A New Voice – Ella Kenrick

Last night’s American Idol left me cold without Allison Iraheta’s fire in the mix. As I mentioned earlier, I’ll never get hooked on this show again. But, I’m glad I learned about Allison and I look forward to her first CD.

In the meantime, I’ve discovered another young lady who has a bit of talent (this is an understatement). I haven’t met Ella Kenrick (aka Ella-Rhian), but I’ve played Scrabble online with her dad – which is how I came across Ella’s soundtracks. I’ve met people in stranger circumstances, so don’t knock it.

Ella lives in Warwickshire, UK and she “eats, sleeps and breathes music” with a passion. She also has performed in public at local pubs. While this news may not sound very exciting, you might be interested to know that Ella is only fourteen-years-old. Like Allison, Ella sings about topics that are well beyond her years, but she still puts great emotion and maturity behind those words.

I’ll compare Ella to Allison again, as both seem to have a reserved presence. Allison broke that mold in her “going away” Joplin hit, “Cry Baby.” Ella’s reserve seems obvious in her videos, which don’t do her justice compared to her soundtracks. She doesn’t look into the camera (not singing to the viewer, in other words), the sound quality is below par and an observer might tell she’s nervous. I’m going to attribute this to her age and to the fact that her videos are home-produced. I haven’t seen her on stage, so I have no clue as to how she handles herself in that venue.

The video shown above is one of her best. Ella gets a little soft on the notes toward the end, but take this into consideration: She’s sitting down (a difficult way to sing as this posture compresses the lungs – note that singers who sit usually put one leg out to stretch the torso and to provide the lungs some ‘breathing room’), she’s singing within a ‘Karaoke’ type environment and she doesn’t use a microphone. To her vast credit, she still manages to give her viewers a clear tone, a nice range, some interesting style and a sweetness that only a teen could bring.

But, if listen to her soundtracks at her Web site (not YouTube), you might hear what I’m hearing – a clear, strong voice that already shows some classy styling and a maturity that belies her years. This is Ella’s real voice.

If you live in or near near Warwickshire, you might want to keep tabs on Ella to learn more about when she’s performing again (noted on her Web site). I’d like to hear your take on her performance, as I’m definitely going to keep tabs on this young lady.