User:Lindsay Ell

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LINDSAY ELL

Call it the indescribable "wow." It's that quintessential moment for anyone involved in music, when out of the blue a talented new artist stops you dead in your tracks, and there is the need to retrieve your jaw from the floor. So it was when Canadian icon and musical Renaissance man Randy Bachman crossed paths with Calgary teenager Lindsay Ell. “I was on tour and a friend passed along a CD with Lindsay’s demos. When we listened for the first time, our reaction was, "we've put in the wrong CD. This is Chet Atkins -- not a 15 year old girl. Then my band and I were assured that it was Lindsay Ell playing a complex Tommy Emmanuel piece.” Already a seasoned performer, Lindsay Ell had been touring Alberta with her father, playing many styles of music. Yet as remarkable as her guitar playing was, it was her vocals and songs that convinced Bachman that she was someone very special. He became a mentor, producer and friend to the family. Ell's off to a spectacular start. No stranger to the stage, the 19 year old who comes from Calgary, Alberta, Canada has been performing since she can remember and honing her guitar chops at as many guitar pulls as she could attend with her dad. While Lindsay’s background has been in folk and country music with a focus on instrumental musicianship, her work with songwriting partner Bachman has lead her in a more pop direction. The songs they have collaborated on ring with that gold-plated catchiness that put Bachman on the top of the charts numerous times throughout his career. He took Lindsay on as a protégé, introducing her to a whole new world of guitardom. Ell's upcoming debut is a wonderfully diverse mix of pop, blues and jazz all held together by her sweet voice and subtle-yet-deft playing. It's a combination that's worked well for John Mayer, and it's no accident that there are similarities between the two. “I've continually heard the comment, 'she plays guitar like a guy.' It's just a stereotype, right? Girls play chords and guys play the lead parts. I want to break away from that," she says with resolve. "I want to be something different."