FOR Elles Bailey, it feels as if everything has been leading up to this moment.
The singer from Bristol is releasing Can’t Take My Story Away, a life-affirming album cementing her place at the forefront of Britain’s burgeoning Americana scene.
Despite being three years in the making, it follows last year’s Beneath The Neon Glow which reached No12 in the charts.
With Can’t Take My Story Away, which draws on blues, country, rock and soul, fingers crossed she can break into the top ten for the first time.
“There’s a quiet empowerment running through this album,” she affirms. “And that starts with the opening track which is also the title track.
“It’s a reminder to honour every version of who you’ve been, to celebrate how far you’ve come, and to trust that you’re right where you’re meant to be.”
Listening to the 11 beautifully-crafted songs, I sense that Elles is exactly where she’s “meant to be”.
She’s blessed with a husky, soulful voice that draws comparisons with Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin and maybe even a couple of artists from these shores, Rod Stewart and Bonnie Tyler.
Match it to heartfelt lyrics and richly textured arrangements with plentiful horns and you have a winning formula.
‘Great at singing the blues’
“I like to think of it as a British take on Americana,” decides Elles.
And as she says so herself, the reason she acquired her distinctive voice is a good place to start when it comes to telling her story.
She says: “I owe these smoky tones to a very serious illness as a young child.
“In hospital, I was placed in a coma and was ventilated for 17 days. When they finally took me off it, I had to relearn how to walk.
“Probably my earliest memory is the nurse holding me and helping me to walk, but I just keep on falling over.
“And I had to relearn how to talk, too — and when my voice came back, it had been irrevocably changed.”
Elles vividly remembers her parents taking her to an ear, nose and throat specialist, who offered some prophetic words.
“The specialist spoke about the trauma my vocal cords had been through, but then out of the blue closed with: ‘If she ever sings, she will be great at singing the blues!’”
So what about her childhood and her introduction to music?
“I grew up just outside of Bristol and still live there now — it’s such a vibrant city and I love it here.
“Music was always a part of my life — my mum was always singing and my dad played in a rock ’n’ roll band.
“In fact, he was out gigging the night I was rushed into hospital and my mum had to ring the wife of his bandmate to find out where they were playing, then phone the venue to let my dad know!”
Watching her dad perform, it didn’t take too long before Elles felt the urge to join in.
“All of my early musical memories are of watching my dad play live and, as I got older, I would always jump up on stage to sing — Great Balls Of Fire or Twist And Shout or something like that!
As for the list of musicians heard by the young Elles, it reads like a who’s who of classic rock.
“It was mainly my dad’s music that played in the house,” she says. “The likes of the Rolling Stones, Eagles, his blues collection — you know, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters.
“Then there was Fleetwood Mac, Joe Cocker, The Band and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
“My mum loved The Beatles and the music that came out of Laurel Canyon. She loved James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.”
“I remember Elton John being a huge part of the soundtrack to my early years and his music has stayed with me forever — he’s the reason I started songwriting at 13.”
But, of course, as a child of the Nineties, she wasn’t entirely restricted to her dad’s “pretty old-school music taste”.
“There’s no denying that I am proudly a product of the Nineties, and the first record I ever bought was Wannabe.
That was the moment I really started on the path toward making the music I do now, and properly listening to incredible female trailblazers like Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt and, more recently, Beth Har
Elles Bailey
“My friends in school and I would always dress up like the Spice Girls and do dance routines in break times.
“We are all still friends now so perhaps it was the Spice Girls that brought us together.
“I’ve just given my son a Spice Girls Yoto Card and I feel like I am living my Spice Girls era all over again.
“Just so you know, he also has the full Beatles collection, which he loves, and Elton John!”
Next, I’m keen to find out when Elles truly discovered her singing voice and thought that a career in music might beckon.
‘My dream was to be a singer’
She says: “To quote Abba, I believe it was a case of I could sing long before I could talk.
“I genuinely don’t remember not singing. I was about seven or eight when I thought, ‘That’s what I am gonna do when I grow up.’
“But that was a childhood dream, the fuel on the fire. In reality, it wasn’t until I was about 26 that I actually felt like I had a chance of having a career as a full-time artist.”
Elles may have a voice perfectly suited to Americana — raw, expressive with just the right amount of grit — but I wonder what compelled her to dive in.
She explains: “I think I was 23, sitting in my kitchen writing my dissertation — I was studying psychology at University Of The West Of England — when I heard Etta James’ Something’s Got A Hold On Me on the radio.
“It stopped me in my tracks and took me straight back to the music I grew up with.
“That was the moment I really started on the path toward making the music I do now, and properly listening to incredible female trailblazers like Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt and, more recently, Beth Hart.
“I got to open for Beth last year in Norway, which was an amazing experience. What an artist, what a voice!”
Although she’ll never fully leave The Spice Girls behind, Elles has acquired a love for various North American artists from across the generations.
“I adore The Band. My dad had Music From Big Pink,” she says. “Fleetwood Mac, obviously, and particularly Stevie Nicks. There’s no denying her influence on me, from music to fashion. I do love a cape.
“Bonnie Raitt, my goodness! She has to be one of the coolest, most authentic artists to have ever lived. Just Like That is a masterpiece.”
Elles reserves special praise for the bearer of one of the great voices, Mavis Staples, still going in her mid-eighties.
“I’ve just been listening to her latest record, Sad And Beautiful World,” she says. “It’s a stunning and incredibly relevant piece of work.
“I love how Mavis has stayed so authentic throughout her career — she’s an inspiration as an artist, as a woman in music, as an activist, and as an example of how to build a long-term career in this wild, wild industry.”
Elles cites The Civil Wars’ mega-successful Barton Hollow record for introducing her to the “modern” Americana scene — artists like Brent Cobb and Brandi Carlile.
“Then there’s Jason Isbell, who I’m opening for in Florida in April. That’s a pinch-me moment.”
Closer to home, Elles has gained invaluable experience sharing stages with both Rag’n’Bone Man and Jools Holland.
She says: “Opening for Rag’n’Bone Man last summer was an incredible experience. Rory is so down-to-earth, and that warmth extends across his entire team.
“What’s especially exciting is that Paul Jordanous, who plays trumpet in his band, is joining me on the road this March.
“It’ll be the first time I’ve taken brass on tour. I’m looking forward to adding it to the live mix in support of Can’t Take My Story Away.”
As for piano maestro and bandleader Jools, she adds: “I had the honour of opening for him, too. He was absolutely lovely — and what an extraordinary performer.
‘Experienced a lot’
“You can’t help but learn just by watching him command the band and witness the audience eating out of the palms of his hands — even in the wind and rain.”
We’ve heard a lot about Elles’ life in music up to this point, so now it’s time to take a dive into her new album and some of its key tracks.
Three years in the making with some songs dating back ten years, it comes across as a labour of love.
My last record explored love in all its many forms. Can’t Take My Story Away is about the different relationships we have throughout our lives — but especially the one we have with ourselves.
Elles Bailey
Elles says: “Because it’s taken such a long time, this record feels very different to my last three records.
“They were all written and recorded in a six-to-nine-month period and were only reflecting a snapshot of my life, whereas this record spans almost a decade of writing.
“As you can imagine, I’ve changed a lot as a person during that time — and experienced a lot.
“I feel like the record has been on a journey. Had we finished it in 2023, I think it would have been an album of ballads but I’m glad we took our time. There are a few real ‘bite’ moments as well as intimate ones.”
So what are some of the album’s abiding themes? I venture.
Elles replies: “My last record explored love in all its many forms. Can’t Take My Story Away is about the different relationships we have throughout our lives — but especially the one we have with ourselves.”
She turns her attention to the sultry, funky Growing Roots.
“It sounds like it’s about falling in love with someone. For me, it’s actually about long-term commitment — the active choice of loving someone every day, far beyond the honeymoon period.”
The slow-paced Blessed begins with finger-picked acoustic guitar and is adorned with gorgeous strings. It serves as a perfect showcase for Elles’ vocals, which are given the right amount of room to breathe.
“It’s one of my favourites,” she says. “It sings of being loved, not in spite of your quirks, but because of them.
“It’s about honesty and gratitude, celebrating the person who loves your crazy ways but still manages to bring you back down to earth when you are spiralling.”
Despite its upbeat lilt, Better Days comes with a sad back story.
It was written by the late Matt Long, founding member of Catfish, who emerged onto the British blues scene around the same time as Elles.
She says: “The whole scene was rocked when Matt was diagnosed with a very rare bowel cancer that became untreatable by the NHS.
“We put on benefit gigs for him, and a Go Fund Me raised over £100,000 so he could undergo private treatment. It was a beautiful coming together but sadly, in October 2024, Matt lost his battle.
“When he passed, his parents showed me Better Days and I recorded a version with my dear friends The Cinelli Brothers for a tribute album to him. (Out March 20).
“But I loved the song so much, I wanted it to be a part of this album too, so I recorded another version. It’s a beautiful, uplifting song and an honour to sing it to remember Matt and the legacy he leaves.”
Before we go our separate ways, Elles pays tribute to another special person, producer Luke Potashnick.
“This record is, at its heart, a true collaboration with Luke, who has poured countless hours into shaping and refining these songs with me.
“Over the years we’ve spent bringing this record to life, I have genuinely learned so much from Luke.
“His patience with the process, his musical knowledge and sympathy, and his deep care for songcraft have truly left a lasting mark on me musically.”
And Elles finishes by telling me where she hopes her career in music will take her.
“I feel so lucky I get to wake up and do what I love. I hope I get to make music for the rest of my life.”
