"Folkstress Jenna Ellefson has proven she can turn even the hardest souls into pure putty. The Portlander’s chalky voice, coupled with delicate and minimalistic folkscapes, makes for quite the serenade.
While stark, the sound echoes Ellefson’s Western upbringing, gently bubbling with a woodsy sense of enchantment and wonder."
-W. Week, Portland
"Jenna Ellefson grew up in lush Oregon, among waterfalls, tall trees and foxgloves. She left home for a time in favor of higher mountains where she gathered birdsong and first love and the laughter of silver rivers into poetry to keep. Upon returning one flowery spring, on a whim, she bought a little banjo...and suddenly all the poems she had been scribbling and all the melodies she had been humming spilled out over its plucky strings and finally...she had songs to sing."
So the story goes...
Singer/songwriter Jenna Ellefson was raised in Oregon’s rural Willamette Valley. Growing up in the the quiet beauty of the Pacific Northwest her creative voice had always been tied to the natural world but began to fully take shape during formative years spent working in the mountains of Colorado and Montana.
Surrounded by new, expansive landscapes and taking on the challenges of ranch work in the elements she entered a period of personal growth and inspiration. On her days off she would head into town and post up at a local bookstore finding grounding in reading and writing poetry. It was here she discovered Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, and traditional Japanese haiku all of which would evermore influence her own creative expression.
It was also during this time that Jenna bought a banjo on a whim—an impulse that soon bloomed into songwriting. Her poetry found rhythm and melody, and a distinctive musical style began to emerge: intimate, hopeful, and deeply tied to place.
Returning to Oregon, Jenna settled in Portland in 2010 to pursue her music in earnest. Since then, she has released a full-length album along with a series of EPs and singles, performing regularly with her band and lending her voice to collaborations with fellow local artists. Post-pandemic she became part of the folk trio The Yellowbirds, which cultivated a devoted regional following through tours across Oregon, Washington, and into Canada.
Listen here...
Jenna creates a gentle folk sound—a blend of unfiltered vocals and visual lyricism backed by banjo, guitar and acoustic band arrangements. Her songs often explore themes of nature, new love, and quiet resilience offering listeners a chance to zoom in on the subtleties of a moment and a space of stillness and light in a fast moving world. Her audience can expect authenticity, a living room feel, stories, laughter and a light-hearted approach to genuine connection.