 ELLEN SILVA
songwriter vocals guitar ukulele piano
Ellen is a singer-songwriter. She has 3 CDs of original music to her credit, under the genres of tropical pop, swing and bluesy folk.
Performance History:
In 1969, when she was 12, Ellen got together with four other young women and started the “Pre-Teen Tones.” She had been playing piano since she was 5, but had had watched others playing guitar, so, after convincing her dad to buy her one, she took to it as though she’d been playing for years. (Ellen is 2nd from right). They won first place in the local Talent Show, and went on to win the Semi-Finals and Finals as well.
1987-89 Girls with Guitars
Ellen performed with Denée Deckert, Laurie Silver and Karen Cole in "Girls with Guitars". In addition to their favorite cover tunes, this marked the first time Ellen's originals were played on stage. Also at this time, Ellen began playing lead guitar in addition to rhythm and also began singing lead and harmony vocals.
1987-2010 Gryphon Carolers
In 1987 Ellen began singing tenor in the Palo Alto based Gryphon Carolers, and has performed with the group for 24 years. The carolers have two CD's of traditional and contemporary Holiday music arranged by local musician Ed Johnson. (www.gryphoncarolers.com).
1992-94 Birds of a Feather
Ellen collaborated with a singer-songwriter Susanne Mulcahy, their songwriting and performance duo was called "Birds of a Feather".
1992-94 Merry Coaster & the Roly-Go-Rounds
Ellen played with "Merry Coaster and the Roly-Go-Rounds" with previous bandmates Denée Deckert and Karen Cole, mandolin player John Treacy, and singer/guitarist Mike Sorey.
1997-2010 Island Dream
Island Dream Ellen has been bandleader, songwriter, singer and guitarist with Island Dream.
2004-2010 M'Earthtones
Ellen has sung alto with the M'Earthtones acapella group. The group performs an ecectic blend of world music and beyond. (www.mearthtones.com)
2005-2010 Tikitones
Ellen has played guitar, ukulele and sung lead and harmony vocals. The Tikitones primarily play traditional and contemporary Hawaiian swing (www.ellensilva.com.tikitones.html)
Songwriting:
Breathing in compositions of the Gershwins, Bacharach & David, Hoagy Carmichael and Cole Porter, Ellen has been pouring out her version of eclectic original music ever since.
Influenced by folk, rock, blues, R ’n B, Motown, Latin jazz, swing and almost everything else that has been played on popular radio stations during the past four decades, Ellen's absolute favorites include: James Taylor, Carol King, Stevie Wonder, João Gilberto,Django Reinhardt, Santana, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, CSN, Eric Clapton, Tish Hinojosa, John Cruz, Sting, and the list goes on and on...
Ellen has written with many collaborators:
Ed Johnson
Lissy Abraham
Gwen Thomas
Ellen Timberlake
Denée Deckert
Karen Cole
Ellen also performs with:
Michelle Kiba & the Tiki Tones
M'Earthtones
and the
Gryphon Carollers
Also see articles.html.
 PRESTON CARTER
electric
bass
Preston Carter has played bass with Ellen since 1995. In addition, he has performed and recorded with numerous other San Francisco Bay Area bands including Electric Angel, Lumina, The Carol McComb Band, Sharp 9, the Gryphon All Stars, Jammin’ Salmon, etc. in hundreds of live performances of jazz, pop, theatre, and symphonic music. See www.ellensilva.com/article2.html for more on Preston.
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 DENEE DECKERT
vocals, guitar keyboards ukulele accordion
Denée has been singing since she was 3. Her grandparents report she hushed the crowd with her rendition of "Away in a Manger" at the nativity scene in Washington, D.C. She pivoted around a rock 'n' roll background with influences such as the Band, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley and the tones of Joni Mitchell.
Denée views music as a means of group communication and especially enjoys audience participation. She has performed in bands Stone Crow, Wild Kingdom, Girls with Guitars, and Merry Coaster & the Roly-Go-Rounds, the latter two with Ellen. Poetic by nature, Denée has also co-written several songs with Ellen, “Stars on a String” (on Rhythms of Earth & Sky), and “Julia's Gift” on “Island Dream”.
 KERRY PARKER
violin, mandolin, vocals
I've been singing since I was born, playing the fiddle since I was 9 years old (approx. 48.5 years ago!), as well as having taken up the mandolin, 5 string banjo, cello and bass. I was part of The Liberty String Band (bluegrass/country) in Munich, Germany in the early '80's and since then have performed in numerous groups - among others - Cannon & Parker (original folk), The Precarious Vision Band (eclectic folk), RawSilk (acapella), Blue Ridge(bluegrass), Emerald Dreams (celtic folk), Modern Radio (swing), The Modal Citizens (celtic contradance), The Archer String Band (Steven Strauss's ukulele gems), Swing Theory (swing), Trillium Augmented (celtic harps & fiddles), Failure to Disperse (old-time fiddle) and Island Dream (tropical pop). I was a regular fiddler at Berkeley's Starry Plough Sunday night Irish session for many years, played with the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers in their annual concert series and have done solo vocal work with The Oakland Jazz Choir, The San Francisco City Chorus, the Chancel Choirs of the Oakland and San Francisco Unitarian Churches, and Na Leo Nahenahe (Bay Area Hawaiian-language chorus) and sung with the Mountain View-based World Harmony Chorus, the San Francisco Choral Society and the Michigan Tech University Alumni Choir on their 2006 tour of China. I've recorded with Bay Area singer-songwriters Hali Hammer, Sharyn Dimmick, and Carol Denney.Wow...guess I'll just have to keep playing and singing for the rest of my life...
SUE SMITH
percussion
Sue has been
playing percussion since college, and piano before that. She
holds down the groove with conga, shakers, sticks, brushes, steel
drum and anything else she can get her hands on!
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