ELLA WILLIAMS
HAILS FROM BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS USA
PLAYS SOLO (AS SQUIRREL FLOWER)
SOUNDS LIKE POWERFULLY EMOTIVE, DRIVING FOLK
LATEST DROP PLANET (I) (LP OUT NOW VIA POLYVINYL)
What’s your current go-to guitar?
I’ve been playing acoustic a lot more in my free time, and my go to is my Gibson Robert Johnson. It was the first guitar I ever bought for myself after saving up for three years, working at a bakery throughout high school. I walked into a shop in Massachusetts and saw it – I was first drawn to the colour, and as I tried it out I knew it was the guitar for me. It was so gentle but also resonant, the neck was so comfortable, and overall it just felt so full of character and dynamics. It also smells delicious, like vanilla wood or something.
How did you initially fall in love with the instrument?
The first time I played guitar I was 14. My dad had an old Yamaha that was really busted, and one day in November I just picked it up and learned my favourite song by ear. I think it was a Bon Iver song. After that, I kept the guitar in my bedroom, and every night after school I’d play it for hours instead of doing my homework. My parents had actually bought me a mini electric guitar when I was nine, and my dad was going to teach me
