Ellyn Oliver’s singing-songwriting career was on an upward trajectory – a well-received debut EP, an emerging talent award at Celtic Connections and a tour lined up – when lockdown hit.
It was a blow for the Oldmeldrum-born musician, but she rolled with the punches – and ended up being an internet sensation thanks to her tenement tunes, with The Proclaimers belted out from her flat window in Partick.
Now Ellyn is ready to pick up from where Covid made her leave off, with a new single born out of her experience of lockdown. And she hopes the track, Still Working Through, will bring people joy and hope as they take the first tentative steps back to normality.
She said: “I hope people will be reminded there is hope out there and that they are not stuck. There is change and things move and they are part of that.”
Things were looking exciting for Ellyn Oliver
Ellyn, whose style crosses genres ranging from Gospel to neo-soul, pop to folk, blues to jazz, admits she was frustrated when the pandemic brought lockdown with it. Her debut EP, Arms Wide Open, had won her fans, she had been awarded the Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at Celtic Connections in January 2020, she had played a successful gig in the States, with more lined up for the UK.
“Things were looking really exciting then lockdown happened. It was really sad and disappointing I wasn’t able to get out there and get things started. It was so sad for me to be stuck and unable to do those things. Having to learn new ways of doing things online was quite tricky,” she said.
But then she started leaning out of her tenement window in Partick, where she had set up home after studying at Strathclyde University having left Oldmedrum in 2010.
“It was during the clap for the NHS,” said Ellyn. “I really loved leaning out my flat window from the tenement over the street and just seeing my neighbours cheering and coming together. It was a special time to thank the amazing frontline workers, but it was also just a great time for our neighbourhood to come together and unite.”
Ellyn knows songs to get people going
Ellyn found the experience so uplifting she was moved to wheel her speakers to her front room, open the windows and start playing some songs.
“I wanted to do stuff that people could join in with and sing along to. I’m also in a wedding band so know some of the songs that get people going, so I did The Proclaimers 500 Miles and people sang along. I didn’t expect so many people to stay out after the clap, but they all did. They had their pans and were banging away. Even a car at one point tooted along to the tune.”
Her impromptu window gigs continued during the weeks of the clap for the NHS and during the final week, she belted out two numbers, finishing with Over The Rainbow – as befits someone who also has an Eva Cassidy tribute act in their repertoire.
“People came out of their flats and onto the streets at the bottom of my window. It was nerve-wracking because I was so not used to singing to so many people… obviously all socially distanced. But it was so lovely to have so many people join together and just enjoy music together. It was good to bring a bit of joy and hope to them.”
Her flatmate had recorded Ellyn’s Proclaimers rendition on her phone, so the musician put it online on her Instagram and Facebook accounts to let more people see and enjoy it.
It racked up around 10,000 views with people seeing it as far afield as America and South Africa.
Singing examiner set her on course in music
Boosted by the response both from her neighbours and the online community, Ellyn continued writing music, including the new single which was released last week. It was produced by multi-instrumentalist Ifedade Thomas, who has drummed for the likes of Emeli Sande and hip-hop artist Kobi Onyame.
Ellyn, who has been buoyed by her strong faith, feels blessed to have her musical talent, fostered during her childhood in Oldmeldrum, where she took piano and singing lessons and was a pupil at the Chalmers Mackay Music School in Inverurie.
It was an encounter with a singing examiner that set her on her path to a career in music when she was 14, when she performed numbers by Norah Jones and Eva Cassidy.
She said: “He was just very encouraging. At the end he said you have a unique voice, really consider music, here’s a few people to go and listen to and be inspired by.
“I was thinking just the other day about the power of a bit of encouragement and having a good word to say to someone. It was hugely influential for me. If he hadn’t done that I wouldn’t be doing this just now.”
Aretha Franklin is an inspiration for Ellyn Oliver
Her musical inspirations include Cassidy and Jones, as well as the likes of Aretha Franklin and Adele.
Ellyn is now hoping to inspire others as part of a project with the Hope City Church in Edinburgh, which has set up an open studio space where she is an artist-in-residence.
She said: “Keen to have open space for people to come and create art. I’m flourishing being part of that team.”
Ellyn is also collaborating with other Scottish artists and hopes to release material with them as well as in her own right.
She added: “And once lockdown lifts, it would be nice to get some gigs going.”
Still Working Through by Ellyn Oliver is now available on Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music.
