Biography
and reviews
Ella Spencer was set to be a musician from the day sixties legend and god of Hellfire, Arthur Brown, blessed her in her mother’s womb.
She was born to British-American parents in London but raised in rural Suffolk where her father started the UK’s first Americana music festival. Ella spent her school years studying classical piano and viola but roots musicians were always in and out of the house and their music began to rub off on her. So much so that in her early twenties she decided to focus on the music she had been raised on.
Hanging around the festival and sitting in with the likes of Terra Lightfoot, Andrew Duhon and more recently, Jerry Joseph, she began to develop her own style and venture out on her own. Accompanying herself on guitar, piano and occasionally banjo, her unique voice and distinctive songs have enraptured many at the UK’s Americana hot-spots.
This summer, at the invitation of friend and musical mentor Jerry Joseph, she joined Jerry in Portland, Oregon, for a short run of live dates and to record at The Panther, a recording space in the home of musician/engineer/producer Steve Drizos (Steve Drizos, The Jackmormons) and Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists), which has hosted some of Portland’s finest (Patterson Hood, Chris Funk, Jerry Joseph, Casey Neill, Marco Cilker).
Ella’s latest single ‘I Never Told You About Oregon’ marks the next step in her career. Written as she travelled down the West Coast of the US on a road trip in 2023, the song is a reflective, piano-based ballad that reckons with grief. It is emotive but not sad, and pays homage to the permanence of grief and the acceptance that comes with time. The song features Jerry Joseph on guest vocals and National Resonator, offering his unique fingerpicking and inimitable vocal style.
‘I Never Told You About Oregon’ is the first single to be released from the Panther sessions, with further tracks to follow. In the meantime, Ella has been playing a series of live dates which included a sold-out show with the Coal Porters at the legendary What’s Cookin’ as well as joining Jerry Joseph and Casey Neill on their recent shows in the UK.
In January, she will be showcasing in London at the prestigious UK Americana Music Week and in February she flies to Montreal to play at Folk Alliance.
As Paul Sexton said, after her appearance at The Sound Lounge, “we can’t wait to hear what she does next!”.
What people are saying
“She was every bit as good as I knew she would be, delivering a multi-instrumental set of striking songs”
Paul Sexton, journalist, broadcaster, author, the Sound Lounge
“….her lilting tunes and captivating voice are a feature of her songs and her new single is a fine example of these qualities. With just those two instruments – voice and keys, she was able to convey real feeling in a reflective, poetic song that balances grief and acceptance, the permanence of loss against the way memories fade.
While her narrative is clearly personal, ‘I Never Told You About Oregon’ is one of those songs that is universally understood and felt and it’ll be one she plays, no doubt, for years and years….”
AMERICANA UK
Full Review HERE
“Very promising young country blues singer songwriter ….wowed a very enthusiastic audience on her What’s Cookin’ debut”
Ramblin’ Steve, What’s Cookin’
Single Reviews
“Ella’s own down-at-heel-saloon-style-upright piano delivers a haunting Helpless-ish accompaniment to her silky vocal, sitting halfway between the folky flatlands of Suffolk and the gritty South Dakota badlands – resigned-but-impassioned, strong yet with a tiny quaver of vulnerability and with an airy dash of falsetto.”
PLUNGER
Full Review HERE
“She was fantastic! Her clawhammer playing was particularly striking and she had some great, great original songs too“
Sid Griffin, The Coal Porters & The Long Ryders