Ella Langley’s music career began sitting at the piano singing notes with her grandparents before she could talk. As a college student, she has found success playing gigs in downtown Auburn after her sorority sisters encouraged her to give performing a shot.
Now, with a manager, Langley, sophomore in public relations, is opening for recognizable country stars.
This has been a dream of her's since she was a little girl.
“When I was younger, everyone in my family would sing, especially my grandparents,” Langley said. “I pretty much grew up at their house, so I always played.”
When Langley was in the seventh grade, her grandfather passed away, and she picked up his guitar.
“I taught myself how to play, and I just practiced playing guitar throughout high school,” she said. “When I graduated high school, I knew this is what I wanted to do.”
To get her career started, Langley went out on her own and found places she could perform.
“My first gig was in Eclectic, Alabama,” she said. “It’s a really small town.”
Langley has taken her small town dreams and turned them into the beginning of a successful career in the music industry.
Langley said she always wanted to play around Auburn, but it was the encouragement from the members of her sorority, Phi Mu, who really pushed her to get out in the community.
“All of them were saying to get out and play somewhere,” Langley said.
She listened to her sorority sisters’ advice and went downtown in search of gigs.
“The very first night, I remember going down to Bourbon, and I had my business card in my back pocket,” Langley said. “I went up to Ryan, who owns Bourbon, and told him, ‘I am a musician, and I really want to play here.’”
Langley waited two months before getting the gig at Bourbon Street Bar.
“He texted me in April and said ‘Do you want to play this Wednesday?’” she said. “I said yes.”
From this, she was able to get more gigs, specifically with 65 South.
To date, Langley has performed all over Alabama and branched out to venues in Georgia and Florida. She has opened for Mike Ryan and the Wilson Brothers Band.
Langley said she is friends with the Wilson Brother's band and added it helps to have other musicians behind her to help her along the way.
“Musicians who have already had their shot and made it want to take others along with them just because they know how hard this business is,” she said.
Langley is expected to perform in a festival in Michigan this summer.
Less than a month ago, Langley said she was booking her own gigs and marketing herself alone. Recently, a manager reached out to her and is making a difference in her career.
“My manager reached out to me on Facebook," she said. "He said, ‘You’re doing everything wrong.'"
Langley has seen an increase in the number of people visiting her on social media since he has become her manager and said he has been a positive influence on her social media marketing.
“Social media is hard,” she said. “Social media is all this business is.”
Langley said her genre of singing is rock-country, and she writes her own songs.
“I have a song coming out April 26,” she said. “It’s just a single, and we’ll keep doing singles until I get a bigger fan-base and until I figure out more of the exact direction I’m going to with my music.”
Langley’s single will release on Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music.
She said music is her career and the music industry is the lifestyle and future she wants for herself.
Langley encouraged anyone who wants to be a musician to go for their dreams.
“Just get out and do it,” she said. “You can’t be lazy. When you don’t want to, do it. This business is never promised to anyone. It’s hard.”
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