Ollella’s career as a musician started early, when she sang before she could talk.
Ellie Barber AKA Ollella has since created a life as a multidisciplinary artist as an indie-folk cellist, vocalist, and songwriter. Trained as a classical cellist since the age of nine, the Seattle musician merges her technical string background with authoritative vocals and live-looping. Described as “really outstanding” by NPR Music’s Bob Boilen and “so tastefully done” by Michelle Zauner (AKA Japanese Breakfast), Ollella blends the acoustic with the contemporary, folk with pop, and tenacity with softness, pulling on influences such as Feist, Cat Power, and Sylvan Esso.
She was twice a finalist in the NPR Tiny Desk Contest (2024, 2022), has had music featured in film and TV, and is a frequent collaborator with others. She finds herself drawn to music because it unlocks a particularly organic flavor of humanity – one that fits the type of world she believes in.
”Ollella” is pronounced oh-lel-uh.
“Warning, this will get stuck in your head, but that’s not a bad thing”
–Sofar Sounds, New Music Alert
