THE Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival in Colne this weekend will be the latest stopping off point for singer Elles Bailey who, with her hectic touring schedule, appears to have discovered the secret of perpetual motion.

Elles and her band will play an eagerly awaited set on Sunday night at the Muni immediately before British blues rock royalty King King.

She’s heading to Colne having wowed fans with an appearance at the festival last year.

“The guys at Colne have been such a big support to me,” she said. “I think they booked me for this year six months before I played last year so to find out that King King would be straight after me was amazing.”

The Bristol-born singer has been working virtually non stop throughout 2018, touring, playing festivals and fitting in trips to Nashville where she has been working on the follow-up to her highly praised debut album Wild Fire which was released last year.

“I’ve actually got six days off in September before going on tour again and I’m a little bit worried,” she laughed. “I’m not used to having time off.”

A quick glance at her tour schedule would confirm that, and it’s been like that all year.

“It has been pretty brutal,” she admitted. “I fitted in three visits to the studio in Nashville while I was on the road and we’ve managed to record 16 songs for the new album.

“I’d do a gig and fly over to Nashville and then fly back into Europe for more gigs. There were times when I never had time to go home.

“It was probably the hardest schedule I’ve ever done. I put my heart and soul and everything else into the new album and although initially we’d hoped to have it ready for October we’ve all invested to much into it to rush it out, so it will probably be out early next year.”

The new album - The Road I Call Home - will, says Elles mark a change in style from Wild Fire.

“The writing is more sophisticated,” she said. “I love Wild Fire which has done so well and I’m chuffed to bits at both the critical and fan acclaim. So for the follow-up I wanted to make something that is better. I think the writing has gone to a deeper level and we’ve experimented a bit with production.

“With Wild Fire I knew exactly what I wanted with it as I’d been playing the songs for a year beforehand. These are all brand new songs we’ve never played live before so that gave us a creative freedom in the studio. It has still got its core which is what you can expect from an Elles Bailey record but we have pushed it a bit further.”

A number of the songs are gospel influenced.

“I’ve always been inspired by music from the South,” said Elles. “While I was writing I was listening to what I’d call dark gospel music from Louisiana and a lot of the song writing has come out that way but the production hasn’t. I think it’s given these songs quite an interesting take on what inspired me.”

Elles is in the great position of being an artist who is very difficult to readily classify.

Her smoky voice automatically conjures up the blues but her songs reflect a diverse number of influences ranging from country to rock.

“It’s such a pity humans love putting labels on things,” she said. “I studied psychology so I understand all about things like social constructs but at the moment I think there are a lot of artists who are breaking down the barriers of traditional genres and I think it’s exciting to be one of them.

“I don’t try and write in a style or a genre. I write what I want to write whatever comes out.

“I suppose I do sit quite nicely in the country blues Americana genre which has really paid off for me. It’s a really exciting time for Americana and country in the UK and I’m just chuffed to be part of it regardless of whatever I’m playing.”

Elles is a delight to interview, an artist for whom a smile is never far away, and one who clearly is in her element making music her way.

“The title song of the album is inspired by my eight-year-old self wanting to be a pop star with my name in lights and limousines and that kind of thing,” she said. “Now my 30-year-old self couldn’t think of anything worse than being a pop star and the celebrity culture that we live in.

“But the dream is still the same. I’m on the road doing exactly what I dreamed of - it just looks a little different and I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

Elles Bailey plays the Muni on Sunday as part of the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival. Details from www.bluesfestival.co.uk