Ella Langley; Photo by Caylee Robillard
Ella Langley is as real as it gets and anyone who comes to her live shows will know that. In today’s world, where almost everything can be edited to perfection, she’s committed to giving her live audiences nothing but raw, unfiltered talent, even if that means having to embrace the occasional imperfect moment.
During an appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, host Bobby Bones pointed out how the ability to record and share every moment of a live concert on social media adds a new level of pressure that performers didn’t face in the past.
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“Back in three years ago, you could go into a live show, and that’s kind of where the pressure was off. You could just perform and not have to worry about the idiosyncrasies. But now all of that has to be paid attention to because it’s all recorded all the time,” Bones pointed out.
Langly then chimed in to explain that the industry’s obsession with a flawless presentation to the world has made listeners forget what real, live music actually sounds like.
“I think what’s so hard about that too is everything’s so perfect that you see now every picture’s been edited, every song has autotune, not only on vocals, but most of the instruments. Everything’s so perfect presented to you that live music is almost like, ‘Oh God, that sounds like a live vocal.’ And people are getting less and less familiar with what a live vocal sound like.”
In her experience behind the scenes, she’s found that plenty of artists are still using live auto-tune to process their voice in real time and make it sound better during their performances. Langley says this method is not something she can get behind, nor will she ever turn to that option.
“That’s something that I’m never going to do. I don’t want to do that,” she emphasized.
The “You Look Like You Love Me” singer even recalled a moment when another artist assumed she’d eventually cave into taking part in what’s become the industry standard. But her response made it clear that authenticity is non-negotiable when it comes to her career.
“I had an artist come up to me last year and he was watching my show, and he was like, yeah. He’s like, ‘got a great show.’ He’s like, ‘Well, one day when you start running tune and things on your show,’ I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ He’s like, ‘Yes, you will. Everyone does that. You’re going to do that.’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m not’.”
With that, fans will get nothing but her true vocals and sometimes that could mean she’s not at her best, but regardless, that’s the kind of realness Langley wants to bring to each show.
She continued, “I think it is just something to be just being honest out there. Sometimes I’m going to forget some lyrics and there’s sometimes my voice is pitcher than others. I’m out of breath. But that’s just the live show that’s coming to the show where we, I’m running around on stage performing a song, and we’re standing still, or I’m emotional, or there’s wind, or who knows? But that’s kind of what’s fun about seeing an artist live, is you get the imperfections. You get to see them as who they are as an artist, not just, here’s perfect.”
Singing is the only way Ella Langley has ever paid her bills. In college, she cut her teeth playing covers in local bars and then eventually made her way to Nashville in hopes of taking her songwriting skills to the next level.
“Sang everywhere all the time. I had a cousin that worked at the dentist that made me get up and sing after my appointments. I just always wanted to do it. I always had a passion for it,” she shared.
That leap of faith proved to be worth it as she is now a thriving name in the country music genre. Earlier this year, she was most nominated at the 2025 ACM Awards, most awarded artist of the year and took home wins for New female Artist of the year, Single of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for her viral hit, “You Look Like You Love Me” featuring Riley Green.
Most recently, Langley celebrated the rise of her RIAA Gold certified hit “Weren’t For The Wind,” which marked her first solo No. 1. She is currently on the road with Morgan Wallen and will continue her sold-out still hungover headline tour this fall.
