#651 - Ella Langley

Episode of This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von · April 7, 2026 · 1 h 52 min

Country singer Ella Langley tells Theo Von about her Alabama upbringing, Nashville grind, burnout, and her new album Dandelion.

Summary

Country singer-songwriter Ella Langley joined Theo Von to discuss her childhood in rural South Alabama, where she was raised partly by her paternal grandparents, homeschooled until sixth grade, and attended a small Southern Baptist church that began in a barn. She described early eye-muscle surgeries, being disciplined at school for "distracting others," and getting "saved" a second time after a frightening church "judgment house" event. She and Von traded stories about Lake Martin, Waffle House, gas-station food and small-town life.

Langley traced her career from playing weddings at 15 for $200 and cover gigs in college bars near Auburn to constant touring from 2022 to 2025, first in a van. She said the mental side of the job, not the performing, has been the hardest part, that she is her own toughest critic, and that she needs solitude to recharge — contrasting herself with Lainey Wilson, whom she called superhuman. She also described the strangeness of being recognized in public and of fans asking for photos at inconvenient moments.

On her creative process, Langley said she keeps her hand in every part of her work — co-producing, co-directing videos, designing the set — and recounted resisting her label's push to re-record the spoken verses of "You Look Like You Love Me," which executives predicted would be the record's worst-performing song. She said she built a reference playlist of more than a hundred songs to define the sonic direction of her new album Dandelion, which she worked on for about a year and a half with Miranda Lambert involved, and said she has "clicked in" to her artistry.

The episode included playback of unreleased album tracks "Last Call for Us," "Bottom of Your Boots" (a title her father gave her) and "Broken." Langley also discussed nerves performing "What I Want" with Morgan Wallen in stadiums, her upcoming direct-support slot on Wallen's tour opening at Bryant-Denny Stadium on April 18, her own headline tour beginning May 7 in Toledo, and the internet's misheard-lyric memes about "Choosin' Texas."

Chapters

1:25
Family, church and homeschooling in Alabama
Langley describes her hippie grandfather, her Southern Baptist church that started in a barn, and being homeschooled until sixth grade after eye surgeries.
5:47
Small-town school life and getting saved twice
She recounts being punished for talking in class, her eye-muscle surgeries, dances at a tiny high school, and a church 'judgment house' that scared her into getting saved again.
10:26
First gigs and Lake Martin
Langley talks about playing weddings at 15, bar gigs around Auburn and Tuscaloosa, and growing up on Lake Martin.
28:04
Determination, self-criticism and burnout
She explains that the mental side of the job is hardest, that she is her own toughest critic, and that she needs recluse time to recharge.
39:05
Fame, fans and photos
Langley and Von compare notes on being recognized in public, awkward fan encounters, and how touring in a van for years felt.
52:57
Southern food, Waffle House and childhood stories
A long digression on buffets, Waffle House traditions, taquitos, coffee creamers and Von's childhood.
1:07:27
Creative control and fighting the label
Langley describes co-producing, designing her set, and refusing her label's demand to re-sing the spoken parts of 'You Look Like You Love Me.'
1:13:10
Touring with Morgan Wallen and Bryant-Denny Stadium
She discusses working up from fourth billing to direct support and the first concert at Bryant-Denny Stadium in decades.
1:18:08
Making Dandelion
Langley explains the album's title, its meaning of growth after 'Hungover,' her 100-song reference playlist, and Miranda Lambert's role.
1:24:35
Playing unreleased songs
They play 'Last Call for Us,' 'Bottom of Your Boots' and 'Broken,' with Langley explaining her father inspired one title.
1:28:26
Stadium nerves and forgetting lyrics
Langley recounts messing up words on 'What I Want' with Morgan Wallen and the night he flubbed them too.
1:38:59
'Choosin' Texas' memes and the headline tour
They discuss misheard-lyric memes about her hit and her own tour starting May 7 in Toledo with Caitlin Butts and Gabriella Rose.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Ella Langley
Langley says she needs time alone as a recluse to recharge and contrasts herself with Lainey Wilson, whom she calls superhuman.
“I feel like I have to have time away, like recluse time. And if I don't get that, then I'm like an insane person”
Listen from 3:30 · Country music industry in Nashville
Ella Langley
Langley argues that being homeschooled let her imagination develop longer than it would have in a conventional school.
“It's like my imagination got to live longer than most schools”
Listen from 5:32 · Homeschooling
Ella Langley
Langley says growing up in a small town where rumors spread prepared her for how fame works.
“I kind of look at the fame thing like that now, you know? Because when you're in a small town, like, I would hear shit about me all the time”
Listen from 10:11 · Fame
Ella Langley
Langley recounts that a church 'judgment house' Halloween event frightened her so much she asked to be saved a second time, which amused her father.
“I got saved again tonight. And he like, my dad pauses the TV. He's pissed off about something”
Listen from 16:11 · Southern Baptist upbringing
Ella Langley
Langley describes starting out playing weddings at fifteen for $200 and considering herself rich.
“Who would ever hire a 15-year-old to play while you're walking down the aisle?”
Listen from 19:57 · Country music industry in Nashville
Ella Langley
Langley says she is her own toughest critic and rarely feels she performed well after a show.
“I'm definitely my toughest critic. You know, like when I watch something, I'm never like, oh yeah, I crushed that”
Listen from 29:38 · Burnout and touring fatigue
Ella Langley
Langley says she would not want the ability to read minds because she already has too many thoughts about how others see her.
“I've never understood when people were like, I want to be able to read minds. I'm like, fuck that. I do not want to know what somebody's thinking”
Listen from 30:29 · Fame
Theo Von
Von says he treated work as reliable and as his first love because effort produced a fair return in a way relationships did not.
“This was my first love. I liked work the most. And because work was reliable, it's like I knew what I got in”
Listen from 37:49 · Country music industry in Nashville
Theo Von
Von says that after doing meet-and-greets at every show he lost the ability to smile genuinely for photos and had to adopt a different face.
“But I couldn't smile anymore. The muscles in my mouth”
Listen from 42:29 · Fame
Ella Langley
Langley says the mental side of the music career, rather than the performing, has been the hardest part for her.
“I think the mental game for me is definitely... the hardest part of this job. Like, I can do the gigs. I can do the shows”
Listen from 46:58 · Burnout and touring fatigue
Ella Langley
Langley says she toured almost continuously from 2022 to 2025, mostly in a van and later a crowded bus.
“we toured pretty much minus a couple weeks here and there from 2022 to 2025, you know. And I mean, hot and heavy. Most of that was in a van”
Listen from 47:21 · Burnout and touring fatigue
Ella Langley
Langley says she has a hand in every aspect of her work, including co-producing the record, co-directing videos and designing the stage set.
“I'm co-producing the record. I'm writing stuff for the music video, co-directing that. I'm, you know, making the set list for the show”
Listen from 1:07:57 · Creative control in the music business
Ella Langley
Langley says her label wanted her to re-record the spoken verses of 'You Look Like You Love Me' and predicted it would be the record's worst-performing song, but she refused.
“They're like, this is like going to be the worst performing song on the record”
Listen from 1:09:47 · You Look Like You Love Me
Ella Langley
Langley says she refuses to compromise her identity for industry convention and rejects the argument that something should be done a certain way because it usually is.
“I was like, well, I don't give a rat's ass what you'd usually do. I do not want to do it like that”
Listen from 1:12:21 · Creative control in the music business
Ella Langley
Langley says she has worked her way up Morgan Wallen's tour from first of four openers to direct support.
“we're direct support this year. We've really worked our way up on this tour. First tour, we were first of four”
Listen from 1:15:01 · Bryant-Denny Stadium
Ella Langley
Langley says she worked on Dandelion for about a year and a half while touring and co-producing for the first time, and calls synchronicity the album's defining word.
“this record, I mean, I worked on it for like a year and a half. So it still took a while. But I keep saying the big word for this record is synchronicity”
Listen from 1:18:55 · Dandelion (album)
Ella Langley
Langley says she has never been more excited about music and believes she has found her artistic identity.
“I've never been more excited about music in my life”
Listen from 1:20:08 · Dandelion (album)
Ella Langley
Langley says she built a playlist of more than a hundred reference songs on Spotify to define the guitar tones, drum sounds and background vocals she wanted.
“I had a hundred and something song reference playlist of what I wanted sonically for this record”
Listen from 1:20:41 · Dandelion (album)
Ella Langley
Langley explains the album title came from learning dandelion tea detoxes the liver and from the plant's resilience, framing it as growth after her record Hungover.
“I found out that dandelion tea is a detox for your liver”
Listen from 1:21:33 · Dandelion (album)
Ella Langley
Langley recounts being extremely nervous performing 'What I Want' with Morgan Wallen and forgetting the words almost every time in front of stadium crowds.
“when I did What I Want with Morgan, I messed up the words almost every single time. I've never been so nervous to go out and do something”
Listen from 1:29:38 · Country music industry in Nashville
Ella Langley
Langley says the title 'Bottom of Your Boots' came from a pep talk her father gave her.
“He's like, you know, I love you from the bottom of my boots to the top of my”
Listen from 1:32:02 · Bottom of Your Boots
Ella Langley
Langley says she deliberately wrote big, easy-to-remember choruses so audiences could sing along after hearing them once.
“I wanted them to be kind of easy to remember. Big singing choruses, like, you know, you hear that chorus once, and you already knew how to sing it”
Listen from 1:38:15 · Dandelion (album)
Linked moment · 1:38:59Skip to 1:38:59 using a listen link in the info box.
Ella Langley
Langley says once a song is released it belongs to listeners, and that misheard-lyric memes keep songs alive.
“It's whatever people want to do with the song. You know, once I put it out there, it's like... Who knows what could happen?”
Listen from 1:39:49 · Choosin' Texas

People

In the conversation

Theo VonAmerican stand-up comedian and host of the podcast This Past Weekend
Ella LangleyAmerican country singer-songwriter from Hope Hull, Alabama

Discussed

Lainey WilsonAmerican country singer whom Langley cites as a work-ethic role model
Morgan WallenAmerican country singer whose tour Langley supports and with whom she recorded 'What I Want'
Miranda LambertAmerican country singer who contributed to Langley's album Dandelion
ErnestNashville singer-songwriter and friend of Langley, referred to as 'Ern'
HardyAmerican country singer-songwriter and co-writer on one of Langley's songs
Jelly RollAmerican singer whose show Von attended and who Langley says also got burnt out
Riley GreenAmerican country singer featured on 'You Look Like You Love Me'
Stevie NicksAmerican rock singer Langley says she would be starstruck to meet
Caitlin ButtsSinger-songwriter opening on Langley's headline tour
Gabriella RoseYoung singer-songwriter opening on Langley's headline tour
DiploAmerican DJ and producer mentioned in connection with Stagecoach
Trey LewisCountry musician and friend who described Langley as determined
David SpadeAmerican comedian and actor who worked with Theo Von on the film Busboys
Dermot KennedyIrish singer-songwriter whose Ryman show Von attended

Topics

From the publisher

Ella Langley is a country singer-songwriter from Hope Hull, Alabama. Her new album “Dandelion” is out this Friday April 10th wherever you stream music. Ella joins Theo to talk about growing up in a hippie Baptist family, the stars she looked up to as she found her way in Nashville, and what she thinks of all the alternate lyrics to “Choosin’ Texas.” Ella Langley: https://www.instagram.com/ellalangleymusic/ Busboys Movie: Get tickets at https://www.busboysmovie.com ------------------------------------------------- Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit https://amzn.to/3HbAtPJ Perplexity AI: Ask anything at https://pplx.ai/theo Moonpay: Head over to https://www.moonpay.com/theo to sign up Better Help: This show is brought to you by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/theo Morgan and Morgan: Visit https://forthepeople.com/THEO to see if you might have a case. Morgan and Morgan. America's Largest Injury Law Firm. ------------------------------------------------- Music: “Shine” by Bishop Gunn Bishop Gunn - Shine ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https:/…

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Music Interviews·Comedy Interviews·Society & Culture