Ellis.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
At Dom Ellis Music At Dom Ellis.
At Dom Ellis.
At Dom Ellis Music.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
At Dom Ellis E-L-L-I-S Music.
Go ahead, give him a followtoday.
Let's show him the Q CountryNation support and listen to all
his music.
He's got a lot more availableto listen to and he's got a lot
more yet to come, so follow himon TikTok, Instagram and on all
socials.
All right, Dom, thank you somuch for being this week's
(42:44):
Country Climb Star of the Week.
Speaker 5 (42:46):
Woo, that's my blog Good.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
Bob Beaumont said so.
Yee-yee, yee-yee, everyone'sfavorite redneck from Beaumont,
texas, on his favorite day ofthe week, friday.
Buddy, hey, I've been thinking.
You told us a couple weeks agoyou found this brand-new TV show
that you were loving, and thisbrand-new TV show was actually
over 20 years old.
(43:09):
It was Lost.
Have you finished Lost and whatdid you think?
Speaker 5 (43:15):
Look man, they lost me because it got stupid.
Yeah, it got stupid.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Yeah, it got stupid.
Yeah, don't give any spoilers.
Speaker 5 (43:24):
So you're going to make it to about where I did and
be like this is stupid andyou're going to be lost too.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
So what season did Lost, lose you?
Speaker 5 (43:38):
All I know is I lost a lot of my life.
I'll never get back.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
I'm sorry, buddy.
So Paul's on a scale of 1 to 10.
When you first found Lost, yougave it a 10 out of 10 yee-yees.
How many yee-yees do you giveLost now that you've watched a
bunch of it?
Speaker 5 (43:59):
Maybe a two, two.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Sorry.
Paul from Beaumont says if youhave not watched Lost, don't
start now, I'll waste your life.
Hey, I thought we'd play a fungame on Friday called Fix it or
Forget it, Paul's Friday RedneckEdition.
You ready?
Okay, let's do it.
Your truck door only opens fromthe outside.
(44:24):
Fix it or forget it.
Hey, just do it to hazard, son.
Do it to hazard, buddy.
You don't need it to open upfrom the inside, Alright.
Next one your cooler lid isbroken, but you've been using a
cutting board and a brick and itworks just fine.
Fix it or forget it.
Speaker 5 (44:43):
I don't know, man Forget it, man Forget it, forget
it yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I mean you have a lid on there.
As long as the drinks stay cool, you're good you can always cut
lime and lemon on it.
That's right.
Your recliner only reclines ifyou pull it with the fishing
line that's connected to yourceiling fan.
You gotta fix that.
That sounds like some redneckingenuity right there.
And last one, your dog chewedthe handle off the screen door,
(45:24):
so now you've got to open it upwith the screwdriver that's
taped to it with the spatula.
Your wife is fixing that, butnot Paul.
Paul's not fixing it.
That was Fix it or Forget it.
Our redneck edition with Paulfrom Beaumont.
It is now time for.
Are you Smarter Than a Redneck,paul?
Today is Collector CarAppreciation Day, so we're going
to do some vintage car trivia.
(45:45):
If you know the answer, sayyour name.
That's your buzzer.
It is multiple choice.
Here we go.
What movie brought the DeLoreanto the public's attention?
Paul, go ahead.
Back to the Future.
Is it Back to the Future?
Ding, ding, ding.
It is Back to the Future.
We're going to do best of five.
First one to three.
Correct answer wins.
Any car in the horselesscarriage club of America must
(46:08):
have been made before 1916.
True or false, chris?
I'm going to say false.
Ah, incorrect, it is true.
All right, paul, you're up 2-0.
If you get the next one right,you win it.
What's the most valuable carsold in auction in 2008?
(46:29):
Was it a Triumph Spitfire, aLamborghini, a Ferrari 250 GT
California or an Austin Healey3000?
A Ferrari 250 GT California oran Austin Healey 3000?
Chris, I'm going to say anAustin Healey 3000.
Speaker 5 (46:45):
Nope, paul, it's either Triumph, spitfire,
lamborghini or a Ferrari 250.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
GT California, I'm going to say the Ferrari.
Is it the Ferrari?
Gosh, dang it.
He is smarter than a radio DJ.
That's three questions, threecorrect answers for Paul Yep.
The 1961 Ferrari GT sold forhow much, do you think?
Couple million, eleven million.
Speaker 5 (47:12):
Okay, I'd say a couple couple million.
Okay, I can say a couple,couple millions, that's the car
that Ferris and Cameron took fora spin in the movie Ferris
Bueller's Day Off.
Ah, okay, okay, there you go.
That's why he was freaking out.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Yeah, it's worth $11 million.
That was Are you Smarter Than aRedneck?
And today I am not smarter thana redneck.
Paul, we love you.
I hope you have a great weekendand we'll talk to you on Monday
.
Speaker 5 (47:42):
Hey, on a serious note, with everything that's
going on, I want to say my sonleft behind going after people
affected by the floods andthere's people in other parts of
the country not affected bythem Absolutely and there's
people in other parts of thecountry not affected by them.
In New Mexico, North Carolina.
Yeah, just keep everybody inyour prayers and be nice to
(48:05):
everybody.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
All right, here's Left Behind from Paul, from
Beaumont.
We love you, best friend.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
All right, y'all have a great weekend.
Bye, bye.
Speaker 4 (48:37):
Bye to do, flashbacks coming every which way and I
knew things had to change.
This problem was bigger than me, so I tried to drink it away.
Won't somebody save me?
I can't do this on my own.
The pain's too real, the cut'stoo deep.
My mind won't let me sleep.
(49:00):
I still think it should havebeen me that left the earth that
day, but God had a differentplan in mind.
That's why he left me behind.
I look back to where I was andI see how far I've come.
(49:30):
This once lost boy had no ideaAbout the life he had won A
lovely wife, beautiful kids.
Boy had no idea about the lifehe owned A lovely wife,
beautiful kids and a growingfamily.
God knew just what he was doingwhen he left me here that day.
(49:52):
Won't somebody save me?
I can't do this on my own.
The pain's too real, the cut'stoo deep.
My mind won't let me sleep.
I still think it should havebeen me that left the earth that
day, but God had a differentplan in mind.
(50:14):
That's why you left me behind.
(50:49):
I can't do this on my own.
My pain's too real.
It cuts too deep.
My mind won't let me sleep.
I still think it should havebeen me that left the earth that
day.
But God had a different plan inmind faith and grace and
(51:16):
trusting in His time.
That's why he left me behind.
He left me behind.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh.
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