It's tough to complain when the vagaries of the music business bring a rising British star whose debut album premiered at #1 on the UK charts face-to-face with the Y! Music cameras--all in a small hotel room in Austin, Texas, during the recent South By Southwest conference.
But so it is that young Ellie Goulding, whose debut album Lights has managed to excite critics and consumers alike in her homeland, sits, speaks and sings for Y! Music and provides one of the personal highlights of this year's gathering.
Goulding's intriguing blend of intelligent lyrics, melodies incorporating both acoustic and electronic textures, and overall catchiness mark her as one British success likely to be welcomed Stateside with open arms.
At home, the singer's rise to fame was comparatively swift: After recording some acoustic home demos a few years ago, a pair of musical relationships with cutting-edge producers/musicians Vincent Frank, aka Frankmusic, and Fin Dow-Smith, aka Starsmith, laid the groundwork for rapid attention from many fronts. Then came her record deal, appearances on Jools Hollands' TV show, and critical recognition via the BBC Sound Of 2010 poll and the 2010 highly-respected Brit Awards, where Goulding took the Critics' Choice Award.
But on this day in Austin, just a week after her hugely successful album is finally seeing its American release, Goulding is one of many thousands of international artists seeking attention at the colorful SXSW musicfest. Charming, personable, highly intelligent and quite funny, she graciously offered up acoustic versions of her lead single "Starry Eyed" and "Guns And Horses," told us a bit about herself, and will likely be making many new American fans as a result. See for yourself.