Lindsay Ell

Lindsay Ell is the most talented and multifaceted artist I've come across in many years. She can play great guitar, has a unique one-of-a-kind voice, writes great songs and has the looks and attitude of a star. She is the complete package. With my schedule jammed to overflowing and bursting for the next couple of years, I'm so glad I found some time to work with her. It was well worth the effort and a most exciting adventure. I've continually thrown challenge after challenge at Lindsay and to my amazement, she's come through every single one. In just a short year she went from having potential to becoming a real music identity with undeniable strength.

Watch out for Linday Ell...her music will rock your world, touch your heart and make you realize one true thing.......... Resistance is futile. - Randy Bachman

Lindsay Ell is what many in the industry strive lifetimes to be... a true artist. With her heart firmly fashioned on her sleeve, she connects with both the essence of the music she weaves, and any lucky audience members in attendance. Every time you see Lindsay live, you get to know her soul a little bit better. She is triple threat - singer/songwriter/guitarist - and well on her way to making her permanent mark on Canadian music." - Host of California 103 RADIO

Jam session with Buddy Guy an honour for young blues-pop musician Lindsay Ell

January 08, 2009
COLIN HUNTER
NIGHTLIFE STAFF

How did a 19-year-old girl from Calgary end up trading guitar licks onstage with blues legend Buddy Guy? Well, he invited her to, and you don't say no to Buddy Guy.
That's how Lindsay Ell, a blues songstress with chops beyond her years, joined her musical hero for a jam session in front of a packed auditorium in Victoria, B.C. last November.
"I grabbed my guitar and I was shaking," recalls Ell, who at the time was still feeling euphoric from her opening slot at the concert.
She had no idea Guy was going to invite her onstage during his set. She and her band were just watching him from the wings at stage right when he summoned her.
"I walked out there, and Buddy Guy says 'Hello honey, nice to meet you, we're in (the key of) G.' Then I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine, and we talked through our guitars."
Their jam session -- which has since been immortalized on YouTube -- bolstered Ell's reputation as one of the fastest-rising blues-pop performers in the country.
It's a reputation she hopes to continue building one concert at a time, including shows on Jan. 15 and 16 at the University of Waterloo and the Boathouse in Kitchener.
She's going to stick around Kitchener for a while to write some songs with Danny Michel, one of many artists she hopes to collaborate with in writing her next album.
Ell loves getting together with other musicians, whether it's Guy, Michel, or the Canadian musical icon who first "discovered" her, Randy Bachman.
The founding member of The Guess Who was on his tour bus five years ago when someone played him Ell's demo CD. He was bowled over by what he heard -- particularly Ell's sweet, soulful voice -- and he contacted her to offer his services as a producer.
"And I was like, what?" Ell recalls. "It was so surreal."
Both of Ell's parents are musicians, and her father just happens to be a huge fan of The Guess Who. His reaction to the news that Bachman wanted to work with his daughter? "You have got to be kidding me!" Ell says with a chuckle.
Ell nervously accepted Bachman's invitation to his home studio on Saltspring Island, B.C., where they began work on her debut CD.
"It was great," Ell says. "He is the most laid-back person I've ever met in my life, and he has become like another dad to me. He told me so many stories about the industry and taught me so many lessons."
One of those lessons -- the one that has been proven true again and again -- is that life in the music business is "an emotional roller-coaster."

http://news.therecord.com/arts/NightLife/article/468571 - Kitchener-Waterloo Record

“Smart, talented, honest, rooted.Lindsay Ell has the artistic palate of a seasoned professional. There is a newness and freshness to her sound. When she performs ... she owns it. Inspired by great artists like Randy Bachman, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor - Lindsay's songwriting, guitar and vocal work genuinely inspire her audiences. She'll make a major difference. Lindsay Ell is the new creative artist on the Canadian music landscape.”
- Vocal Coach, Artistic Direction, and Music Mentor

http://www.lindsayell.com/downloads/compelling.html
- Calgary Herald

Calgary's Lindsay Ell proves that girls can kick it with the cool blues cats too
Story by: Amanda Hu, Entertainment Editor
Story date: Thursday, August 07, 2008

The world of blues music has the old boys club set-up perfected. The genre is defined by hardened hands picking at tattered strings that belong to a weathered man who knows the ways of the world. Despite this, up-and-comer Lindsay Ell is taking Calgary's blues scene by storm.

The 19-year-old has struggled with the preconceptions surrounding blues for her entire young but growing career. She prides herself on guitar-driven tunes and soulful lyrics chronicling her experiences, something not always associated with someone so young or even with the female musician.

"The typical thing is, 'Oh, you play guitar? You play electric guitar? That's so interesting,'" she says. "It's a really important thing to me to make a strong case that girls can play guitar too. I feel like [females in blues] are becoming more prominent with people like Bonnie Raitt and those inspirations behind us. There are more and more girls picking up guitar and not only playing singer-songwriter choruses, but getting into the music, which is what I really focus on."

Many who have seen Ell in action have picked up on her talent. Most notably, former Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive member and Canadian music forefather Randy Bachman saw Ell's skills as so formidable that he took her under his wing and is now producing her work. Ell says Bachman's involvement has been an invaluable experience for many reasons.

"With Randy having 40 years of experience, he points things out to me that I normally wouldn't see within a song," she says. "Sometimes, simpler is better. We all say it and know it, but when you're heavy into a song, you sometimes forget that. He'll shorten up lines to make them more concise and really pound out that hook. It's just little things here and there, but the little things make all the difference."

With the new songs and the recent attention at this year's Juno stop in Calgary, buzz around the musician is starting to come to a head. Ell says the experience not only enriched her place in the city's growing blues scene, but fostered music in general.

"All these festivals like Folk Fest and Blues Fest have been going on for years and years and years, but recently, with the Junos being in Calgary, I think the music scene is seeing a significant change," she explains. "It's going to be so nice because the Junos and Junofest told everyone that it was okay to go out and see live music again and there are so many venues that opened up and so many other bands playing live shows weekly now."

With a stronger community to play in and develop with, Ell is looking forward to a long future in the music industry and the world of blues. While she's already accomplished a lot in a short time, she still hopes for further growth in the coming years in her music and with that change, more success.

"Music is a huge focus in my life right now and I'm kind of at the point where I've decided to walk down this road," she says. "It's in my heart and my passion and what I want to do for the rest of my life."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindsay Ell kicks off the Calgary International Blues Fest on Aug. 7.
- Gauntlet

Lattés and Lindsay Ell live at the Odyssey
SAIT coffeehouse hosts free show
By Ruth Lloyd, Scene Editor



Last weekend, Calgary’s own emerging guitar goddess Lindsay Ell played for some of the most influential rock musicians of the last three generations. This week she plays a free show at SAIT’s new Odyssey Coffehouse.

On Sept. 5, Ell performed for a star-studded guest list at the premiere of the film It Might Get Loud during the Toronto International Film Festival.

It Might Get Loud features Jack White (The White Stripes and the Raconteurs), The Edge (U2), and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin). All three music legends were expected to be at the premiere, along with Canadian rockers Kim Mitchell and Jim Cuddy.

But the 19-year-old Albertan said she wasn’t freaking out beforehand, even if she does call it “so surreal”.

“I feel unworthy of it all,” she says.

The Calgary native has taken time off from her studies in business at the University of Calgary to pursue her musical career. So far, she has nothing to regret about that decision.

Ell’s demo CD wowed the likes of legendary guitar-man Randy Bachman (Bachman- Turner Overdrive) into helping her produce her first album. The result is a combination of songs co-written by herself and Bachman, as well as songs Bachman wrote with others.

“It’s been great with Randy’s 40 years of experience in songwriting,” says Ell. “I just have so much to learn from him.”

Ell has also been picked by Gibson Guitars to be the poster girl for their new Les Paul Goddess guitar.

While the guitar has traditionally been an instrument ruled by men, Ell has been working hard to earn herself a place among the guitar greats one day. She started playing the piano at six years old, but switched to guitar at the tender age of eight. She says she’s “never looked back.”

Her MySpace page mentions that she’s been told she “plays guitar like a guy” frequently over the years. But Ell doesn’t let comments like this throw her off her game.

“It’s all about finding your niche, right,” she says. “It’s a matter of just believing in yourself.”

And being from Calgary has its advantages as well. “Being in Calgary has really helped me to hone certain styles, I guess. And reaching out to a variety of genres really makes you a stronger player in the end,” Ell says.

Currently waiting for the final green light for the release of an acoustic album of her own songs, Ell will showcase some of this new material at the Odyssey Coffehouse at noon tomorrow.

Ell took on Marc Thususka, SAITSA’s events and programming manager, as her general manager in April, and so playing at SAIT is a natural fit.

“She’s at that right demographic to connect with that audience,” says Thususka. And while this may sound like he’s just being practical, he’s also really a fan.

“I love her work,” says Thususka.

Ell plays the Odyssey tomorrow at noon. The show is free.

http://www.theweal.com/?/artsandentertainment/story/lattes_and_lindsay_ell_live_at_the_odyssey/# - The Weal