Lindsay Ell Steps Out With Debut Album

Can we talk about Lindsay Ell? Yes, she's the guitar-playing cutie who can hang with the best of 'em. Her debut album is out this week and it's been a long, fun labor of love.

The Canadian-born songstress releases The Project this week, an album that's basically been in the pipeline since signing with her record label way back in 2013. It was produced by Sugarland's Kristian Bush, who put the budding star through the paces.

"I remember the first meeting we had – just the two of us talking about music – and three hours later I'm calling my manager being like, 'Can I have Kristian Bush in my life every single day?'" she recently told Rolling Stone Country. "I feel like it's a therapeutic experience like, talking through songs I've written, being like, 'Ok, Lindsay, if you were to put these three songs on a record, they'd fit great, but this one doesn't fit with those.' And I'm just like, I've never gone through a process like this. It makes sense, but nobody's ever, ever asked me those questions before."

The process was fun and sometimes intense. "One of the first things he asked me was, 'What's your favorite record? What do you like to listen to?'" she told the publication. "I go through my influences list. And I'm like, 'My favorite record would be Continuum by John Mayer." And he's like, 'Ok, I want you to go record the whole record.'"

Yes, Kristian had Lindsay record every song on the John Mayer album and she had to play all the instruments herself. "Another rule was you could change any melody, you could change any lyric, you could change any key, anything you want," Kristian told Rolling Stone Country. "This is not an exercise in painting a Van Gogh."

So Lindsay cleared her schedule for two weeks and went to work. "I've learned so much about myself," she explained. "I've learned so much about how I loved to hear a band recorded in the studio."

The point of all this was to get her ready to record her own album, of course, and the first single is "Waiting On You," She performed during her first appearance on morning TV this week on NBC's Today. Check it out below.

"Waiting On You"

https://www.today.com/video/see-rising-country-star-lindsay-ell-perform-waiting-on-you-live-on-today-1020811843983

Lindsay has slate of shows coming up in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Texas and North Carolina for those wanting to hear more. Find a complete list of dates here.

Teddy McDonald is a fun-lovin' country music fan man living in Nashville, Tennessee.