It was a strange arrangement of coincidence: going to Denver last fall to hang out with a band from Ireland, and being introduced to a musician who comes from my hometown. Though Chella Negro has been out of La Crosse for a decade, she still speaks in a dusky Midwestern accent, replete with enthusiasm and easily tripped into laughter. That voice, and its ability to drop into realms of pathos, betrayal, and longing, is what has remained constant in the formative years of Chella Negro, taking the act from solo girl-on-guitar through its increasing instrumentation and to whatever lies ahead.

Owing to the same kinds of prejudice that fuel vacant statements such as “I like all music but hip-hop and country,” Chella Negro is somewhat reluctant to describe herself as a country musician. “I’ll never ever come straight out and say that anymore, because any time I have people say ‘Oh, like Carrie Underwood or Reba McIntyre or Taylor Swift?’ No! Old country! It’s like being in a punk band and having people ask if you sound like Thursday. Thankfully, Americana and Alt-Country got introduced, so you can call yourself that and people are more receptive. Folk’s easy to say, too.”

The civilian whose driver’s license reads Michelle Caponigro describes her La Crosse youth as a creative one. Growing up surrounded by R&B and soul music, she spent a lot of time performing, both musically and in local theater. This including stints in local bands as well as in UW-L’s Summer Stage and an offshoot of the La Crosse Community Theater known as the Pegasus Players. One of her most notable roles was in a commercial for the local Fox station, where she portrayed Pulp Fiction-style Uma Thurman.

While a sophomore in college at Winona, studying voice performance and dramatic arts, Chella Negro’s best friend decided to move to Colorado, and eventually convinced her to follow. Leaving school wasn’t much of an issue. “It was like, why am I paying these people money? All they wanted me to do was sing opera music. I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do, and they didn’t concentrate on writing or anything like that. I thought, I don’t have to do this anymore, and it won’t really hurt my career.”

After arriving in Denver, she quickly ended up in a band called Purple Buddha. Originally a jam band, the group soon morphed into more of a Grateful Dead Tribute band. Through the seven years spent with Purple Buddha, she was solely a singer, which at times grew frustrating.

“When you’re writing a jam band song, it’s very limited where you can go in your brain. Musically, the guys could do whatever they wanted to do; they could take it any place. But lyrically I had to settle in pretty set boundaries: it can’t get too dark, it can’t get too personal, it has to be uplifting, and people have to be able to dance to it. I’m proud of the songs that I wrote with that band, but they weren’t really me.”

After leaving the band, Chella Negro began to study the guitar and she developed her own songs. She describes the music which resulted as “like sitting in your favorite booth in your favorite dark townie bar, drinking really shitty whiskey.” The final product was an extremely minimalist debut album titled Silos and Smokestacks, which was released last February. The collection of songs is nothing more than vocals and guitars, which was ultimately what Chella Negro wanted.

“I started making the record a year and a half ago. I had a friend who was a hip-hop producer out in Brooklyn, and he said to come make [my] record. It took two weeks, two trips for a week each, and we ended up making a record store employee’s record. It’s got a lot of sounds and different variations, but once I listened to the final product – which was great – I realized that I couldn’t hand this to a bar or a person on the street and show up with just a guitar. I don’t do any of that bells and whistles stuff live. I wanted to make a record that sounded as though I were in your living room.”

To get that sound, Chella Negro recruited Brian Gerhard from the Helmet Room in Denver. Having just gotten out of what was described as a “bad relationship,” Gerhard was seen as someone who would understand the often confessional and melancholy tone of Chella Negro’s work. The partnership was quick and easy, and after a week of work the revised album was completed.

Since then, Chella Negro has been developing the act and preparing it for cross country touring, an enterprise which she hopes to begin in the spring. Recently recruiting drummer Darren Dunn has changed the overall tone of the songs. “It’s made me think more about rhythm. I’ve had to be more rigid and strict with what I play.”

Additionally, she sees her vocal style as under construction. “I always say that there’s a big black lady in me that wants to come out so bad! My singing style is different than a lot of traditional folk or country singers, so it’s already starting to creep through. It’s just how in my writing style I’ll be able to develop it, but it’s inevitable; you are what you listen to.”

Nonetheless, she doesn’t want that growth and refinement to come at the expense of reality. “Everybody says [my music] is really simple. That’s great! I don’t want it to be all convoluted. I want myself to be in everything I do. Once you add that element of machine to it, you lose a lot of authenticity.”