It’s less than a week into the new year, the new decade, and a phone chat with country singer-songwriter and guitar impresario, Lindsay Ell, yields inspirational nuggets left and right. She’s calling from her home in Nashville, a rarity for this road warrior. She’s also in the midst of writing and recording a follow-up to her May 2018 album, The Continuum Project, via Stoney Creek Records. 

Calling from her Nashville home, her voice is the same engaging energy; that same instant feeling of sincerity that fans across the globe have embraced in such hits as  “Waiting On You” (2017) ,“Criminal” (2017) and “What Happens In A Small Town” (2019). She sounds fresh, reflective and even philosophical in the conversation. She talks about turning 30, her favorite foods and even one-hit wonders. 

“I do have a few resolutions,” Ell said. “I want to find balance. Rest is mandatory. I’m kind of bad at being a workaholic, and I want to make a bit more time to maybe find a boyfriend. I’m very proud of all that I’ve accomplished…there isn’t really a pressure (to have a boyfriend) as a songwriter being in a relationship definitely lends itself into inspiration. I’m not opposed to exploring those areas of the heart.”

Ell, who was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada has a long history of making music. At age 10, she started exploring songwriting and hasn’t looked back. Just five years later, fellow Canadian rocker Randy Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who, took Ell under his wing. The guy behind such hits as “Takin’ Care of Business”, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, and co-writer for “American Woman”, “These Eyes” and “No Sugar Tonight” – to name a few, gave Ell a key piece of advice.

“He said ‘this industry is a like an emotional roller coaster’,” she said. “I really feel about the songwriting process is that we can think too much, I get distracted sometimes, and someone like Randy Bachman helped me streamline and he’s so good at getting to the chase of what is important, and how to make general concepts that work better.”

In addition to working with Randy Bachman in the studio, she also got to meet his son, Tal Bachman. Tal’s “She So High” (1999) catapulted to the top of the US Adult Contemporary Charts, and while many think it went away after a meteoric rise, Ell championed her friends song, noting that “She’s So High” had a second life. 

“The song got another life of its own after a contestant on UK American Idol sang it,” she said.

She’s been riding  the roller coaster well herself, including garnering much attention for her guitar skills. Her debut album in 2017, The Project, yielded three singles. Ell co-wrote the lead single, “Waiting On You”  with Sugarland’s Kate Bush producing all of The Project’s 12 tracks. The second single “Criminal” showcases Ell’s virtuoso guitar skills. She plays with confidence and authority, yet all accessible to her fanbase. She’s playing with them, not at them. She’s channeling her feelings through the guitar in “Criminal” and it’s a tone that is unforgettably layered and fuses blues, country and pop into one. 

Ell had the help and guidance of another iconic musician to assist Dann Huff. He’s the guitarist on Giant (“I’ll See You In My Dreams”) and played guitar on albums for Michael Jackson, Steven Curtis Chapman, Juice Newton, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers and many, many more. 

“(Dann) Huff is my guitar player idol,” Ell said. “When we were in the studio, we were working on getting the guitar to sit in a mix, he told me to communicate with my guitar.” 

Fans loved the chemistry between Ell and “What Happens In A Small Town” with Brantley Gilbert. The song reached No. 1 on the (US) country airplay chart in 2019. At the suggestion of Scott Borchetta, president of Big Machine Label, Ell gained the opportunity. 

“Scott song the song as more of a duet,” she said. “He suggested me, and Brantley agreed, and it just went great from there, I’m grateful.” 

It didn’t end there. From there Ell joined Gilbert at the CMA Fest in front of over 50,000 fans. She also hit the road as part of Gilbert’s “Not Like Us Tour”. Ell’s impressive touring resume has also included support to The Band Perry, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Chris Isaak and others. 

The songs are starting to come for Ell’s newest album. She and her team are writing all the time and she’s taking that energy and synergy she’s learned from her road travels into the studio. She’s also learning to balance, New Year’s resolutions or not, upon turning 30, and having a health scare. In early 2019, she underwent surgery to remove precancerous cells. She kept her more than one-hundred thousand YouTube subscribers, and nearly three-hundred-fifty thousand Instagram followers. In typical Ell fashion, she was honest, sincere and open to her fanbase. 

She’s translating these stories and experiences into what she does best: music. 

“I’m the most -fresh in the morning, I’m a morning person,” Ell said. “Generally, though, I write best late at night.” 

Besides music, she’s loves to eat.  She really adores the many cuisine mom-and-pop restaurants in Nashville. 

“Nashville is in such a foodie time,” she said, laughing that because she’s 30 now, she does have to watch what she eats. “I love some of the cool, local places.”

One thing she isn’t good at? Curling. Yes, curling, the winter sport many Canadians are assumed to love. She said she’s not (shocker) that great of an ice skater either. She’s laughing of course when she tells these little tidbits, but she’s quick to point out that one of her best friends growing up is an outstanding curler. I’ll let it slide. (see what I did there). 

The call is a perfect chat and fans of Ell should know that her voice is genuine and just as delightful as her music and social media presence. It’s nice to know that a woman