Teenager from Manitoulin Island releases her second completely original song

A young singer from Manitoulin Island is continuing to make her mark in the music world, releasing another completely original song on July 1.

At just 14-years-old singer/song writer Ellie Maxwell has now released two completely original songs, Better Days which came out August 24, 2021 and now Lucky which was officially released on Canada Day.

“I’m so excited to have a second original song coming out because it’s almost like the song is apart of me and I can express my emotions and I can tell everybody how I feel,” said Maxwell.

She says her latest song, Lucky, tells a very personal story and one that she hasn’t shared with a lot of people prior to its release.

“It’s talking about my adoption story and I’ve never openly talked about it because it’s a very personal thing and quite sensitive to me,” she added.  

“It’s about, I guess, where I came from because I was original born in a small town in South Africa and it’s telling how I… How can I say this? I can almost feel the emotions of what life was like in South Africa and how being abandoned can really affect you as a person.”

Maxwell says it gives her an idea of what her biological parents would have gone through, as well as the story of her adoptive parents and how loving and accepting they are.

“It’s kind of telling both stories of both sides of the family I guess you could say.”

Although she is the voice behind the newest release, Maxwell says the song actually started out as a poem written by her aunt Deb.

“My parents were sitting down with me, with my auntie, and we were discussing ‘How are we going to incorporate my feelings, as well as the poem into it?’ because not all the things in the poem really express my emotions about the adoption story,” she said.

“So it was a lot of back and forth, but it was such a success in the end.”

On top of writing and releasing original songs, along with full music videos, Maxwell has also been quite busy on the stage over the past year.

In May she won first place in the youth division of the 2022 Lions Superstars singing contest in Sudbury and in June she sang at the Bluegrass in the Country festival on Manitoulin Island.

As for what’s next, the young singer/song writer says, “Probably another original song to be honest since I’m thinking and working on some original songs currently, and you can expect to see lots of busking videos on my YouTube channel.”