Listen: “Right on Time”

There’s just something about Ellis Delaney. At once funny and wise, thoughtful and uninhibited, with a captivating voice that is matched by tender, sometimes funny, uplifting lyrics. If you looked up the definition of open-hearted in the dictionary, you just might find a photo of Ellis there. Their performances are transformational; leaving audiences feeling better, with softened edges & opened hearts.

Ellis is a performer with a mission. Believing that music is healing, they regularly offer their music for free / pay what you can online. Also, Ellis offers a “Right on Time” hotline message that supports resilience by sharing different grounding / mindful practices, as well as a reminder each week that we are interdependent and worthy of love and belonging. As a fan favorite song asks, “What if we are right on time?” Ellis also has a member community on Patreon and meets with patrons weekly at 11 a.m. central time in a gathering called “Feelin’ It Fridays”.

Ellis released their tenth album, Ordinary Love, in 2020. Says Ellis, “My hope for this new album is that it both inspires a lighter heart while also expressing and connecting to the gravity of this moment in our human history. Can we greet our lives, each other, and even the news every day with ordinary love?”

A transplant from Texas to Minnesota at age 16, Ellis got their musical start at open mics and then grew a following while touring full time. Ellis has been recognized both for songwriting as well as for engaging performances. Having become a mainstay at a number of folk festivals, Ellis has been a repeat performer as well as voted “audience favorite” at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Moab Folk Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, and Rocky Mountain Folks Festival.

“If ever there was a feel-good folk musician, this is the one – somebody who really does
send you off feeling better about the world.” —John Davy, No Depression

“Sometimes, seeing a performer live makes such a difference… when you actually experience someone like Ellis Delaney in person, you leave much happier than when you came.” —Mike Pengra, Radio Heartland/ The Current

“Ellis has a confident, enthusiastic, even exuberant, optimism that is both disarming and highly contagious. I defy even the most cynical Gen-Xer out there to go see her perform and not get a few joyful goosebumps.” —Rich Larson, SouthernMinn Scene