British singer/songwriter George Ezra recently visited The Recording Academy's headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., to participate in an exclusive GRAMMY.com interview. Ezra discussed the European trip that inspired his debut album, Wanted On Voyage, and his single "Did You Hear The Rain?" among other topics.
"I was just writing down everything I saw, the people I met, even if it seemed mundane at the time," said Ezra regarding his monthlong European trip that inspired Wanted On Voyage. "I just had books full of these stories and that's where the album came from. I came home and wrote songs from what I had seen."
Citing Bob Dylan and Hank Williams as influences, Ezra emerged in 2013 with his debut single "Budapest," which cracked the Top 20 on Billboard's Rock Songs chart and peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles chart. Ezra followed in 2013 with his debut EP, Did You Hear The Rain? In 2014 he ranked fifth on the BBC Sound of 2014 list and released his sophomore EP, Cassy O'.
Released in June, Wanted On Voyage topped the UK Albums chart. The album features 12 tracks, including "Did You Hear The Rain?" and "Blame It On Me."
Ezra is currently in the midst of an international tour with dates scheduled through January 2015. He will kick off a North American tour in support of Sam Smith in Atlanta on Jan. 9 before joining Hozier on tour on March 2 in Toronto.