Halley Elwell is a songwriter whose music "sparks nostalgia, but is also notable for her fantastic voice and well-crafted lyric" (Aimsel Ponti, Portland Press Herald). Her music can be heard on local radio stations in Maine (WCLZ, WERU), and Massachusetts (WATD and the River), and she has earned accolades from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, ASCAP, and the Nashville Songwriters Association. Following the success of her 2021 EP, The Last of What I Know, she is teaming up again with producer/drummer Dave Brophy for her next project, Spontaneous Mutation, which recently was awarded a Creator Fund 2024 grant by NewMusicUSA.

LAST OF WHAT I KNOW

Weaving tales of travel and nostalgia into lush and layered rhythms, the Last of What I Know EP pays homage to the sounds of late 1960’s and 1970s songwriters like Laura Nyro and Carole King, both of whom had considerable influence on Elwell’s writing. A featured track on the EP, “Sisters on the J Train,” was named a finalist in the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

A native of Hallowell, Maine, a small town with a thriving arts community, Elwell grew up with an artist mother who had all of her children drawing, painting, and singing from an early age. When Halley was 11 she was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes tumors to grow on nerves and found herself seeking out music and journaling to work through the complexities of living with a condition with no cure. Because of the tumors, Elwell’s right ear canal is collapsed, causing what she calls an “in-ear monitor situation” when she sings. The result is a keen awareness of her sound and its vibration.

As a child she played bass clarinet and piano and was active in her school’s choral programs, but it was the songs that her aunts and mother sang that had the most influence on her. Irish ballads, the blues, musical theater, and protest songs all shaped her musical consciousness and opened her up to a wide world beyond the shores of Maine.

This eventually led her to UMASS Amherst, where she studied Jazz and African American music. While there, she met and worked with NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan and Dr. Billy Taylor, both generous and renowned educators and musicians. When Elwell moved to San Francisco soon after graduation, it was Jordan who recommended that she study with jazz singer Kitty Margolis, who would become her mentor and later guide her through the release of her first album, Last Spring.

Many jazz gigs later, Elwell began to sneak her own songs into her set lists and caught the attention of a stranger at a lounge on the edge of the Tenderloin in San Francisco. The woman told her she needed to find Bonnie Hayes. Hayes, a popular songwriting teacher who has penned songs for Bonnie Raitt, taught at a local music school. This is what Elwell considers the turning point in her music where she went from a singer who wrote songs, to a songwriter who could sing them. Following the stranger’s advice paid off: Elwell has since gone on to win multiple awards and accolades, including an ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award and being named by Nashville Songwriters Association as ‘One to Watch.’

Elwell currently performs and teaches in both Maine and Massachusetts. Songs from Last of What I Know are now available on all streaming platforms.