Ghost Hymns, Ellis's fourth album for Memphis-based label Yellow Dog Records, is an impressive return for the hailed guitarist and purveyor of roots music. Inspired by trips to Belarus, the Big Easy, and beyond, the record offers a rousing, at times reflective, paean to the innovators and visionaries - musical and otherwise - who have long inspired his path.

In the years since his last album - acclaimed Jim Dickinson-produced outing, God's Tattoos - Ellis earned a PhD in ethnomusicology and gained professorship at a New England college. His musical yearnings and Southern roots never left, however, leading to this new LP. Showcasing the talents of friends in current home Vermont and abroad, the former Memphis-based songwriter and fleet fingerpicker calls on the cultural camaraderie of global players with ties to Madagascar, Ghana, Kenya, Scotland, and elsewhere. The music, all original compositions and arrangements inspired by his travels and the many creative iconoclasts he has known, draws on a diverse palette of sounds from blues, spirituals, country, and the distinctive musings of American Primitive, to Ghanaian high life, Chinese yueqin, and Malagasy guitar.

Godson of bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe and son of lauded banjoist/composer Tony Ellis, Ellis fils absorbed the melodic strains and stories he heard on visits with Tommy Jarrell and other traditional music heroes, soon honing his craft backing his father at music camps, festivals, and on international tours. Conservatory training in classical guitar followed, as did immersion into the fabled fingerpickers of country blues and street gospel - notably Rev. Gary Davis - leading to three renowned releases in the early aughts as well as a doctoral dissertation on the Rev's music. Drawing from these perspectives and experiences, Ellis and his memories, musicians and instruments here take us around the globe, on an expedition that ends firmly on American soil.