Lindsay Ell Grateful for Opportunity to Tour With Brad Paisley, Keith Urban

Lindsay Ell had the experience of a lifetime, when she was invited to join Brad Paisley on his Weekend Warrior Tour. The tour, which also included Dustin Lynch and Chase Bryant, was a dream come true for the singer.

“Touring with Brad Paisley over the past year and a half has been truly incredible,” Ell tells PopCulture.com. “Brad took us in under his wing as part of his road family, and all of his crew, himself as a person, his family, they’re so wonderful, and I love Brad from the bottom of my heart. He was so generous to us. Being able to trade licks with him on stage was just such a special moment.”

Whether she’s sharing the stage with Paisley or headlining her own show, Ell’s favorite times are when she’s on stage.

“[I’m happiest when] I’m playing my guitar, in front of fans who are singing my songs I’ve written,” reveals Ell. “It’s such an incredible feeling, to play in front of an audience that is singing the lyrics that you’ve written back to you. I can’t even describe it in words. It’s like all of your hopes and dreams in that moment just flash before your eyes. You’re like, I have envisioned this so many times in my head, and the fact that I’m actually getting to live out my dreams is so, so, so cool.”

Ell moved from Calgary to Nashville when she was just 21 years old, fueled only by her passion to continue pursuing what she loved – and quickly realized she belonged in Music City.

“I hope my parents don’t hate me if they see this, but home is Nashville,” Ell insists. “I love Canada, and it will always be my first home. I love playing shows across Canada. I love Canada with my whole heart, and I will always be a Canadian, but Nashville’s totally home now. I’ve been living down here for eight years, and the Nashville community is second to no other. It’s such a special place to live and to call home. My whole band is down here, and it’s a really good place to tour out of.”

The 29-year-old will return to her home country to play with Keith Urban later this year, serving as the opening act on the Canadian leg of his Graffiti U World Tour, where they will undoubtedly collaborate on “Horses,” a song she sings on from his Graffiti U album.

“I completely freaked out,” Ell tells PopCulture.com of the invitation to tour with Urban. “Let alone Keith featuring me on his record. If you were to tell 10-year-old Lindsay Ell that she was going to have a song on a Keith Urban record one day, I would have said you were crazy. But to get the call, and for Keith to be like, ‘Hey Lindsay, would you sing on my record?’ And then to get that call, ‘Hey, do you want to tour with Keith in Canada?’ He’s such a wonderful human being and we are so excited.”

Find a list of all of Ell’s upcoming shows at LindsayEll.com.

Photo Credit: Instagram/lindsayell