Here’s a song we know; Americana UK was lucky enough to hear a very early, possibly first, outing at the Americana Showcases back in 2025, when it was fresh off the page from the previous weekend. It’s a co-write with Jerry Joseph, of which Ella Spencer has said: “Howlin’ Wolf is about lying to yourself. I was thinking about how hard it is to be honest and vulnerable with others when we aren’t honest with ourselves, and drew on the story of the boy who cried wolf, which morphed into Howlin’ Wolf. My favourite line is a co-write with Jerry that references a Howlin’ Wolf song: ‘I don’t need the fangs or the killing floors.’
Spencer was born to music in many ways, as the London-based musician was raised by British-American parents in the English countryside, where her father started the UK’s first Americana festival. Sitting in with artists like Terra Lightfoot, Andrew Duhon, and Jerry Joseph instilled a deep respect for live music and the rich storytelling traditions of Americana music, while developing her own taste for alt-country, indie-folk, and indie-rock.
Howlin’ Wolf will be released on Right Track Records on October 30th, andthere’ss a launch show at the Betsey Trotwood the same day. She will also be appearing at the Americana 25 Festival; details here.
