Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault. If you or someone you know is affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
US country singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Ell is the special guest on the latest episode of the Tone Countrycast with Tim Holland.
Ell released her new album Heart Theory last Friday. Shortly after release, the album briefly surpassed Taylor Swift and went to #1 on the iTunes album charts in the USA.
This happened after she partook in a 24 hour live stream on Instagram.
Check out Lindsay Ell on Tone Countrycast with Tim Holland:
In one of the album’s new songs, titled ‘make you,’ Ell courageous reveals that she was sexually abused in her teens and early twenties.
“I was raped when I was 13, and it happened again when I was 21,” she said recently.
During the podcast, Ell explains that revealing these traumatic moments in her life publicly is all about giving a voice to fellow survivors.
Love Country Music?
Get the latest Country Music news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Check out Lindsay Ell’s clip for ‘make you’:
“Three years ago I went to this place called Youth For Tomorrow. They are an organisation that help kids 12-18 who have just gotten into the wrong things or have been survivors and victims of sexual assault and sex trafficking,” she says.
After talking to kids and adults about their experiences she concluded that, “the first step to doing something about it, is speaking up about it.”
“If I had someone to hold my thirteen year old hand and twenty one year old hand when I was going though it… I would have healed so much faster,” she continued.
Ell also talks about the experience of writing a John Mayer concept album (and his reaction!), creating her own weekly talk show, the challenges of breaking the US market as an international artist and more.
Ell toured Australia in 2019, playing at CMC Rocks QLD and the east coast Introducing Nashville songwriter series.
During that time she met Australian bass player Eric Fortaleza, who has now relocated to Nashville to play in her band on a full time basis and fulfil the role of Musical Director.
Ell is the most recent winner of the Female Artist of the Year award at the Canadian Country Music Awards.
She also scored her first #1 song in US country radio earlier this year with fellow artist Brantley Gilbert, with the song ‘What Happens In A Small Town.’
The latest episode of the Tone Countrycast is now available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Music, or you can watch it in full on YouTube.
Tone Countrycast: Lindsay Ell
Lindsay Ell’s new album Heart Theory is out now.
