Karyn Ellis

Karyn Ellis is an indie folk / singer-songwriter from Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada. She has independently released three albums under her own label, "Mathilde's Home Productions". Her most recent full-length CD is entitled "Even Though The Sky Was Falling". This 10-song, 16-member musical extravaganza pairs her quirky songwriting and sensual, na?ve vocals with a cornucopia of alluring production elements: strings, horns, choirs and glockenspiels, just to name a few.

"Even Though the Sky Was Falling" is a celebration of the beauty and redemption to be found in chaotic times like the one Ellis had been going through while writing the album. One song was written while a friend was dying of cancer. Another was inspired by watching a series of creepy CSI episodes. Three tracks were penned while Ellis sat in the parking lot of a major festival, bummed not to be on stage performing ? but none of this is obvious from listening. ?Beauty,? which is dedicated to the memory of Ellis' friend Jocelyn Porter, is a simple, sprightly number filled with uplifting lyrics like ?I am filled with joy??complete with bouncy trombone lines, ?doo doo doo? choruses and singing toddlers. ?Be My Girl??the CSI song?is a plaintive reflection on breaking free from the ?beautiful victim? role that women are so often cast in. ?Bitter Grasses,? one of the spurned-by-a-festival numbers, sounds to all the world like a spurned-by-a-lover song with a bit of a vintage country surf feel to it. The diverse sounds are all woven together into a cohesive package with help from co-producer Don Kerr, best-known for his work with Ron Sexsmith.

Born in London England, Karyn Ellis was brought to Ontario, Canada as a babe-in-arms where she grew up absorbing the wonders of Mozart and opera and graduated from high school a self-described ?music snob.? She went on to pursue two years of opera studies at Queens University before finally admitting to herself that she'd actually prefer to sing popular music. She finished a music degree at Queens, after which she busked her way around Europe, but she admits she still knew nothing of the business side of music. In her unofficial bio, she writes, ?I figured you got discovered and famous and that was that. I didn't realize you had to, like, practice or anything. So, for many years I worked odd jobs cleaning, waiting tables, stocking a needle exchange, selling Christmas trees in New York City and writing and performing singing telegrams while waiting for the day my break would come.?

In 2002, Ellis went back to school to pursue a music business diploma, and it was there that she took advantage of the free studio space to record her debut EP, Bird (2003.) The CBC's Bill Richardson called the album ?lovely!? while indiemusic.com said, ?She could seal the disc in Saran Wrap and still make something magical out of it? (a reference to the album's hand-made cardboard package).

Ellis' first full-length CD was 2005's Hearts Fall, which earned an ?A? rating from Scene magazine and charting on the national monthly campus Top-50 and folk/roots/blues Top-20 in Canada. Earshot called Ellis a ?sexy acoustic goddess,? and the Dutch language Americana media developed a love affair with her that continues to this day. CtrlAltCountry.be wrote ?You can hear Welch, Waits, Amos, Brickell, Peyroux, the Cowboy Junkies and the Be Good Tanyas all rolled up in that one tiny body, that one mournful voice. Superior late night stuff! Who will bring her here to our country as quickly as possible??

Media are all over the new album too, with CtrlAltCountry calling Even Though the Sky Was Falling ?even better? than Hearts Fall. Altcountryforum.nl, meanwhile writes, ?Karyn Ellis is a singer we simply must embrace in Europe.? Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail calls Ellis a "must-see" artist, adding she has "magical way with song".

One song from the album, ?Motorcycle Ride,? has already seen Ellis shortlisted for the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award in both 2009 and 2010 and has earned her an Honourable Mention in the Wells Songwriting Contest in 2010. Her song "Little Grey Sparrow" was a top-five finalist for Ontario in David Suzuki's Playlist for the Planet compilation CD, through CBC Radio. 3

Ellis has seen several songs placed in TV and films including feature placements in "Degrassi: Next Generation" (Epitome Pictures); ?Robson Arms? (Omni Productions) which aired on CTV, Bravo and the Comedy Network; UK filmmaker Gareth Griffith's ?Happy Fridays?, which appeared at Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner in 2008; and Stand Alone's ?What is Indie? by filmmaker Dave Cool distributed by the National Film Board of Canada.