At just twenty years of age she’s one of the only current country-pop musicians that have managed to force her way into the mainstream music market that is currently dominated by an unmistakable pop image. She recently fled from Los Angeles back to the home comforts of Nashville, Tennessee, partly to become re-inspired once more but also as a way of finally removing the shackles that she’s felt tied to her legs ever since moving out to California in order to make a mark on the industry.Only four years ago, Ellie-Grace Summers was just another high school student living in the extremely humble surroundings of Brentwood, Tennessee. Like all young teenagers she would awake early in the morning, but unlike most young teenagers it was for very different reasons
“I think for a three year period from the age of fourteen to about sixteen years old I would wake up each morning at four-thirty and head across town with my father to help him feed the animals on my uncle’s farm.”When she talks, she exudes a lively and extremely positive aura which increases even more when she begins to reminisce about her childhood and the humble nature of her hometown. People within the industry call her a country girl largely due to her accent and the music that she creates but those two elements don’t really show just how much of a country girl she truly is.
Arriving at her home now in Nashville, Tennessee which happens to be approximately fifteen minutes from her parents’ house, she greets us with a large smile and pushes open the large garden gates,
“Hey, good morning! You guys are one of the first people to see my new home, I only just finished furnishing and personalising it all yesterday.”, she giggles slightly in her unmistakable southern accent and it’s clear from her current dress sense and her childhood photographs hanging on the walls of her home that she’s always been the quintessential country girl, almost every photograph of her youth displays her blonde curly hair and what you’d have to assume is her trademark look of jeans, boots and baggy long-flowing shirts, as she ushers us through the hallways, the faint smell of paint still slightly noticeable but the décor extremely homely and personalised to Ellie’s own tastes she extends her arms, pointing towards the sofa that dominates the lounge,
“Come on through, please. Oh my gosh! You look so wonderful” She bursts out enthusiastically as I take off my jacket, she’s referring to the checked shirt and cowboy boots that I have donned in anticipation of our meeting, as I sit down she extends her hospitality,
“Oh where are my manners? Would you like a drink.” She asks, as I tell her that juice would be fine she briefly leaves the room before returning a couple of moments later with a large tray, the empty glass, a carton of juice that she kindly pours into the empty glass and some food,
“If the music career doesn’t work out, I think being hostess would be the way to go” I jokingly remark in which she giggles once again,
“Why can’t I be both?”, she smiles before sitting down on the sofa beside me as we begin our interview;
So you’re back home in Tennessee after spending almost a whole year living out in Los Angeles, it’s quite obvious that the differences between the two places are rather different, what is it that made you finally decide to leave California and return home?“California is nice, it’s beautiful and if you’re trying to get your music career really going then it’s the ideal place for you to go, it helped me a whole lot in many different ways but sometimes it’s important for you to make a little change, I never planned on living in California for the rest of my life and I feel less comfortable in the surroundings of California, everybody is so perfect [laughs]. I made some great friends out in California, some of the best friends I’ll ever have and I’m grateful for that, but for the most part of my time out there it was kinda difficult I guess, it’s a whole lot easier to make friends who come from the same sort of world as you and being back home for a couple of months earlier this year made me realise that I did indeed miss it.
There is no defining moment that made me decide to move back out to Tennessee, it’s just something that I wanted to do and here I am, I’m lucky to be in a position where I can keep my home in California and visit there very often, to catch up with friends and also when it comes down to business since that’s where the record label is located, so it’s more convenient this way, because I don’t feel homesick and alone anymore and I can go back out there quite often and enjoy myself.”
Did the celebrity culture in Los Angeles play a large part in your wanting to leave?“Not so much, I generally didn’t take all that much notice to the culture of paparazzi and media. My friends live out there and they’re way more famous than me and they deal with a lot more media intrusion than I did but it’s not really something of a major problem for them, so it wasn’t even anywhere near as obsessive when it came to me, I don’t think I did anything crazy enough to warrant much attention. But I’ve always believed that whatever happens is down to your own decisions, I’m sure that people will complain about it and say that they have it in for them or whatever but the truth is that if you do things in the right way then generally their won’t be much of an issue, perhaps that’s a naïve way of looking at it but because I wasn’t seen falling out of a club at three am every weekend or seen dating someone new every month I think they just generally let me live my life, I mean, yeah they take photographs and stuff but it’s not the end of the world, the fact is that I get to have this amazing job and if a couple of guys taking photographs while I’m not looking my best is the worst it gets then I’m more than fine with that, it’s not a problem at all, it’s just some people like to play the victim sometimes I guess.”
Did you feel more pressure in California, surrounded by artists of a similar age that are talked about constantly and achieving number one albums and singles?“Sure, there’s always some of that pressure. There’s a bunch of us that came into the industry around the same time and it is extra pressure, of course it is. But you work at your own pace and you do what you feel you should be doing and you try not to be influenced negatively from that pressure. We’re all human, we may not make the same music but because we’re the same age you tend to get pushed into that group, I’m not saying it’s a good or bad thing but I always felt like I wanted to not be pushed into a group. If you have an inferiority complex then that sort of thing can kill you, but if you take it less seriously then you’ll be alright. It’s amazing to see what those people are doing, some have the best-selling albums and number one singles and others are still working hard on getting their work out there, it doesn’t mean one thing or another and I like to think that we’re family more than anything, I don’t have any number one singles or number one albums but I’m not viewed any differently because of it.”
Do you feel like you are part of that group?“Not so much, we’re all very different and we take different paths with our music. I couldn’t do what Izzy does [laughs], have you seen me dance? I can slow dance and maybe barn dance but that’s about it, she’s a freaking machine when it comes to dancing. But you know? That’s the great thing about people, you can be so completely different from people but still have a connection and a friendship, I don’t think any of us feel competitive with each other, maybe with the exception of Hayden [laughs] but because we’re close and we enjoy each other’s music it’s not an issue of competition. I have Dancing In The Dark, just like everybody else in the world, I sing along at the top of my voice when nobody’s looking and you need that sometimes, that joy and enthusiasm. I couldn’t be more proud of my friends, not just Isabel. But also when Hayden puts out a new album, when Mandy releases music, when Jennifer puts out new music, Luke, Dominic, Kato. Any of those musicians that are considered in that same group, I support them because I love what they do, it’s not about competitions but instead about appreciation.”
Do you think having friends who are also in the industry helps?“Yeah definitely, it’s my friendship with that group of people that is often more noticed but there’s a bunch of people that are good friends and people that have helped me with advice and such at times, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to Ryan (Williams from Misery Loves Company) a lot recently about all kinds of things and also Amy (Meyer from Riot! In The Boulevard), they’re both people that have dealt with the sophomore album pressures and talking to them helped me a lot during the last month. I admire their work hugely and so to get to talk to them and even consider them to be friends is really nice. It’s always nice to know that there’s people out there who have been through similar things and they’re always happy to help you out and even look out for you, when you’re young in the industry then it definitely helps to have a metaphorical arm around your shoulder because it can get difficult at times.”
- An early morning arrival at Blackbird Studio’s to complete her latest album (left) Work never stops, back at her home studio in her basement (right) - So you have your new album being released before the end of the month, we’ve already heard the lead single from it, so what can we expect?“You know, I’ve never tried to over analyse what I do. Essentially if you enjoyed my previous music then you’ll probably enjoy this, it’s much of the same really. I’m not gonna be one of those people that over explains what I do and I can’t really be pretentious about it. It’s just basically my voice, my acoustic guitar and a bunch of songs that I’ve written over the past few months that mean something to me. It’s songs of love and loneliness, abandonment, sadness and joy. A lot of it can be related to my own life and I’ve gone through certain things over the past four or five months but just don’t think too much into it because I think that the true beauty of music is in the simplicity, if you start thinking too much into it then it can lose its beauty.”
The title of the album alone suggests something that a lot of it can be related to your own recent life, ‘Too Far From Home’, so is it an album that revolves around homesickness?“Not so obviously. I mean there’s a few songs on there that are about that particular thing, for example there’s two songs, one called ‘A Million Miles From Home’ and ‘Lonely New York Winter, Letters To Nashville’, they’re kinda fictional but relate to emotions that I’ve felt while being far from home. I think a lot of your own experiences creep into your songwriting from time to time and you can’t avoid that, but I try not to put too much of myself on the page because then you have that difficulty in separating yourself from your songs, a lot of what I write is fictional but the emotions that the people in my songs feel are often feelings that I’ve felt from time to time, but it’s definitely not an autobiographical album, I don’t think I have the strength to put myself out there like that”
It was announced in the press release that the album features a collaboration with Ryan Williams of Misery Loves Company and production from Julian Morello, what did they bring to the table?“I was really delighted to have them both take part in the album, I always knew that I wanted to record something with Ryan because I like everybody else just love his work with Misery Loves Company, he’s a real musician and such a down to earth guy, so having him lay down vocals and guitar on a track for the album was wonderful and it wasn’t a long drawn process in getting him to feature simply because we had been talking to each other back and forth for a couple of months and it was just like a really easy process, essentially I was talking to him one afternoon and I mentioned a song that I had written that would lend itself to have a male/female collaboration, he laid down a guitar track before he headed out on tour and then we managed to have him find time to lay down vocals a couple of weeks ago. He’s a true musician and good guy, so I’m delighted to have him on the track.
With Julian, it was just simple once again. I was looking for someone to produce my album alongside myself and I spoke to the label and they recommended that I get in touch with Julian who happens to work at Studio60, he gave me a couple of names of producers that he felt could do a good job before finally offering his own abilities forward which I was a little hesitant because I know he’s done primarily Pop/RnB and Soul music with Alicia and Abie, but he showed that he has a deep knowledge of the type of music that influences my own and he came out back and forth from LA to Nashville throughout July to produce the album and I’m grateful that he took that time to travel back and forth, he did a really great job with the production and so I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
And are those the only guests on the album?“Yeah, I think I’ve always wanted what I do to remain mostly my own work, I don’t really like the possibility of having an album littered with all kinds of big-name producers and songwriters because it takes away the accomplishment slightly, I guess I’ve always been quite independent and solitary when it comes to my own music but again it’s just my voice and an acoustic guitar, it doesn’t need layers and such because it’s just a natural and traditional art form. I did have the pleasure of having Brandon and Hannah drop into the studio a few days ago which was really sweet of them.”
So you just have random musicians dropping by unannounced?“[Laughs] Well not quite, I’ve known them for about a year now and they’ve always been really friendly and welcoming, I spent a lot of my time in LA at their home and they just sort of welcomed me like I was part of their family, I have lots of admiration for both of them as musicians but also as people and as a couple, they’re probably two of the most down to earth people I’ve met in the industry and they carry themselves so well which is something that I hope to have learnt from them. But they were passing through Nashville and they knew that I was recording my album and so they decided to drop into the studio since it had been a little while since we last spoke, they listened to a couple of tracks and hung out for a couple of hours and they were really positive about the songs that I played for them and they offered their wisdom as they so often do which is always nice because it sort of soothes you and comforts you.”
It sounds like it must be a lot of fun being Ellie-Grace, so it was announced that the album would be released in August, is there an official date announced?“Yeah, providing we can get the final little details completed in the next couple of days then it will be released on 19 August. There’s a chance that it could be delayed for an additional week though but we’re hopeful of having it available on 19 August. I’ll also be hoping to have the next single available in September but we’re just gonna focus on getting the album out there and then see what the future plans are, we didn’t want a big promotional whirlwind surrounding the album’s release, just this interview and then start touring in support of the new album as soon as possible”
Do you have any tour plans confirmed yet?“Yeah there’s definitely plans for me to tour, I have to be secretive about things though [laughs], whoever came up with the idea of giving Ellie a secret to keep? Seriously, I’m like the worst possible person to keep a secret, but I’m staying strong and I ain’t sayin’ a word.”
Well, we’re sure your album will be very successful, we wish you the best of luck with the album and we hope that you have many happy years in your new home. 