By Michael
Swanger michael@dmcityview.com
 On
the surface, winning a music competition
and the chance to sign a contract
with a major record label would
be a dream for most budding musicians.
Then again, Minneapolis folk-rock
singer-songwriter-guitarist Ellis
Bergeron isn't like most musicians.
Six years ago, before "American
Idol" introduced music competition
to the masses, Ellis (she goes
by her first name) was on the
verge of mainstream success when
her band Bobby Llama won the Sam
Goody/Musicland Best Unsigned
Band in America contest. It was
the kind of break she and her
band mates, who formed the group
while attending St. Olaf College,
had hoped for after toiling in
clubs for five years.
"We had considered breaking
up by that point and felt like
we needed something big to happen,"
says Ellis. "But I felt like
some of the offers we got after
we won the competition were empty,
and we wouldn't be able to stay
together. So after some heart-to-heart
discussions with the band, I decided
to leave."
At first, Ellis says, the adjustment
from fronting an ensemble to being
a solo performer was sobering.
She no longer had a band to back
her up or share ideas with, and
though she was the principal songwriter
for Bobby Llama, she was faced
with the daunting task of having
to write all of her material.
"I felt like I had been
wearing a lot of clothes and was
suddenly naked," she says.
"It was a vulnerable and
sweet time."
But Ellis says the opportunity
to take personal risks, both artistically
and financially, not to mention
the aid of friend-manager-publicist
Terri Mazurek, quickly helped
her overcome any fears.
"I was excited to go out
on the road and cultivate my own
art," she says. "I slept
on peoples' couches to make it
work. I realized nobody was going
to make my career but me. My goals
were to create a community that
appreciated and felt moved by
what I was doing."
Six years later, you could say,
Ellis has achieved those goals.
Though she hasn't enjoyed the
same kind of overnight success
as Clay Aiken or Kelly Clarkson
(then again, she's not a pop princess),
Ellis has steadily built a grassroots
following and gained critical
acclaim for the five albums she
has released on her own record
label, Rubberneck Records. Fans
love her because her universal
themes resonate with them, but
she also involves them in her
music (a few years ago she asked
eight fans to co-produce one of
her albums), and critics laud
her for her Ani DiFranco-meets-Edie
Brickell folk sound.
Later this year, Ellis will
release her sixth and most personal
CD. Fans can sample three tunes
on a new EP. She says the album
personifies her ability to keep
producing honest and personal
music.
"I want to create CDs I'm
really proud of and be open to
wherever the music takes me,"
she says. "I want to keep
my mind and my heart open."
Part of being honest with herself
as an artist is addressing her
sexual identity. Many of her bookings
are at clubs and festivals that
cater to gay audiences, though
she doesn't pigeonhole herself
as a lesbian folk artist.
"My art isn't directed
toward one audience, but at the
same time I am a lesbian woman
so it's part of my perspective,"
she says. "It's my job as
an artist to be authentic. Who
I am is key for people connecting
to my music, so if I'm hiding
a part of myself than I'm limiting
the audience's capability in knowing
me."
After 10 years of making music,
including the last six as an independent
artist, the last thing anyone
would expect from Ellis is for
her not to be herself.
"As time goes by, it feels
more and more like me," she
says. "And I'm not sure had
I chosen another path I would
have felt like that because I
love being independent. I don't
know where I'm headed, but I'm
happy where they're at right now."
CV
Sample Tracks
Oh My Dear Child 
Promises
Angel
| 
City
Sounds: Fearless
