Chella Negro at the Larimer Lounge

Michelle Caponigro's backstory reads like something you'd see on Behind the Music. After moving to Denver a decade ago from La Crosse, Wisconsin, Caponigro joined a jam band called Purple Buddha, but found that artistic context a little stifling to her creativity. Adopting the stage name Chella Negro, Caponigro subsequently...

By Tom Murphy

February 18, 2010

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Michelle Caponigro's backstory reads like something you'd see on Behind the Music. After moving to Denver a decade ago from La Crosse, Wisconsin, Caponigro joined a jam band called Purple Buddha, but found that artistic context a little stifling to her creativity. Adopting the stage name Chella Negro, Caponigro subsequently focused on her own songwriting — a stripped-down, folky affair with just a guitar and her pointed vocals. There sure is no shortage of acoustic singer-songwriters in the world, but Chella Negro (due at the Larimer Lounge on Sunday, February 21) doesn't sound like she's trying so hard to be just like one of her heroes. Her voice has a refreshingly unique quality that possesses both soulful resonance and an edge. Recently recruiting Darren Dunn, formerly of LandlordLand, on drums, Chella is augmenting her beautifully spare melancholia with a little kick.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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