After singing lead in a couple of blues and rock bands in college, Stella—one hot, summer August day along the Mississippi River—was given a guitar by a friend who taught her to play her first chords.

With lyrics tinged with the earthy, dramatic, and sometimes spooky hue of an Appalachian folksong and with a haunting voice anchored in the roots of country blues, Stella weaves her songs with threads of Americana and folk-rock.