Biography
About
Church choir, three-hour bar residencies and one very old upright piano.
Elara Vance grew up singing harmonies in her grandmother's church on Chicago's South Side, then spent her twenties working Tuesday-night residencies in bars where nobody came to listen — until they did.
Her voice sits somewhere between the late-night ache of the torch singers she studied on borrowed records and the warmth of seventies soul. She writes most of her songs at an out-of-tune upright piano in her apartment and records them live, with the band in one room.
Her 2024 EP Paper Moons found its audience through word of mouth and late-night radio. Lanterns After Midnight, her first full-length album, arrives October 24.
- 2016First weekly residency at a Hyde Park wine bar.
- 2021Forms her five-piece band with pianist Corran Hale.
- 2024Releases Paper Moons; sells out three Chicago nights.
- 2026Lanterns After Midnight and a ten-city winter tour.
“She doesn't belt. She leans in, and the whole room leans with her.”Chicago Arts Weekly
“Old soul, new songs, no gimmicks.”Lakeshore Review
“Paper Moons is the record I've played most this year.”Night & Brass Radio