Ella won the prize (a Fender Paramount Deluxe Dreadnought donated by Byron Music) after playing a set of original songs from her debut EP and covers of John Butler’s Ocean, The Cat Empire’s The Darkness, Pearl Jam’s Alive and The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army.
Ella had entered the grommets Bluesfest Busking Competition, and afterwards was offered a half-hour set at Bluesfest on the Busking Stage where the crew nominated her as the best guitarist of all the artists that played on that stage.
Ella is now continuing with her EP release tour in Sydney.
Gigs coming up include Sappho Books Cafe & Winebar on the 29th of April and Lazybones Lounge on the 23rd of May. She is also supporting Feel The Manouche on their Album launch tour over the coming months (first gig April 21 at Django Bar, Marrickville).
Ella’s debut EP Going in Circles features six original songs, with all instrumental and vocal parts performed by her. Ella’s songs draw from a range of genres, including Folk, Rock and Indie, and they have a unique sound crafted from layering of vocals and guitar, as well as bass, bongos, cajon, flute, and sounds made from found objects.
The EP is self-recorded and produced, and Ella designed her own album cover.
Influenced by a variety of artists, some of Ella’s favourites include Of Monsters and Men, Katie Noonan, Ed Sheeran, The Cat Empire, John Butler Trio, and Franz Ferdinand.
Background:
Ella graduated from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts in 2016 (she came 1st in HSC Music 1 at her school). Since then she has played at venues around Sydney such as the Gasoline Pony, the Record Crate, Newtown Festival, Lazy Bones Lounge, the Gaelic Club, in pubs around Balmain, and she busks around Sydney regularly.
She won the 2016 Woodford Folk Festival New Years Eve Talent Quest singing Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ as a duo with Ayla Kaan.
From ages 9-11 Ella performed as Catarotti, an opera-singing jazz cat, for the children’s band the Skat Kats led by jazz entertainer George Washingmachine. The band played various gigs around Sydney, recorded a CD, and performed with infamous neurosurgeon Charlie Teo to raise funds for his Cure Brain Cancer organisation.