The C2C Sit Down with Lindsay Ell
On the 2nd of December 2013, Lindsay Ell played her first show in London at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town when she opened up for The Band Perry. Since then, she has toured the UK and Europe regularly including a main stage appearance at last years The Long Road festival and has played at some of the finest venues across the capital over the year. Whilst she made her first C2C appearance in London back in 2018 on the Spotlight Stage, it wasn’t until the tenth anniversary of the festival in March this year that the entire Country to Country audience in Glasgow, Dublin and London finally got to witness her long overdue and much deserved mainstage debut.
Lindsay and myself have been able to chat together numerous times over the past five years with our last catch up being back in August (Read HERE) so knowing what the host of Canada’s Got Talent can’t resist more than anything else in the world, I took a little trip to Maison Ladurée so she could convince me what I had been missing out on. Then on Sunday afternoon, I got to sit down with Lindsay once again firstly for her to change my life as we ate these gorgeous macarons before getting an update on where she is right now musically, finally getting to play the main stage at C2C and also going a lot deeper than the two of us had ever been before.
Lindsay and myself have been able to chat together numerous times over the past five years with our last catch up being back in August (Read HERE) so knowing what the host of Canada’s Got Talent can’t resist more than anything else in the world, I took a little trip to Maison Ladurée so she could convince me what I had been missing out on. Then on Sunday afternoon, I got to sit down with Lindsay once again firstly for her to change my life as we ate these gorgeous macarons before getting an update on where she is right now musically, finally getting to play the main stage at C2C and also going a lot deeper than the two of us had ever been before.
Photo Credit – Paul Clampin / London Backline Photography
It must feel so great to be back over and playing here again, you’ve done C2C in the past but first time on the main stage here and you’ve been in Glasgow and Dublin the last two nights.
“Yeah, it just feel different right now. I feel like I’m more than ever myself, I feel like the band, and I have gelled in a way that I haven’t found in a long time so playing on stages right now just feels so natural and so good. I’ve played the spotlight stage once at C2C, but I had never played main stage so, we are just so excited to be here, and it has been incredible opening up the main stage to play with Mitchell Tenpenny, Old Crow Medicine Show and Zac Brown Band these past few days. All of them are so talented and then watching what the crowd does when they hear Old Crow and when they hear Zac, THEY LOSE THEIR MINDS! In Glasgow on Friday, the crowd it was so wild, and they partied so hard which is what we want to see in everybody having a good time and coming together as a part of our country music family.”
That’s so awesome to hear. It’s not just ten years of Country to Country this year but it’s also been ten years since you first came over to see us too, which that must feel so crazy to think about?
“It is so crazy. I cannot believe it has been ten years and my first worldwide tour with The Band Perry where I was exposed to the magic of the UK and how much of a wonderful, sweet spot of the world this place is. I’m just so happy to be back.”
When we caught up at Long Road, which was only about six months ago, we were talking about where things were going forward with new music and towards a third record so, have you got any updates you can give us?
“Well, the past few months that I saw you at The long Road have been a little bit of a whirlwind. I have been touring lots, playing lots of shows and I’ve decided actually to leave my label which was a big decision but again I feel like I’m in the best time right now with my vision as an artist, what I want to say and the music I want to record. Hence LE3 has been in the works but it’s just taking a little bit longer than I thought BUT I do have a brand-new song coming out on March 24th which I’m really excited about, and you never know, I might play it tonight, I’m still debating but you might be lucky.”
“Yeah, it just feel different right now. I feel like I’m more than ever myself, I feel like the band, and I have gelled in a way that I haven’t found in a long time so playing on stages right now just feels so natural and so good. I’ve played the spotlight stage once at C2C, but I had never played main stage so, we are just so excited to be here, and it has been incredible opening up the main stage to play with Mitchell Tenpenny, Old Crow Medicine Show and Zac Brown Band these past few days. All of them are so talented and then watching what the crowd does when they hear Old Crow and when they hear Zac, THEY LOSE THEIR MINDS! In Glasgow on Friday, the crowd it was so wild, and they partied so hard which is what we want to see in everybody having a good time and coming together as a part of our country music family.”
That’s so awesome to hear. It’s not just ten years of Country to Country this year but it’s also been ten years since you first came over to see us too, which that must feel so crazy to think about?
“It is so crazy. I cannot believe it has been ten years and my first worldwide tour with The Band Perry where I was exposed to the magic of the UK and how much of a wonderful, sweet spot of the world this place is. I’m just so happy to be back.”
When we caught up at Long Road, which was only about six months ago, we were talking about where things were going forward with new music and towards a third record so, have you got any updates you can give us?
“Well, the past few months that I saw you at The long Road have been a little bit of a whirlwind. I have been touring lots, playing lots of shows and I’ve decided actually to leave my label which was a big decision but again I feel like I’m in the best time right now with my vision as an artist, what I want to say and the music I want to record. Hence LE3 has been in the works but it’s just taking a little bit longer than I thought BUT I do have a brand-new song coming out on March 24th which I’m really excited about, and you never know, I might play it tonight, I’m still debating but you might be lucky.”
We’ve chatted a lot in the past where we always have a lot of fun, not quite as much fun as we’ve had today eating macarons but I want to talk about what you were very open with when you recently went on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off The Vine” Podcast (available to listen HERE on Apple Podcasts) and I really want to say thank you for telling your story and talking about it.
“Thank you for saying that, I mean, I think that as human beings, the best thing that we can do in this world is share our stories with each other and share our hearts with each other because I feel like that is when we are not alone. The more vulnerable we get with each other, the more it bonds us. I’m going through this interesting journey, I never thought I would be somebody that would be diagnosed with an eating disorder, I always thought that I was such a health nut, I was an artist, and I was doing all of these things and these past few months have been quite a whirlwind in a lot of ways. I do feel like it is opening up my heart, my writing brain and just my life in incredible ways that I would never have imagined. It is so common for a lot of my artist friends specifically but anybody on social media, to live behind this like filter where everything is OK all the time, and it’s not! In everybody’s life it is not that five second highlight reel, perfectly filtered photoshop version of yourself every day, that’s just not real life so I’m learning to live outside of that a lot more in ways that I’m just not used to. I think for the past twenty years I’ve just been dealing with childhood trauma and figuring out how to process that. I really chose some wrong directions to process that all in and yet I think that is part of life as well, it’s just slowly tearing those things apart, breaking them down and getting to the route of it.”
I found that for me, there was, I suppose relief in a way when it really comes to light, where you effectively admit defeat but start to win at the same time and you will know exactly what I mean with that. With you and I said the same thing when I talked to Lauren (Alaina) for the first time, it means a lot that you are talking about it and it will make a difference, it really will help people.
“Thank you, gosh come here. I think that like I said I think it’s when we feel like we’re not alone in the struggles that we go through and whatever those struggles may be, they don’t even need to be the same struggles but all of us are fighting something. When we can take down that wall that gets put up so quickly, when we’re looking at things on social media, societal pressures or even pressures from friends and family it is a lot for us to feel. That means so much to me, I do think there is INCREDIBLE relief and when you reach that first step of awareness, you have the bravery to look at yourself in the mirror and see this is what I’m feeling, that is huge, that is an incredible first step to finding a deeper level of feeling.”
As always thank you so much for your time, friend. Enjoy the rest of these, you now have changed my life completely and I now totally get it. It’s only taken the four and a half years that we have been hanging out to understand that when you land in London, you literally head straight for this gorgeous French Patisserie. I know they are your thing and now they are definitely going to be my thing too.
“You are the sweetest, I suppose good things take time but I’m so sorry and you’re welcome.”
Have fun tonight, you really have deserved getting to play that big stage because you have been coming here regularly for a long time.
“Well, I will say that the UK is my favourite country to come and play, just because the fans here are so special and I cannot wait to hit that stage tonight. Thank you so much, it’s so so good to see you.”
The brand new track “Sweet Spot” from Lindsay Ell will be released on March 24th and is available now to Pre-Save/Add HERE and you can keep up to date with Lindsay socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK TWITTER & FACEBOOK.
In this interview, myself and Lindsay talked about our eating disorders. If you have any questions or are not sure whether you want to talk to someone about yourself or somebody that you care about, there is a wonderful charity here in the UK called Beat, who have a huge amount of information and resources available which you can find at www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
C2C: Country to Country will return to the O2 Arena in London and OVO Hydro in Glasgow on 8th to 10th March 2024 where the festival will also head to Belfast at the SSE Arena for the first time. Early Bird tickets were released on Friday March 17th where full ticket information is available on the WEBSITE and socials (INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK)
“Thank you for saying that, I mean, I think that as human beings, the best thing that we can do in this world is share our stories with each other and share our hearts with each other because I feel like that is when we are not alone. The more vulnerable we get with each other, the more it bonds us. I’m going through this interesting journey, I never thought I would be somebody that would be diagnosed with an eating disorder, I always thought that I was such a health nut, I was an artist, and I was doing all of these things and these past few months have been quite a whirlwind in a lot of ways. I do feel like it is opening up my heart, my writing brain and just my life in incredible ways that I would never have imagined. It is so common for a lot of my artist friends specifically but anybody on social media, to live behind this like filter where everything is OK all the time, and it’s not! In everybody’s life it is not that five second highlight reel, perfectly filtered photoshop version of yourself every day, that’s just not real life so I’m learning to live outside of that a lot more in ways that I’m just not used to. I think for the past twenty years I’ve just been dealing with childhood trauma and figuring out how to process that. I really chose some wrong directions to process that all in and yet I think that is part of life as well, it’s just slowly tearing those things apart, breaking them down and getting to the route of it.”
I found that for me, there was, I suppose relief in a way when it really comes to light, where you effectively admit defeat but start to win at the same time and you will know exactly what I mean with that. With you and I said the same thing when I talked to Lauren (Alaina) for the first time, it means a lot that you are talking about it and it will make a difference, it really will help people.
“Thank you, gosh come here. I think that like I said I think it’s when we feel like we’re not alone in the struggles that we go through and whatever those struggles may be, they don’t even need to be the same struggles but all of us are fighting something. When we can take down that wall that gets put up so quickly, when we’re looking at things on social media, societal pressures or even pressures from friends and family it is a lot for us to feel. That means so much to me, I do think there is INCREDIBLE relief and when you reach that first step of awareness, you have the bravery to look at yourself in the mirror and see this is what I’m feeling, that is huge, that is an incredible first step to finding a deeper level of feeling.”
As always thank you so much for your time, friend. Enjoy the rest of these, you now have changed my life completely and I now totally get it. It’s only taken the four and a half years that we have been hanging out to understand that when you land in London, you literally head straight for this gorgeous French Patisserie. I know they are your thing and now they are definitely going to be my thing too.
“You are the sweetest, I suppose good things take time but I’m so sorry and you’re welcome.”
Have fun tonight, you really have deserved getting to play that big stage because you have been coming here regularly for a long time.
“Well, I will say that the UK is my favourite country to come and play, just because the fans here are so special and I cannot wait to hit that stage tonight. Thank you so much, it’s so so good to see you.”
The brand new track “Sweet Spot” from Lindsay Ell will be released on March 24th and is available now to Pre-Save/Add HERE and you can keep up to date with Lindsay socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK TWITTER & FACEBOOK.
In this interview, myself and Lindsay talked about our eating disorders. If you have any questions or are not sure whether you want to talk to someone about yourself or somebody that you care about, there is a wonderful charity here in the UK called Beat, who have a huge amount of information and resources available which you can find at www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
C2C: Country to Country will return to the O2 Arena in London and OVO Hydro in Glasgow on 8th to 10th March 2024 where the festival will also head to Belfast at the SSE Arena for the first time. Early Bird tickets were released on Friday March 17th where full ticket information is available on the WEBSITE and socials (INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK)
