Editing Ellen McIlwaine (section)

==Biography==
Born in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], Tennessee, United States, McIlwaine was adopted by missionaries and raised in [[Kobe]], Japan, giving her exposure to multiple languages and cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ellenmcilwaine.com/biography.html|title=Biography|last=McIlwaine|first=Ellen|date=2000|website=Ellenmcilwaine.com|access-date=2017-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ellenmcilwaine.com/japan.html|title=Ellen McIlwaine's Trip to Japan|last=McIlwaine|first=Ellen|website=Ellenmcilwaine.com|access-date=2017-01-24}}</ref> She attended the [[Canadian Academy]] school in Kobe, graduating in 1963.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.universalmusicenterprises.com/ellenmcilwaine/biography|title=Ellen McIlwaine |website=Universalmusicenterprises.com|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref> Her first experience in music was playing on piano [[Ray Charles]], [[Fats Domino]] and [[Professor Longhair]] songs that she heard on Japanese radio. On moving back to the United States she bought a guitar, beginning a stage career in [[Atlanta, Georgia]] in the mid-1960s.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In 1966, McIlwaine had a stint in New York City's [[Greenwich Village]] where she opened every night at the [[Cafe Au Go Go]], playing with [[Jimi Hendrix]], and opening for [[Muddy Waters]], [[Sonny Terry]] and [[Brownie McGhee]], and [[Big Joe Williams]].{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} She returned to Atlanta to form the band [[Fear Itself (band)|Fear Itself]], a [[psychedelic music|psychedelic]] [[blues rock]] band.

After recording one album with Fear Itself, McIlwaine went solo, recording two albums for [[Polydor Records|Polydor]], ''Honky Tonk Angel'' (1972) and ''[[We the People (Ellen McIlwaine album)|We the People]]'' (1973), the latter featuring a [[hit single]], "I Don't Want to Play". Those albums, and most of her work since, have featured McIlwaine's approach to acoustic slide guitar.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} This was followed by ''[[The Real Ellen McIlwaine]]'', recorded for the independent Canadian label Kot'ai, which featured two of her 'signature' songs, her slide guitar version of Stevie Wonder's "[[Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder song)|Higher Ground]]" and "The Secret In This Lady's Heart".

As a female vocalist who is known for her acoustic and electric slide guitar, her music tends to be classified in the folk sections of record stores, despite her strong roots in blues, gospel soul and rock music, and her [[cover version]]s of songs by [[Isaac Hayes]], [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Jack Bruce]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Steve Winwood]] and [[Browning Bryant]]. McIlwaine met Hendrix in New York in 1966, briefly played with him and wrote "Underground River" about him.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} She was also an ardent fan of [[Jack Bruce]] and recorded a version of a song by Bruce and his lyricist [[Pete Brown]] on each of her first four solo albums - notably songs from Bruce's first solo album ''[[Songs for a Tailor]]'', as well as songs associated with Bruce (such as "Born Under A Bad Sign"). This culminated in her collaboration with Bruce himself on her fourth solo album, ''Everybody Needs It'' (1982).

By the mid-1970s, McIlwaine's songs "Sliding", "We the People" and "Losing You" were included on the [[compilation album]], ''[[The Guitar Album]]''.

McIlwaine's album ''[[The Real Ellen McIlwaine]]'', was recorded in [[Montreal]] in 1975 for the Kotai label, and included the [[Stevie Wonder]] song '[[Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder song)|Higher Ground]]'.  Her intro later appeared on the [[David Holmes (musician)|David Holmes]] Essential Collection.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} A 1982 project, ''[[Everybody Needs It]]'' won the NAIRD Indie Award, and featured Jack Bruce.

McIlwaine gained a cult following in Australia thanks to exposure of her music on the Sydney-based AM public rock radio station [[2JJ]] (now Triple-J). In 1980 she made her first tour of Australia, after being spotted by the Australian singer-guitarist [[Margret RoadKnight]], who was one of the co-promoters of the tour. She returned to Australia in 1984, and during this tour was the last performer to appear at Sydney's historic [[Regent Theatre (Sydney)|Regent Theatre]] prior to its closure and subsequent demolition.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

After moving to Canada in 1987, (first [[Toronto]], later [[Alberta]]), McIlwaine recorded ''Looking for Trouble'' for [[Stony Plain Records]], which also re-released her early vinyl material on CD. Her next CD ''Women in (e)motion Festival/Ellen McIlwaine,'' was recorded live in Germany in 1999; and then ''[[Spontaneous Combustion (album)|Spontaneous Combustion]]'' featuring [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]] on the German Tradition und Moderne label.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In spite of debilitating [[arthritis]] in her hips, she undertook a third tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2003, which reunited her with RoadKnight and the other Honky Tonk Angels, who had first brought her to Australia in 1980.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

In 2006 she started her own label, Ellen McIlwaine Music, and released ''[[Mystic Bridge]]'' featuring the Indian [[tabla]] drummer [[Cassius Khan]]. They were joined by the soprano saxophone of Linsey Wellman on three tracks, including their version of "Take Me to the River", and harmonium playing by Amika Kushwaha on the last track, "The Question". This was a poem by Christine Steele, recited over Cassius Khan's vocal rendition of the ancient Urdu poem set to music, "Darbari Raag".{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} The album was widely successful with critical acclaim.

In 2008, 2009, and 2010 she toured with [[Patty Larkin]]'s [[La Guitara]] ensemble in the US, and in Canada with [[Sue Foley]]'s [[Guitar Women]], and appeared at various US and Canadian venues and festivals as a solo artist. In 2013 she traveled to Los Angeles to be part of the [[Jimi Hendrix]] documentary ''Hear My Train A Comin''. In 2019, Ellen was awarded Toronto Blues Society's "Blues with a Feeling" Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 2019|newspaper=Maple Blues (Toronto Blues Society Newsletter)|pages=5–6}}</ref>

McIlwaine died on June 23, 2021, in her long-time residence of [[Calgary]], Alberta, Canada.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.straight.com/music/ellen-mcilwaine-blues-singer-and-slide-guitarist-dies-at-75|title=Ellen McIlwaine, blues singer and slide guitarist, dies at 75|date=June 23, 2021|newspaper=[[The Georgia Straight]]|access-date=June 24, 2021}}</ref> She had been diagnosed with [[esophageal cancer]] just six weeks prior.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jennings |first1=Nicholas |title=Ellen McIlwaine, a flame-haired slide guitarist and singer jammed with Hendrix |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-flame-haired-slide-guitarist-and-singer-jammed-with-hendrix/ |access-date=July 12, 2021 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=June 29, 2021}}</ref>