Lindsay Ell is no stranger to the spotlight. Fresh off an epic performance of the National Anthem at AFC Toronto’s first-ever match — a landmark moment for women’s sports — she’s showing no signs of slowing down. The singer, guitarist, and all-around powerhouse is diving into a bold new chapter with her latest single, “unloving you,” and a fresh sound that leans into alt-pop while keeping the heart of country storytelling. She’s a girls’ girl, a Continuum-level guitar pro, and someone who wears her heart on her sleeve—in the best way. Whether she’s hosting Canada’s Got Talent, sharing the stage with Shania or being recognized for her work with the Make You Movement, Lindsay is making waves both on and off the stage—and she’s just getting started.
Ell sat down with Melodic Magazine to talk about all things “unloving you,” genre-bending blues, and the golden buzzer moments that have shaped her journey so far.
Thank you so much for sitting down with me and Melodic Magazine. We were super happy to put something together ahead of your single.
It’s been so fun getting this new batch of music ready. I feel like these next songs are just a really good representation of what this next chapter is going to be about. Even just feeling like the next layer of the onion and getting more vulnerable and being able to talk about things that I haven’t talked about before. I’m really excited as a songwriter that I feel confident to go there and I’ve always looked like the artists that I’ve looked up to, they always just have ways of reinventing themselves as an artist. I’m really trying to do that.
Congratulations on singing the national anthem at the AFC Toronto! How did that go?
It was such an incredible day for women and female sports to be able to be there in the inaugural match that they launched a new league. I can just imagine if I was a female athlete, let alone female football player and I wanted to dedicate my life to something. Yet there weren’t the same opportunities that there are for a lot of male athletes.
The launch of a new league would be so exciting for sure, for any of the female athletes who made any of the teams in the new league. It also was like a huge step in a really beautiful direction towards more inclusivity just in the whole world of sports, creating more opportunity for female athletes. The fact that like the women’s hockey team was there, the women’s basketball team was there. It was just like that, we are women, hear our roar moments. It was a really special thing to be a part of.
I noticed on your website right under your music, you have a link to the organization The Make You Movement Fund that you support. I find that really empowering because sometimes people don’t want to talk about these things because they are super sensitive. What was it that prompted you to kind of put that at the forefront of your website, but then also just the way that you speak about it so openly online?
Yeah, thank you so much for asking about that, Shauna. I am a survivor. I was sexually assaulted when I was a little girl and I was doing some work with an organization called Youth for Tomorrow. They have a few different campuses across the states, but their biggest campuses in West Virginia. I went out there to help them launch their music program and was sitting around, this room of like a bunch of little girls, ages 12 to 18. We were all just going around the table just talking about our stories.
There was this little girl sitting beside me who was 12 years old. She had so much light in her heart in order to inspire me. Through that moment, I was like, ‘Okay, I need to do something about this.’ I wrote a song called “make you”. And the premise behind that song is like, what doesn’t break you makes you into who you are. Then, through that, I formed the Make You Movement, which has been just so cool. It’s been a fundraiser that I can help raise money through all of the shows that I play all over the world and all of the incredible people that I work with.
***Lindsay’s openness about her experience and her decision to turn it into advocacy through the Make You Movement has resonated deeply with both fans and the industry. Her commitment to using her platform for healing and change is a powerful extension of her artistry—and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Being awarded the Gary Slaight Music Humanitarian Award at the 2024 Canadian Country Music Awards is just one example of how the industry has recognized her impact.
Congratulations on winning the Gary Slaight Music Humanitarian Award last year. That’s such a testament to who you are, you are a busy woman and you’re making time to do all these things. I also just wanted to say thank you for sharing your story. I really appreciate you being able to share that with me, thank you.
Thank you so much. Yeah, I knew I wanted to be a musician and a singer and an artist when I was a little girl. From the age of 10 on, I was like, ‘this is what I want to do’. I would watch Shania on stage and be like, ‘I want to be her.’ Still from an early age, I knew I wanted to also have my music be able to do good in some way. And whether that was like writing a song that would inspire someone in their life, or whether it was to help create this movement that we could raise a lot of money and then do a lot of good in that way. And so I feel like the arts and giving back are just like so closely woven together. And I’m really grateful that I can lead that into my music.
I saw that you wrote a song with Nightly. So can you tell me a little bit more about that single “i shouldn’t call you”?
I have always been such a huge Nightly fan. So as I am entering into this new era and new chapter of my career it was perfect to release a song that we wrote together. I’ve just always been a fan of them. We have written a bit in town and when we wrote, “i shouldn’t call you” it was such a jam. I’m in love with this song. I was just so happy that they said yes to the singing on it!
It felt like the perfect song to sort of kick off this EP that is coming later this year. I’m just so grateful. It feels really amazing to be able to ask artists that I look up to so much to feature on a song. And the fact that we could write it together was really, really special.
I noticed that one of your Instagram posts said, “pro tip, listen to ‘i shouldn’t call you’ instead of texting your ex.” I really liked that. For your new single, “unloving you”, is there any pro tip that you would give your audience?
I love this question. Yeah, I would say listen to “unloving you”, like pro tip, listen to “unloving you” when you still are holding on to someone like they’re still yours when they aren’t anymore. Because for all of those reasons are the things you need to unlearn and therefore learn to unlove.
I love that. That’s so good. We have “i shouldn’t call you” and “unloving you” on…
A secret EP! Coming later 2025.
How has that been going? Because you’ve been so busy. You’re hosting and you’re on stage playing guitar, residencies, you are singing at national anthems, where do you find the time?
Honestly, I feel so grateful that I get to do what I love for a living. I remember there were days when I was like sitting on my bed as a little girl just praying I could be on the road and praying I could be as busy as I am right now. And so the fact that I’m getting to live this life, the fact that I’m getting to zigzag around the world and do what I love and record music that I love and release music that I love and play shows to fans that I love so, so much. Then also be on a TV show and host that it just feels very, very cool. And something that I am so, so grateful to be able to wake up and do every day.
***Ell’s ability to blend genres in her upcoming (secret!) EP is a true testament to her love for shaping and molding musical styles. Citing John Mayer and Sheryl Crow as major inspirations, we dive into their influence on her past, present, and upcoming music.
I know that you started a lot with blues and country, but then making this shift to like an alt-pop sound and just exploring the different genres and just seeing what you can do with your guitar skills, your songwriting and then just the experiences that life gives to you. Something that I really loved was The Continuum Project.
I was so excited to get to talk to you about this because I love John Mayer. My dad would play Room for Squares in the car. I saw Mayer two years ago, at Madison Square Garden, I literally went by myself. From a genre standpoint what prompted you to do that project?
Okay, well, first off, I have to say, I’m so proud of you for going to a concert by yourself. I love going to concerts by myself. I think it’s like validating and such a thing to fuel your own confidence when you go to things like movies by yourself or out to dinner by yourself or to concert concerts by yourself. So kudos to you! I see you.
I think I’ve always been influenced by so many different genres growing up, I was obsessed with Shania Twain and I wanted to be her. And then I picked up my electric guitar and I was super into Jimi Hendrix and C. Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton. So I dove into the blues and rock and pop music like hardcore. I was just obsessed with learning everything about guitar. Then I moved to Nashville and got offered a country record deal. It just sort of brought me back to my Shania Twain songwriting roots. And it took me a decade to figure out that, oh, I actually want to make a record that is somewhere in between these two things.
I think I will always have my songwriting roots. But when I really feel like what music can I make that feels most authentic from my heart, it is like in an alt pop space and in fusing a lot of these genres. And I think I’ve always looked up to John Mayer because he is so good at fusing genres together, you know, whether it’s rock and pop, whether it’s pop and blues.
When I look up to my favorite artists who are like John Mayer and Sheryl Crow, they aren’t defined by one genre. They’re defined just by being them. They write their songs, they sing their songs, they play their songs in such a unique way that it ends up just being a John Mayer record or a Sheryl Crow record. Like even Sheryl Crow, she’s pop, but she’s also kind of rock, but she’s also kind of like just her own thing. And so I’m like, ‘okay, now I’m really starting to get this, I just need to make music that’s me’. Then it finds its own way in the world.
***Upon signing her first record deal, Ell was given a “homework” assignment — complete with a two-week deadline. Like pulling all-nighters in the library back in college, she stayed up late in the studio, working tirelessly until what we now know as The Continuum Project was saved on a hard drive and tucked away in a closet somewhere.
I’ve always looked up to John. I’ve always looked up to him for his songwriting ability and just how smart he is as an artist. When I heard Continuum, it was just my desert island record. Continuum was always the one because of course, the guitar playing. I’m a huge guitar nerd. I just wanted to learn all of the solos but also his songwriting and the craft of each song on that record is just so perfect and so beautiful. When I was going into the studio to record my first album, I had been signed for a deal for I think five years and I hadn’t released a record yet. I released a couple of singles and I had been on a bunch of world tours.
I was kind of zigzagging around the world. And so my producer, Kristian Bush, at the time, and I were getting ready to go into the studio to record my first record. And I always wanted to be an album artist. I think that albums are still so important. Before we went into the studio to record the project, my first record, my producer was like, ‘Okay, what’s your Desert Island record?’ And I was like, ‘Continuum I can sing you every part on that record like right now in front of you.’
And he’s like, ‘Perfect. I want you to go record the whole thing.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And he’s like, ‘I want you to record top to bottom every single song, every single instrument. So you could really learn why you love that record so much.’
Re-recording something to the point where you can actually play it perfectly and just listening to it or two different things. I definitely learned that the hard way. I was so grateful that Kristian assigned that to me, when I was still so young in my album-making journey, because it really taught me ‘Oh, wow, this is what John was saying, and this is what he wanted to say.’
***After the release of Ell’s first album The Project in 2017, her second album The Continuum Project came just a year later. Scaling back on the drums and keeping the original bare-bones recording, the album got its due.
I never thought we were going to release it. I was like in my little hole in the wall studio recording all these parts. Then I handed in my homework project to my producer. I’ve learned so much through this process. Now, let’s go make my record. And so we were just going to leave it on a hard drive, in some closet forever. Then as I was doing press for my first album, I was talking about it and fans just started asking about it so much that we were like, ‘Oh, God, like, do I need to release this?’ I was so embarrassed because a lot of the guitar tones and everything I would have done a lot better of a job recording it.
But I was mainly learning it and like doing the process of it. And then when Kristian was like, ‘No, no, no, you need to release it the way it was.’ We ended up putting it out into the world. And I’m so glad it went over so well. Thank you so much for listening to it and loving it. That means so much to me. It was just such a cool thing to be able to do.
I wanted to talk a little bit more about the music production and kind of going back to “unloving you”. It says that you had worked with Doug Schadt. I saw he has worked with Maggie Rogers and with Ashe. Back on this topic of blending genres – how was it working with him in this new alt-pop sphere?
Honestly, working with Doug has been one of the best experiences. He’s so smart. He’s so talented and widely likes the array of music that he records and that he understands is so vast. I obviously love everything that he’s worked on with Maggie and Ashe. And his ability to just sit in the studio and be a collaborator with me has been really inspiring.
I think we both speak the same nerdy language of wanting to just record a bunch of cool sounding things. One thing I appreciate most about Doug is he’s totally down to like to go down an avenue and chase a certain direction. Even if we don’t know if it’s going to work, he’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s try it.’
That’s so cool. And it’s so important to have like to have that sort of like throw pasta at the wall, see what sticks type of thing. Because again, about when we were talking about the process, like it should be fun. It should be a learning experience and you bring both people bringing their knowledge and pulling it together to make something that might turn out really good. And if it doesn’t, then, you know, we learned. We learned while we were doing it and we had fun.
And sometimes the only way you can actually get to where you want to go is by going where you don’t want to be. It’s a lot more about the process again. Sometimes both of us will sit there and be like, ‘Okay, it’s not right yet’, but we don’t necessarily know what’s going to fix it. So we just keep trying things until it feels right. It’s a lot more of a feel thing. That is I think the language that Doug and I speak together, which we definitely know when it doesn’t feel right yet. We definitely know when a song clicks into gear.
***It’s clear that Lindsay’s approach to her music is all about trusting the process, even when the path forward isn’t immediately clear. As she continues to take on new challenges—like hosting Canada’s Got Talent—it’s no surprise that she’s having more and more “golden buzzer” moments, both on and off the stage.
You’re hosting Canada’s Got Talent, which is, like I said, you’re a busy woman. I wanted to know if you could boil down to whether your career or your life – what is like a golden buzzer moment for you?
Well, that’s such a sweet question. I don’t think I’ve even asked that. Goodness gracious. Man, it’s hard to choose just one because I feel like. There’s been so many moments. Signing my first record deal and then hearing my song on the radio for the very first time and then getting to go on my first international tour was wild. When Shania asked me to be her guitar player, I got to play Glastonbury in Hyde Park, like the massive stage, like the legendary iconic stage in Hyde Park. Then, me wanting to make music that felt more authentic and make music that felt more me.
So I guess my golden buzzer, like the ultimate moment right now would be me choosing myself and me choosing like my true vulnerability to think that I’m worthy enough to like to make music that actually is who I am without any facade, any kind of mass. And I feel like anticlimactic isn’t like some big, you know, Hyde Park confetti moment. It feels like such a huge golden buzzer thing of being like, ‘Oh, wow, I’ve actually reached that point where I feel I have enough confidence to step into my true vulnerable self and be like that without any sort of facade or veil over me.’
I love that. Thank you! I know, I was wondering if it was going to be. I knew it was going to be hard to pinpoint a moment, but I think that choosing yourself is not anti-climactic because you know you live with yourself every day. So to be able to choose yourself over and over again is so important. And especially when your art comes from you as well. And if we could choose ourselves and have confetti fall from the ceiling every day, I wouldn’t be mad about it.
I would not be either!
You can listen to “unloving you” here and find Lindsay Ell’s solo summer tour dates below!
Ell will be one of the performers at GLAAD’s Concert for Love and Acceptance at CMA Fest in Nashville, followed by a solo set opening for Shania Twain in July.
Lindsay Ell Tour Dates:
06/02-2025 – GLAAD Benefit Concert, CMA Fest, Nashville
07/02/2025 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium (opening for Shania Twain)
07/07/2025 – Moose Jaw, SK – Moose Jaw Events Centre (opening for Shania Twain)
08/03/2025 – Big Valley Jamboree – Camrose, AB
08/16/2025 – Country Thunder Alberta – Calgary, AB
Dates as Lead Guitarist with Shania Twain:
07/02/2025 – Missoula, MT – Washington-Grizzly Stadium
07/05/2025 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Stampede – Scotiabank Saddledome
07/07/2025 – Moose Jaw, SK – Moose Jaw Events Centre
07/10/2025 – Cavendish, PEI – Cavendish Beach Music Festival
07/12/2025 – Quebec City, QC – Festival D’Été de Québec
07/13/2025 – Ottawa, ON – Ottawa Bluesfest
07/15/2025 – Toronto, ON – Theater at The Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto
07/16/2025 – Toronto, ON – Theater at The Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto
07/19/2025 – Darien Lake, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
07/20/2025 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC
07/22/2025 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater
07/24/2025 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion
07/26/2025 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
07/29/2025 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
07/30/2025 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
08/01/2025 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
08/02/2025 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
Keep up with Lindsay Ell: Instagram // Facebook // TikTok // Website // Make You Movement
