Elles Bailey is an English blues rock singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has recorded five studio albums including her debut album ''Wildfire'' in 2017, winning several awards for her work. Her 2022 studio album ''Shining in the Half Light'' reached 42 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, reached number 1 in the Official Jazz and Blues Albums Chart and number 2 in the

Official Americana Albums Chart The Official Americana Albums Chart is a weekly music chart based on physical sales of albums in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the Americana Music Association UK. The launch of the chart came ...

. In January 2023,

The Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

announced that ''Shining in the Half Light'' had reached number 39 out of the top 40 best selling albums in the Official Americana Albums Chart in 2022. On tour, apart from her own headline appearances, Bailey has provided the

opening act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

for

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Eric Gales Eric Gales (born October 29, 1974), also known as Raw Dawg, is an American blues rock guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy. , Gales has recorded nineteen albums for major record labels and has done session and tribute work. He has a ...

, Mike Farris, the

Kris Barras Band The Kris Barras Band is a British rock band named after its frontman and former MMA fighter Kris Barras. Formed in 2015, the band has released four studio albums. History The band is named after its Torquay-born frontman, musician, and forme ...

and King King. She is a presenter on Planet Rock Radio.

Early life and career

She was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. At the age of three she was hospitalised as a result of contracting

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

and

bacterial pneumonia Bacterial pneumonia is a type of pneumonia caused by bacterial infection. Types Gram-positive ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'' () is the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia in all age groups except newborn infants. ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'' ...

, which meant that she had to breathe through a tube for 17 days. The result was she emerged with a husky deep voice, which shocked her parents and necessitated further examination to ensure that no serious damage had occurred. She was introduced to music via her father's record collection; mostly

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

' blues and rock and roll discs. She began fronting a local

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band, before the pull of her love of the blues and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

, led Bailey to assemble a compatible touring band. Her debut EP, ''Who Am I to Me'' (2015), was followed by the six track collection ''The Elberton Sessions'' (2016). The band toured and became noted for its powerful performances at gigs.

Professional career

Bailey's debut studio album for Outlaw Music, ''Wildfire'' (2017), was recorded in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, under the guidance of record producer Brad Nowell. Bailey co-wrote the majority of the 12 tracks on the collection, but included her rendition of

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

's "

Shake It Off "Shake It Off" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her fifth studio album, ''1989''. Swift wrote the lyrics and composed the melody with producers Max Martin and Shellback. An uptempo dance-pop song featuring a saxop ...

". Immediately after the recording was finalised, Bailey and her band (which included

Brent Mason Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American, Nashville, Tennessee-based recording studio guitarist and songwriter, performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". ...

) toured both

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and the UK. The album was predated on 10 February 2017 by the single release of the track "Wildfire". In 2019, Bailey's next studio album, ''Road I Call Home'', reached the top of the UK Blues Chart. It was recorded in Nashville, with recordings jammed in between a 97 date concert tour across Europe. It got the 'Album of the Year' gong at UKBlues Awards with another going to Bailey as 'Artist of the Year'. An album track, "Little Piece of Heaven" (co-written with Bobby Wood and

Dan Auerbach Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...

gained the 'UK Song of the Year' title at the 2020

Americana Music Honors & Awards The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Ac ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Bailey gave out a series of livestream recordings of her versions of others recorded music. The resultant studio album, ''Ain't Nothing But'', got a nomination for 'Blues Album of the Year' at the 2021 UKBlues Awards, where she was named 'Artist of the Year' for the second consecutive year. Her next studio album, ''Shining in the Half Light'', was recorded in Devon in the midst of a

COVID-19 lockdown Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

when Bailey was months into her pregnancy. She co-wrote the entire album's worth of songs with collaborators from around the globe. It was produced by

Dan Weller Dan Weller (born 3 April 1980) is a producer/mixer/writer and guitarist, known for his work in rock and metal. He was born in Liverpool and moved to Hertfordshire at age 6. At 15 he began playing guitar and formed a band with school friends. Th ...

. The main musicians used included Joe Wilkins (guitar),

Jonny Henderson Jonny Henderson is a British keyboard player most known for his work on the Hammond organ. He has been voted Keyboard Player of the Year in both the 2010 and 2011 British Blues Awards. Since 2004, he has toured worldwide with blues guitarist Mat ...

(keyboards), Matthew Waer (bass guitar) and Matthew Jones (drums). It was released on 25 February 2022. Due to the logistics surrounding the recording processes, Bailey listened to the album's final mixes while in hospital awaiting to give birth. To add to the difficulties, Bailey herself caught COVID-19 only weeks after the album's launch date. ''Shining in the Half Light'' reached number 42 in the

, peaked at number 1 in the Official Jazz and Blues Albums Chart and number 2 in the

. It peaked at number four in the

UK Independent Albums Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, having been number one on the UK Independent Album Breakers Chart. In January 2023,

announced that ''Shining in the Half Light'' had reached number 39 out of the top 40 best selling albums in the Official Americana Albums Chart in 2022. Later in 2022, Bailey was confirmed as the support act for the 50th Anniversary American Pie Tour by

in September and October that year. This was preceded in August with her slot on

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

's Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea Cruise. She has previously supplied guest support roles for tours for Mike Farris, the

and King King. Bailey also performed at the 2021

Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 200 ...

. At the 2023 UKBlues Awards, Bailey was given three accolades for 'Artist of the Year', 'Vocalist of the Year', and 'Album of the Year'. Her third such triumph as 'Artist of the Year' (2020, 2021, and 2023), means that she is not eligible to win that award again, but instead was inducted into the UKBlues Hall of Fame.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Elles Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English women singers English blues singers English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers English women pianists Blues singer-songwriters Blues rock musicians Musicians from Bristol 21st-century women pianists English radio presenters