Ollella with special guest Noble Dust at Club Passim

Don’t miss the chance to experience indie-folk artist, Ollella with specila guest Noble Dust perform at Club Passim Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at 8:00PM MT.

Creating the lucid moment in music is the goal of Seattle singer, songwriter and cellist Ollella. The scope and ambition you hear expressed with such musical and lyrical force on Ollella’s second full-length, ‘Antifragile’ comes from a fierce commitment to creating modern folk-pop-rock in the grand tradition.’Antifragile,’ available on all streaming platforms, and a special vinyl edition—is the first album the Seattle singer, cellist, guitarist and songwriter has released since her critically and fan-acclaimed 2023 collection 'Back Back Back.’ Like her great forebears and influences—think Cat Power, Jesca Hoop, Joni Mitchell, Beth Orton—Ollella is about thriving in a thoroughly modern space that sits in folk music’s larger context. 

You hear Ollella—that’s the nom de music of Ellie Barber, who turned to music full time five years ago after working to further public awareness of climate change—utilizing that space to her own ends on Antifragile. As a singing cellist fronting an indie-rock band, Ollella has learned to embrace the innovative nature of her craft that leads to an experimental process showcasing the delicacy of acoustic folk and the flow of post rock. 

The Seattle songwriter’s ‘Antifragile’ album features rolling funk and world-music rhythms, and a set of songs that balance optimism and grief.

Ollella’s career as a musician started early, when she sang before she could talk. Trained as a classical cellist since the age of nine, the Seattle indie-folk musician merges her technical string background with authoritative vocals and live-looping. Described as “really outstanding” by NPR Music and “so tastefully done” by Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast), Ollella’s sound is organic with a side of edge, pulling on influences such as Feist, Cat Power, and Sylvan Esso. She is a two-time 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 particular flavor of humanity – one that fits the type of world she believes in.

“Ollella’s ‘Antifragile’ has enough beauty to remind us of how liberating having respect and an open mind can be in these troubled times.” – PopMatters

“Ollella’s vocals sound dreamy and captivating, somehow weaving tapestries of sound as if her voice embodies the very layers she’s singing about.” – Americana Highways

“It’s just violin, cello, and bass, with a little percussion, but it feels rich, full, it feels huge. It’s a really beautiful reminder of how you can do a lot with very little. It’s just absolutely gorgeous.” – NPR Music

Noble Dust creates dynamic, lyrically-driven folk pop, blending ethereal vocal harmonies with intricate horn and string melodies. Since the release of their debut album ‘And The Tide Rises’ in 2018 funded by Club Passim’s Iguana Grant, they have shared stages big and small across the country (a sold-out Club Passim, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, City Winery Boston MainStage, The Grey Eagle, The Royal Room, Folk Alliance International). They released their second LP ‘A Picture for a Frame’ recorded at Dimension Sound Studios with producer Dan Cardinal (Darlingside, The Ballroom Thieves) in August 2023 to critical acclaim from NPR and Bandcamp among others. The group is a 2023 New England Music Award Nominee for Americana Band of the Year, 2023 Falcon Ridge Grassy Hill Emerging Artist and received Club Passim’s inaugural Gecko Award for creative narrative works in 2023.