Ella Buettner

Settling down the suburbs of Washington D.C. after being constantly on the move from her military brat childhood, pop-rock groove singer Ella Buettner is no stranger to embracing the unfamiliar. Her most recent change was moving to Nashville to pursue a degree in Commercial Voice at Belmont University and continue to captivate audiences with her raw storytelling and moving vocal performances. 

“When I moved I had no one but my family to hang out with. When I would get sick of watching my brothers play video games, I would go up to my room and play my dinky keyboard for hours on end.” Ella lived a musical life at an early age with her parents being passive musicians- leading worship at church and encouraging their four kids to pick up an instrument in between sports and activities. Ella began learning piano at the age of 5 and continued on-and-off until she reached high school. Although she was never formally taught how to sing until college, Ella began crafting her sound by immersing herself in the voices of her early childhood idols- Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Adele, and the musical stars of Disney Channel.

“I grew up watching some of the biggest stars today get their start on my favorite TV shows. I knew I wanted to be exactly like them one day- inspiring the next generation of little girls to follow their dreams.” Ella was inspired to post covers of herself playing and singing on her YouTube channel when she was eleven. At this time she also began to audition for various TV singing shows including AGT, American Idol, and The Voice. Her voice began to exponentially mature to that of a seasoned vocalist as she began to look for outlets to showcase her love of singing and performing.

“The catalyst of knowing I wanted to perform forever was when I scored the leading role as Belle in our spring musical, Beauty and The Beast in seventh grade. There were a lot of upset eighth graders that day.” As a teenager, Ella participated in both the voice and music technology programs at her performing arts high school in Manassas, VA. It was here where she wrote her first songs and gained her first high-level performance experiences. After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, Ella began to gig around the Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. area. Now, she plays over twenty-five shows a summer where she entrances audiences with her ability to transform any song into her own style.

Ella has three singles out on all platforms: “Sick”, “Jackson”, and “Love Makes Us New”, that have accumulated 80K plus streams as an independent artist. She has been in both the Pops, Chorale, and Voxology ensembles at Belmont University where she was featured in a filmed performance of “Christmas at Belmont” on Amazon Prime and “An Evening of Hope with Andrea Bocelli & Friends”- with guests Trisha Yearwood, CeCe Winans, Michael W. Smith, and Pia Toscano.

“It’s true what they say about Belmont. It truly feels like you're living in a Glee, High School Musical twilight zone of constant music, celebrity sightings, and filming for TV.” Ella’s time at Belmont has allowed her to sing on the beautiful stages of the Fisher Center, Massey Performing Arts Center, and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. In her last semester, she is looking forward to joining Andrea Bocelli at his performance in the Bridgestone Arena. She is also performing Requiem For Colour with Dr. Jeffery Ames and the Belmont Chorale at the American Choral Directions Association Southern Region Conference.

“I am so excited for the next chapter of music. I can’t imagine the creativity that will stem from the lack of Canvas assignments and rehearsals.” Ella plans to continue to perform throughout her home town and Nashville as she pursues her passion of popular music teaching. She will continue to be an independent artist- writing and releasing music without the pressure of professional deadlines and expectations.