t’s a Red-Letter Day for multi-award-winning singer-songwriter Elles Bailey, whose latest album ‘Shining In The Half Light’ has just secured a place in the UK Top-20 album midweek charts, reaching #11: a remarkable achievement for a blues/rock grassroots Americana artist.
In order to record and release this album, Elles has drawn on tenacity as well as talent. Not only was this album born out of a pandemic, but Elles recorded it while heavily pregnant. In her third trimester she developed a liver condition — Obstetric Cholestasis — she ended up in hospital yet continued to co-produce the album from her hospital bed. While in labour, she was still listening to mixes! Then, just two months after giving birth, Elles was back on the road and turning down a record deal, choosing instead to independently release the record. Never one to rest on her laurels and understanding the vinyl shortages, Elles had the foresight to submit her vinyl order for delivery in January 2022, despite the album not being finished. Yes, all from her hospital bed!
“I am so proud of this grassroots journey I have been on and the story of this album,” says Elles.
“It seemed mad to turn down the record deal I was offered, especially being a new mum with the schedule I had in front of me. But this record was my rain after a long drought; my oasis in the desert, made in lockdown whilst I was pregnant with my first child. I put every part of me into it and I just wasn’t ready to let it go.
“I am so grateful to my incredible fan base for getting behind this album and believing in it. This mid-week chart listing is all because of them”
Challenges aplenty, but Elles has a track record of tenacity, overcoming obstacles, not to mention an award-winning talent for crafting and seamlessly weaving rootsy blues, country, and soulful rock, and giving it all contemporary edge.
What’s more fate has blessed her with a distinctively smoky and sonorous vocal style that perfectly fits her music. That, coupled with her originality as a songwriter, her drive as an independent artist, fierce grit and resilience, plus her deep-set commitment to touring and live performance, earning her multiple awards.
Elles’ journey hasn’t been a bed of roses, but it has brought her success and acclaim, first establishing her as one of the UK’s leading Blues, Americana and roots performers. Now with her new album ‘Shining In The Half Light’, she looks set to achieve much wider recognition and acclaim, as her chart success shows.
What’s more, Elles has used her success as a platform to champion the cause of women in music, and her example shows aspiring up-and coming-talent that it’s possible to achieve success as an independent artist.
Elles will be hosting the Planet Rock Blues Sunday Brunch show at 12 noon on Sunday 6th March ahead of International Women’s Day where she’ll play songs from some of her favourite and most inspirational artists.
To celebrate the launch of ‘Shining in the Half Light’, Elles will be performing at OMEARA (London) on Tuesday 8th March. This will be her only full band show this side of festival season.
Elles is currently undertaking a UK Record Store tour, appearing at Rough Trade, Bristol (6pm, 28th February); The Jacaranda Club, Liverpool (7pm, 1st March) and The Vinyl Whistle, Leeds (7pm, 2nd March)
‘Shining In The Half Light’ is now available to download or stream on all digital platforms
https://earache.lnk.to/ShiningintheHalfLight
Website https://www.ellesbailey.com/
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YT: https://www.youtube.com/user/ellesbailey