“Husk” out august 14, 2026
annalee knies + elka
Fifth single from Project Traction Colorado, a nonprofit expansion that empowers women and gender-expansive artists to gain traction in music production & engineering
Annalee knies
PROJECT TRACTION PRODUCER
They/She/He
Amanda is a music engineer & producer who specializes in live sound and music production.
She studied music engineering at the University of Miami, where she managed the campus state-of-the-art recording studio as well as the music engineering creative lab. While there, she recorded a variety of concerts -- from small chamber groups and recitals up to large concert jazz bands, and was a pioneer for live sound engineering within the contemporary music program. She traveled with the top contemporary ensemble to multiple festivals, including Okeechobee Music Festival and GroundUp Festival in FL. Post-graduation, she moved to Colorado and began a career in Software Engineering with QSC.
Currently, Amanda works as a freelance sound engineer, most notably for Colorado’s hottest lady rage bluegrass band, Big Richard, where she runs sound on the road, at ski areas, amphitheaters, and more. She also sings in Hey, Lady!, the world’s second best party band! As the “Kate Pierson” of this local B-52s tribute, she performs in a red wig and sparkly pants with lots of attitude.
“Project Traction an opportunity where i was expected to be creative and assertive, and be listened to by default. you wouldn’t believe what it takes (skills wise, performance wise, socially) to get that respect in the ‘real world’ version of music production.
once I and the other women and folks of Salome Songbird had the floor we voiced some really cool ideas and produced a unique and magical track.”
PROJECT TRACTION ARTIST
Elke Tukker (She/her), Jakob Mueller (he/him), Tobias Bank (he/him), and Cor Wright (they/them)
Elka
Elka consists of Elke Tukker (lead singer, guitar), Jakob Mueller (lead guitar, vocals), Tobias Bank (drums, vocals), and Cor Wright (bass, synth, vocals), and sometimes many others. After Elke moved to Fort Collins from the Netherlands, her growing friendships with Jakob, Tobias, and Cor, resulted in musical collaboration.
Although still fresh to making music, Elke’s strong desire to experiment is carried and translated by the musical expertise and experience of the other band members, who are all in multiple other musical projects (e.g. Frail Talk, Slow Caves, Third Ward). The band is influenced by folk, rock, shoegaze, country, and slowcore. Always bending genre, layering vocally and sonically, playing with contrasts, vulnerability, raw & grit, lyrical presence, wrapping harshness in softness and vice versa.
Elka released their debut EP Cold Feet, Soft Landing, in 2025 — streaming now on all major platforms.