Ellie Holcomb

Christian singer and songwriter Ellie Holcomb became one of the most successful and respected CCM artists to emerge in the 2010s, with songs that blend personal introspection with a sincere embrace of the power of faith. While Holcomb’s melodies are rooted in contemporary folk and Americana, the songs possess a sweeping grandeur that mesh with the passionate delivery and strong message of belief. After several years of working with her husband in Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Ellie released her first solo album in 2014, As Sure as the Sun, which was an ambitious but down-to-earth exercise in folk-informed worship music, while 2021′s Canyon was a more atmospheric effort whose themes reflected the chaotic times in which they were created.
Ellie Holcomb was born Elizabeth Asher Bannister on September 12, 1982 in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father was Brown Bannister, one of the most successful producers in contemporary Christian music, but even though she grew up in a musical household, she didn’t originally intend to make music her career. In 2005, she received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Tennessee, and she went back to get a master’s degree in Teacher’s Education. However, around the time she was completing her studies, she became romantically involved with singer and songwriter Drew Holcomb, and by the time the two married in 2006, she had joined his band Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, contributing vocals and guitar and sometimes helping with the songwriting. Ellie made her recording debut with Holcomb and the Neighbors on their 2007 holiday effort A Neighborly Christmas.
As she grew more confident as a songwriter, Ellie began composing material meant to be performed outside the confines of the group, and in 2011, she stepped out as a solo artist with the seven-song EP Magnolia, which rose to number 16 on the Christian Albums chart. While Ellie continued to work with the Neighbors, she found time to write and record a second EP, With You Now, that arrived in 2013. That same year, Ellie and Drew welcomed their first child, and she left the Neighbors to spend more time with her new family. Despite that, in 2014, she released her first solo album, As Sure as the Sun, produced by her father; it was a critical and commercial success, rising to number two on the Christian Albums chart and number 34 on the Billboard 200. Her second solo LP, 2017′s Red Sea Road, was also produced by Brown Bannister. It saw Ellie and her family coming together to complete the project, which was recorded as her father was fighting cancer. In 2018, she published a book for children, Who Sang the First Song, and recorded a seven-song EP, Sing: Creation Songs, to accompany its publication. Ellie signed with a major label for the first time, Capitol Christian Music Group, and made her label debut with 2021′s Canyon, a collection of songs focusing on hope and resilience during a time of upheaval. ~ Mark Deming