The Writer’s Block: Hannah Ellis Shares Songwriting Process and Advice

With the pandemic putting a halt to the release of new music, Hannah Ellis is making up for lost time. A follow-up to “Country Can” and “Someone Else’s Heartbreak,” Ellis is readying for summer with the release of “Wine Country,” a musical elixir that transports listeners to a place where the boundaries between grandeur and down-home backroads vanish. (I put the boujee in the backroads).

I like my wine country boots muddy  / A little California in Kentucky / Black Lucchese’s dukes like daisy  / City sipping on a tailgate  / Cabernet in a solo cup / I’m throwing down with my pinky up  / Go on if you wanna judge me / But I like my wine country , Ellis sings in the chorus.

This summer anthem, penned by Ellis alongside Clint Lagerberg and her husband, Nick Wayne, made its debut at Live In The Vineyard Goes Country 2023. “Wine Country” is a playful nod to life’s guilty pleasures, with Ellis indulging in a generous pour of Cabernet, sipping her wine from a Solo Cup while lifting her pinky up.

“I have so much fun with “Wine Country,” Ellis tells American Songwriter. “I wanna continue introducing all of these different facets of Hannah Ellis, because there’s a lot, there’s an onion there and that side of me is one of my favorites. I love a fancy night out, but also I’m totally fine if it ends in a dive bar. But I think it’s just such a fun song.”

In the coming months, Ellis will appear on the Grand Ole Opry stage on July 16 before joining forces with Billy Currington as a supporting act in select cities.

In an interview with American Songwriter, Ellis gives a peek into her songwriting process, and shares some songwriting advice for aspiring songwriters.

American Songwriter: So how did you get started in songwriting? 

Hannah Ellis: Oh man. You know, I got started in songwriting because I wanted to be a singer first. I had my big come to Jesus moment that I wanted to be an artist, and that’s what I wanna do with my life. I started taking meetings in Nashville and had some really kind people that got me set up with some different labels and all this. And I came in and I was singing all these covers, all these songs that were not mine. This would’ve been about 2008 or nine. And, Taylor Swift was kind of—her moment was happening. And at every meeting, they would say, “Okay, those are great nice voices. Can you play something you’ve written?”

And I was like, “Excuse me?” Didn’t know that was that thought. I’d never really thought about it. And so I started doing that and we started by reaching out to the people whose songs I’d cut. I just started kind of coming down to Nashville and got really involved at NSAI, they were super helpful in just helping me get my feet wet and start to learn about songwriting. 

AS: Can you share your songwriting process?

HE: So my songwriting process, I feel like it changes constantly. I would say I’m definitely more lyric than melody. I lean into my co-writers for, the music. What are we doing, what are we putting this to? But I think that I typically start with an idea. I would say, and it’s either a thought or a title. I love when it can be something that comes up naturally in conversation with people that you’re talking to.

As a songwriter, you’re always on, which is a very interesting thing to say. But your ears are always perked because sometimes it’s not even anything special that someone will say, it’ll just sound cool. For me, I will say I love the most when it’s like, I’m going in knowing kind of what I wanna write. Like either there’s something going on in my life or something going on in someone else’s life that I’m pulling from. I feel like that’s where I get the most excited because I’ve got a super clear vision.

But also, it’s so funny cuz it’s different every day and sometimes someone just throws out a title and you’re like, “Yes.” I wrote a song and it was a friend of mine, my co-writer came in and was like, I think you would be a great artist to nod at this nineties thing of third person. Like telling a story of someone else from that bird’s eye view and I’m like, “Yeah, let’s chase that down.” We just dove in head first, and we played around till we got.

AS: What’s the hardest part about songwriting, for you?

HE: I would say for me, the hardest part about songwriting is probably selfish. It is if I just can’t relate to something, I don’t wanna write it, it’s pretty tough for me. 

AS: Is there somebody that you would like to write with, that you have dreamed of writing with, and why?

HE: I’ll say the first one, and it’s interesting because we have a write coming up, but I’ve written with him once before, but it was over Zoom and I just refused to count it. Sean McConnell has been a songwriting idol of mine since I moved to Nashville. I think first of all, his voice is ridiculous, but outside of that, I just think his mind is so brilliant and so moving.

I would love to write a song with Chris Stapleton. He doesn’t have to sing it. He doesn’t even have to tell people he wrote on it. I just think he’s an incredible song crafter. And I still would love to write with Ashley Gorley. I just think he’s country radio at this point, he is. That’s the sentence.

AS: Any tips that you can offer to aspiring songwriters who want to either break into the business or just tips for songwriting?

HE: They’re gonna be tired of hearing me say this, but authenticity. I think you’ve got to write your life and your truth the whole time. I spent just wasted years of younger me trying to write what I thought Miranda Lambert would write or Taylor Swift would write or any of those people. It was just wasted years. I learned how to craft songs maybe, but as soon as I started writing things the way I would say them, that’s when my songs became something really worth listening to because I was using my voice. My husband has said this before, he’s like, ‘Your voice is your mind over everything else. It’s how you see the world. It’s how it comes out of you the most naturally.’ And I think that is what’s so special about being a songwriter.

My biggest advice would be that, and then also find a community of songwriters. I think bouncing off of each other. I usually lead new people to NSAI because they were so instrumental in helping me get just an understanding. And just meeting people, and learning how to meet people in this town. I think those are the two things I normally lean into—be your most authentic self in your songs. If you like it and it sounds good to you, other people will probably like it.  

Photo courtesy Curb Records