Lindsay Ell and Adam Roa Take Their Love to the Next Level with “Write from the Heart” Virtual Workshop

Lindsay Ell is a self-proclaimed music nerd. She loves melodies and chords and she adores a punctuating cadence and a much-needed crescendo. 

But, perhaps most of all, she loves putting words to music.

Whether its the the twist of a lyric or the sentimentality of a word, the singer/songwriter hailing from Canada has long found ways to put her deepest feelings on the individual notes of her songs, doing that most beautifully on her current album heart theory. And throughout her songwriting journey, Ell has found a sacred place of healing within the pure act of writing songs.

And it is this that she now wants to share with others.

Ell is currently prepping to launch a four-week songwriting course alongside motivational speaker and poet Adam Roa called “Write from The Heart.” The virtual workshop, which will start November 16^th, is designed for everyone from the accomplished writer to the budding songwriter, to the mom of three who likes to write poems to the man needing a creative escape from the constantly swirling world.

“Adam (Roa) and I always talk about how important not only art and writing is, but how important it is to talk about emotions and explore each and every one of them,” Ell tells American Songwriter in a recent interview.  “So many people have been overwhelmed with this ongoing pandemic and there is nothing wrong with diving into that emotion. Songwriting is a way to express those emotions and get a deeper understanding about how we collectively experience the world.”

And while, on the surface, it may sound like just another songwriting workshop…Roa says that this one will go far deeper. 

“The only way to effectively write is to let go of all you are hanging onto,” explains Roa. “Whether that’s pain or suffering that someone is not effectively processing or the baggage that we all tend to hang onto, the fact is that there are infinite possibilities and realities that you can find within writing. The creative process can be a map to find the most powerful version of you.”

The roots of the “Write from the Heart” workshop were actually planted earlier this year, when Ell and Roa came together to put on a 90-minute virtual workshop via Zoom for over 100 people.

“Some of the people who made up that workshop had never experienced anything like this,” remembers Ell, who co-wrote 11 of the tracks on heart theory. “They had never tapped into that feeling or shared their work. There was crying and laughing, all in a span of 90 minutes. I can’t wait to see what happens over the course of four weeks.”

And did we mention? 

Ell and Roa are an item.

“I’m normally very open about my personal life but to announce a relationship just seems so weird to me,” she laughs of the relationship status that went public courtesy of an Instagram post on October 22. 

But yes, they are in a relationship, a relationship that seems to be thriving for many reasons, but also thanks to their shared love for the creation process as a whole. 

“Finding someone who not only creatively inspires me, but to be in a relationship with that person…well God bless it,” Ell laughs. “I wasn’t really looking. Adam appeared randomly in my life. I’ve been drawn to him creatively, but then to meet him and hit it off? It’s crazy amazing.”

“We are so similar in the way our minds work,” Roa adds. “How my brain thinks is exactly likes hers. It’s beautiful.”

And yes, this workshop may just be the first of many collaborations for this endearing couple.

“To work with people and give them the gift of writing and teach them how they can best tap into that…there is an undeniable energy to that,” Roa concludes.