The Green Wood Coffee House Series hosts Ellen McIlwaine in concert this Friday, Sept. 25. As described on the series web site and her own site:

Critics have hailed the wickedly sharp slide guitarist Ellen McIlwaine as one of the most versatile and compelling performers on the blues-rock scene. She uses the blues as a springboard, as her music spans such styles as reggae, funk, rock and more. Her multi-cultural influences, unique slide guitar style, moving vocals and scatting acrobatics have earned her cult status.

McIlwaine was born in Tennessee and moved with adopted missionary parents to Japan when she was only two years old. On Japanese radio, she was exposed to Japanese folk and classical music as well as American R&B greats like Ray Charles, Fats Domino and Professor Longhair. And she caught the Grand Ole Opry on American Armed Forces Radio while growing up in an International Community of families from India, Pakistan, the Middle East, China, Korea, Eastern and Western Europe.

After returning to the US for two years of college in 1963, she began playing acoustic guitar in Atlanta, Georgia while attending art school. She moved to Greenwich Village in 1966, opening for many blues greats, and getting to know the likes of Odetta, Richie Havens, Mississippi John Hurt and Jimi Hendrix.

She then moved to Woodstock, NY in 1968 and recorded "Fear Itself" with her group of the same name, and then gained cult status via her two Polydor albums, "Honky Tonk Angel" in 1972 and "We the People" in '73. These were followed by "The Guitar Album", a compilation of all the guitar players on Polydor in '74, including Link Wray, Rory Gallagher, John McLaughlin and Roy Buchanan, to name a few. She was the only female player on the list.

A one-hour documentary on her life and musical background has been aired on the Bravo Channel, titled “A Slide Through Time: Ellen McIlwaine Live!” Her new CD is "Mystic Bridge."

The Green Wood Coffee House Series is held at First United Methodist Church Green Wood, 1001 Green Road. The show is Friday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. Admission is $15. 734-665-8558.

Ellen McIlwaine performing at Ottawa Folkfest in August: