Introducing: Elle King & her Debut Album "Love Stuff"
Elle King was born Tanner Elle Schneider in 1989. She is an American female musician who signed to RCA Records, and whose musical style encompasses country, soul, rock, and blues.
King was born in Los Angeles, California, United States and her father is former Saturday Night Live cast member, Rob Schneider. Her parents divorced when she was very young and her mother remarried so she grew up living in southern Ohio, between Wellston and Columbus. At the age of 9, her stepfather gave her a record by all-girl pop-punk band The Donnas. King views this as a pivotal moment when she first decided she wanted to be a musician. Around this time, she also started listening to the Runaways and Blondie. She then made her acting debut alongside her father in the movie Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo when she was 10. Three years later, at 13, King started playing guitar, immersing herself in the music of Otis Redding, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, AC/DC (she has the band’s logo tattooed on her bicep), and Earl Scruggs. Her interest in the country and bluegrass music of Williams and Scruggs inspired her to learn the banjo.
King spent her teenage years in New York City, but she has also lived in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Copenhagen. At 16, she started gigging around New York City, using a fake ID to gain entry to the local nightclubs. Upon graduating from School, she moved to Philadelphia to attend The University of the Arts, studying painting and film. King immersed herself in the local songwriting scene and honed her performance skills by busking around town. During these college years, she had an artistic epiphany seeing a live show where the band onstage used a banjo purely for accompaniment purposes, eschewing the bluegrass and country musical vocabulary traditionally associated with the instrument. King then began to use the banjo as a compositional tool. After college, she briefly lived in Copenhagen and LA, before moving back to New York and she now resides in Brooklyn.
King was signed by newly appointed RCA Chairman Peter Edge and on June 12, 2012, the four-song The Elle King EP was released on RCA/Fat Possum Records. The EP featured the originals “Good To Be A Man,” “Playing For Keeps,” and “No Can Save You,” and a live cover of American female rapper Khia’s 2002 debut lead-off single "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)." The EP was recorded in New York and the studio tracks were produced by three separate producers. Andy Baldwin (whose credits include Richard Ashcroft, Björk, and David Gilmour) produced "Good To Be A Man.” Chris DeStefano (whose credits include Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Howie D.) produced "Playing For Keeps.” King produced "No One Can Save You." The EP track, “Good To Be A Man,” was originally released as a standalone single on March 13 to iTunes, and issued as a 7” vinyl single on Fat Possum Records on April 24, 2012. The track was inspired by a romantic disaster that occurred while King lived in Copenhagen. She counts writing the track as an artistic breakthrough.
King has played Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest Festival, as well as the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Her television appearances include VH1 Big Morning Buzz Live, the Late Show with David Letterman and The Today Show in America.. She has toured with Of Monsters and Men, Train, and Michael Kiwanuka and has opened for Dashboard Confessional, Dropkick Murphys, Dry the River, and Ed Sheeran.
King released her first album Love Stuff on February 17, 2015.
Find out more at elleking.com and check out the videos and music below....
ELLE KING RECORDING "LAST DAMN NIGHT" AT SUN RECORDS
ELLE KING - EX'S AND OH'S
GOOD TO BE A MAN - ELLE KING
GOOD FOR NOTHIN' WOMAN - LIVE AT WILLIE NELSON'S RANCH
