// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did EllaHarp say to the string? You're always pulling on me.
Ella Dawn Jenkins (born 1988 or 1989), known professionally as EllaHarp, is an American harpist and singer.[1] She first received attention in the 2010s, as a blogger in the tiny-house movement.
Early life and education
[edit]Jenkins grew up in Malibu.[1] At age 16, her family moved to Frazier Park, in Kern County, California.[1][2] Her paternal grandfather was arranger and composer Gordon Jenkins.[3][4]
At age 7, Jenkins began taking piano lessons, but she switched to harp at age 8 after discovering her love for the instrument.[3][4][5]
Jenkins attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Scottish Music.[1][6] While attending school, she sometimes busked in Glasgow to supplement her income.[6]
Career
[edit]In the early 2010s, one of Jenkin's harps was destroyed when she checked it on a flight.[7] She learned to play the banjo, a more easily transportable instrument, as she was worried about flying with a harp again.[7] In mid-2016, Jenkins decided to design a harp specifically with airplane overhead luggage compartments in mind.[5][7] Her smaller model has an aluminum frame, which allows strings to have more tension compared to a wooden frame; aluminum is also more durable and less at risk to temperature fluctuations than wood.[7][8] Her model has only 29 strings, rather than the usual 30; she left out the high A string, as she rarely used it.[1] Jenkins and her then-boyfriend began experimenting with several different models, and by 2022 the pair had made three aluminum harps, two of which Jenkins has flown with successfully.[7] Jenkins has also built a banjo, which fits into a harp case.[5]
Jenkins released her debut album, Who Asked you Back, in February 2018.[1][6] Her goal with the album was to challenge listeners' perceptions of harp music, with some tracks having blues influences.[6] Guitarist Sam Eigen guested on several of the album's tracks.[6]
In 2021, Jenkins released her second album, Screaming into the Void.[8] The titular track was released as a single in April 2020,[9][10][11] and a music video for the song was released in September 2021.[8]
In June 2023, she released her third album, Lost in January.[12]
Tiny-house movement
[edit]In the early 2010s, Jenkins was a blogger in the tiny-house movement.[13][14][15] She also taught tiny house workshops throughout the United States while working for Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.[13][16]
Jenkins built her tiny home over the course of a year, with her stepfather's help, in the driveway of her parents' house.[17][18] She lived in her tiny house for about five years, at times with her boyfriend and dog.[16] She moved out of her tiny house in 2017, saying her "life goals...outgrew the tiny house".[13]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hamlin, Jesse (2018-01-31). "Half Moon Bay's Ella Jenkins: Harp that shimmers in a whole..." San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ "Issues & Ideas: Ella Harp - Making new sounds on a very old instrument". KCBX. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 VandenTop, Elyssa (2020-12-19). "San Francisco Harpist & Americana Songwriter EllaHarp Releases Newest Bluegrass-Fueled Revenge Ballad 'Shotgun Sadie'". Music Mecca. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 Raphael, Louis (2018-01-18). "Local Artist Spotlight: EllaHarp | Music in SF". Music in SF® | The authority on the San Francisco Music Scene. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 3 Frahm, Jonathan (2020-03-01). "Interview | FFS 5 with EllaHarp". For Folk's Sake. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Guz, Sarah Griego (2018-01-31). "Local harpist releases new CD". Half Moon Bay Review. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Bresler, Alex (2022-04-14). "This Musician Designed Her Own Instrument To Fit in Airplane Overhead Bins". Matador Network. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 3 Whitmore, Laura B. (2021-08-18). "EllaHarp's 'Screaming Into The Void' Is a Beautiful Musical Paradox". Parade. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Craig, Sherryl (2020-04-03). "From the Pop Sounds of EllaHarp Comes "Screaming Into The Void"". Nashville Music Guide. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Daly, John (2020-02-23). "Ella Harp Quietly Captures Wistful Times with New Single". East Coast Rocker. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ "Singer/songwriter, EllaHarp, shares title track single "Screaming Into The Void" from upcoming LP". That Music Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Leah (2023-06-23). "EllaHarp Releases Compelling New Album Lost In January". CelebMix. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 3 Jenkins, Ella Dawn (2019-02-13). "Moving Out - Tiny House Blog". tinyhouseblog.com. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ ethan (2018-05-11). "5 Harps in a Tiny House with Ella Dawn Jenkins - #006". The Tiny House. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Koch, Wendy (2015-07-21). "These Tiny Homes Live Largish But Would You Want One?". Science. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1 2 "Great Things in Tiny Packages – Tiny Homes". Sonoma Magazine. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Frey, Thomas (2014-02-26). "The futurist: The huge potential of the tiny house movement". ColoradoBiz Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Burton, Lynsi (2012-05-10). "6 Ideas for Sensible Homes". YES! Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- 1980s births
- Living people
- 21st-century American musicians
- 21st-century American singer-songwriters
- 21st-century American women musicians
- 21st-century American women singers
- 21st-century American women writers
- Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- American banjoists
- American bloggers
- American women harpists
- American women bloggers
- Musicians from Malibu, California
- People from Half Moon Bay, California
- People from Kern County, California
- American harpists