The influence of parental love and the challenges of settling on an album title.
Elles Bailey’s particular British take on American roots music has seen her win numerous awards across the americana and blues genres, and she has had some chart success into the bargain, and achieving all this as an independent artist is a testament to her dedication to her career. If anyone thought she was going to start taking it easy they are very much mistaken, she has just signed a deal with Cooking Vinyl that leaves her in control of her career but provides expert support in the management and distributing of her recorded work leaving her freer to concentrate on her music and to continue to develop her career. Americana UK’s Martin Johnson caught up with Elles Bailey over Zoom to discuss her new album “Beneath The Neon Glow” and what she thought of her first visit to Glastonbury. She explains that there were a lot of potential tracks for the new album and that while none of the songs are specifically about being a parent, she believes that her experience of feeling parental love for the first time has influenced a number of the songs. Finally, she let slip the challenges she had of finding the title of the new album after the original title track failed to make the final cut.
How was Glastonbury?
It was so good. I genuinely found it so inspiring seeing so many badass women up on stage, honestly, wherever you turned there was a killer artist with so many women singing and playing. The weather was perfect, and I can’t comprehend how much I worried about that because the idea of mud, rain, and Glastonbury is just not my bag. It was my first visit to Glastonbury, and I got to play it as well, so dream weather, dream gig, just amazing.
You won Live Act Of The Year at the UK Americana Awards 2024 and Vocalist Of The Year at the UK Blues Awards 2024. Does being British help you in mixing your genres and having a broad roots appeal?
I don’t know whether it matters where you’re from, it is just something I’ve always done and I’ve never been afraid of blending genres. When “Wildfire” my debut album came out I remember thinking this is a real mix of music, obviously when it’s your debut you are going here I am, this is me, and I was like, I hope people are OK with this not being just one thing. When the reviews came in Powerplay gave it this glowing review, and they are this rock and metal magazine, then Country Music magazine came back with a lovely review, and the blues magazines came back and I was thinking are they OK with this? Ever since then I’ve just unashamedly put out what I want to put out, regardless of what label it fits into.
You have a new album “Beneath The Neon Glow”, what’s behind the title?
This was the first album I’d gone into the studio and not had a title for, and that in itself was a terrifying concept, I’ve got this music and what this album sounds like, but I don’t know what it looks like and I don’t have a title for it. It was a very strange process, and I went through so many 
different titles. Initially, it was going to be called ‘Silhouette In A Sunset’ but basically I can’t spell silhouette so I thought this was going to be a problem, and I went around in circles with so many different titles. I love the opening line of ‘Ballad Of A Broken Dream’, There’s a jukebox in the corner and the bud light neon glows, and I was like it’s definitely not going to be “Bud Light Neon Glows”, but I love the idea that as an artist we are always surrounded by lights, we are always in these colours that surround us on stage, and I as an artist tell people why I write the songs but there’s also a lot I don’t say and I leave the songs to do the talking for me. “Beneath The Neon Glow” is the kind of stuff you don’t necessarily put out there yourself, it is the stuff you hide, maybe the chaos you hide behind, the songs and yourself as an artist. It’s kind of the bits you don’t see, the bits as an artist you don’t put out there.
You recorded again with Dan Weller and your road band. What were the dynamics in the studio?
It was an amazing studio experience. The last time we did it I was 6 months pregnant and there was a global pandemic so it was nice to get back, do it again and not be heavily pregnant with horrific acid reflux, and to be able to go in without the horror of a pandemic around you. It was a really lovely, collaborative, organic experience. When we always go in we record live, it’s such a beautiful studio I love making music there it’s a great place to do it. With the people I’ve got around me, it is just an amazing experience. Definitely tiring, I will say, despite the fact I wasn’t pregnant I feel it is hard to make an album with a toddler. The mixing of the album almost sent me wild, that was hard, really hard. Again to be present in the mixing process and also to be present in a toddler’s life, I was like there’s a lot going on in my head right now, and I don’t know how to verbalise any of it.
Love seems to have influenced the new songs, how did you select the songs for the album which are quite varied?
Yeah, I wrote about forty songs and I think there was a thread of love throughout the songs I was writing. There was also a thread of news. I wrote three songs about news, ‘Good News Day’, one called ‘A Good Day To Bury Bad News’, and the one that made it onto the main album, ‘Turn Off The News’, and ‘Good News Day’ has made it onto the deluxe album in an acoustic version, written with Matt Owen. But yeah, I think there was a lot to choose from, and the album could have sounded very different but these were the ones we selected. When I was looking at them from a thematic point of view I was like, there’s a lot of love, there is a lot more love than I’ve ever written about, but maybe that’s because this is the first album I’ve written as a parent, and I definitely view the world differently now. A love opens up that you didn’t know existed when you become a parent. I’m sure that has influenced it, even though there is nothing specifically about being a parent on it.
You sing “Sit back, buckle up, and enjoy the ride” on the opening track ‘Enjoy The Ride’. Is that how you see the album?
That’s how I see my career, actually. That was inspired by what somebody told me in 2016 when I was just starting my solo career, “This creative path you’ve chosen is a journey with no destination”, like just enjoy the journey. When I was sitting down writing with Will Evans and Ash Tucker we were trying to find something to write about, and Ash said I was an independent artist and a lot of people looked up to the journey I’ve taken because it’s very honest and very organic, I had just gone out there and did it. He asked me what would I say to people who want to do what I do and I turned round to him and said “Enjoy the ride, there’s no destination only dreams to realise, just sit back and buckle up”. It was like, cool, let’s write about that then. What’s really funny is that we started writing it in the third person, and it didn’t really sit with me, and a few hours in I asked why we were separating this from me, this is such a personal story and then we turned it around to me. That felt more honest and authentic.
Who are your songwriting and vocal heroes?
Stevie Nicks, definitely, throughout my whole life, Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, I listened to that from such a young age. It’s interesting, I went to visit some friends in New Zealand last year, and they have an 18-year-old son and his 17-year-old girlfriend was sitting listening to Fleetwood Mac, and I was like, that’s really cool that their music is still as relevant to a 17-year-old today as it was to me so many years ago, and to my dad, and I love tha., Fleetwood Mac are a huge influence, and I really let that influence come out on this album in a way I’ve not previously, I think. There are other artists like Bonnie Raitt and songwriters like John Prine who I always go back to. I think the way he just writes and pens his lyrics is magical, showing us that the mundane in our lives is actually magical, and I love how John Prine does that. Etta James vocally, she was a big reason I started on this path as a solo artist, I remember I was 23 and I heard ‘Something’s Got a Hold on Me’ and it just stopped me in my tracks. I used to listen to music like this when I was growing up because it was in my dad’s record collection, but I’d spent a long time in the indie world, and I just heard it and I had to find out more.
You’ve achieved chart success as an independent artist which is pretty impressive. You’ve now signed to Cooking Vinyl Records what will that mean for your career?
I’m still very much in the driving seat with them, and I still call myself an indie, and because they are an indie label I’ve licensed it to them via my record label. The most incredible thing I’m finding is not having to do the heavy lifting like making sure stock goes to places it should do, and just having experts in their field because I made it up as I went along. I feel very proud of the success I had as I was making it up, but it’s nice to sit down and bring what I’ve learnt and have experts around me to put it all together, and I can be an artist again which for a long time, I wasn’t really. This is the most chilled I’ve been bringing an album out in my whole life, great, and I’m playing lots of piano and writing songs again.
What can people expect when you play the UK later in the year?
Lots of the new music, but also some old favourites and I might grab some tracks out of the archives. I haven’t told the band yet, but I’ve been thinking about songs we haven’t played for a while that would be really fun to bring back. Since 2021 Demi Marriner, who’s an amazing artist, has been playing and singing with us as well, and I feel I’d love to bring some of the old songs back and obviously have Demi added to them. I think that would be a wonderful thing to do. There’s definitely going to be a lot of “Beneath The Neon Glow” and I’m really excited to be able to share these songs, they are really fun, they are joyful, they are uplifting, and they are really fun to play live. We played some at Glastonbury, and I’m definitely enjoying this new chapter.
You’ve also got some In-Store Release shows in August. What do you get out of those more intimate shows?
I built my career on going out, playing live, meeting people, and getting to know my fans, and obviously, as the shows have got bigger and I play bigger venues it is harder to do that. So, to have these in-store shows is an amazing experience to be able to get right back in it, to get close up with people who have supported me for such a long time is a beautiful thing to do. I’m taking Demi and Joe with me, and we’re taking these songs out as a trio, and I’m very excited about that. We did an in-store tour as part of “Shining In The Half Light” and that was such an exciting thing to do, especially in the release week when who knows how this album is going to land chart-wise, but it gets exciting as the week moves on. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to doing those shows.
At AUK, we like to share music with our readers. What are three of your favourite tracks, albums or artists on your playlists?
I’ve recently got into the TV show Yellowstone which is a hard watch, but the soundtrack is just unreal. It is americana all over the place, and I’ve been in London for the last few days signing CDs and vinyl and I’ve just been listening to the soundtrack. Lainey Wilson, I haven’t really listened to her yet but I’ve heard so much about her, and I’ve worked with people she’s worked with, and she is just awesome. So much Whiskey Myers, I just love Whiskey Myers. So, if anyone wants a new TV show to watch, but you definitely need to sit back, buckle up and hold your breath during the ride, Yellowstone is it, it’s really good. If you like your americana, you will like the soundtrack.
Finally, do you want to say anything to our UK readers?
First of all, I think I need to apologise to Americana UK readers because I played Black Deer last year, and me, Matt Owens and I think Demi did a video of ‘Good News Day’ and we played it backstage, and I told everybody it was going to be the title of the album. So, I’m apologising for not realising then that ‘Good News Day’ was not going on the album, which also meant I didn’t have a title for the album. So, apologies for that, and you guys at Americana UK have been such a support for me, and I’m really grateful for that. I love the whole scene, and I think the Americana scene in England is really beautiful, and I feel very privileged to be part of it.
Elles Bailey’s “Beneath The Neon Glow” is out now on Cooking Vinyl.
Elles Bailey 2024 UK Tour Dates
Wed 25th Sep – Lincoln, The Drill
Thu 26th Sep – Norwich, Waterfront
Fri 27th Sep – Cambridge, Cambridge Junction
Sat 28th Sep – Oxford, O2 Academy 2
Fri 11th Oct – Carlisle, Carlisle Blues Festival
Sat 12th Oct – Gloucester, Gloucester Guildhall
Thu 24th Oct – Exeter, Exeter Phoenix
Sat 26th Oct – Bristol, SwxSat 2nd Nov – London, Islington Assembly Hall
Sun 3rd Nov – Southampton, Engine Rooms
Thu 14th Nov – Sunderland, The Fire Station
Fri 15th Nov – Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire
Sat 16th Nov – Glasgow, Oran Mor
Sun 17th Nov – Chester, The Live Rooms
Sat 30th Nov – Wolverhampton, KK’s Steel Mill
Sun 1st Dec – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Tickets can be accessed here.
