Melissa Ferrick: Coming home into her own

Melissa Ferrick’s development as an artist of her own personal brand of “folk rock” has been long and challenging, but it’s all been worth it with the release of her 12th album that she described as a sort of “coming home.”

Not only an artist and songwriter but also her own engineer and producer, Melissa’s latest album is self-titled– which is apt as it was recorded at home and released on her own relaunched label, Right on Records. In a sense, it’s a new beginning for Melissa.

Melissa Ferrick’s life

Growing up in Ipswich, MA during the 70s, Melissa lived a life of music: playing the violin, going to jazz clubs on the North Shore with her father (who managed local bands). She also learned to play the trumpet and bass guitar in school, as well as how to write songs.

She was accepted into the New England Conservatory’s Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble as a trumpet player, and was able to perform in California and China. Later on, she was accepted to the Berklee College of Music on a songwriting and trumpet scholarships.

She played in Boston’s local rock scene for two years and then left school to move to New York City. There, she played at the Bitter End weekly and worked at Right Track Recording studios and Chrysalis Records to learn the production side of making music.

In 1991, she opened for Morrissey in Boston and was later invited to finish his US and UK tour as his opening act. From there, she was offered deals with three major labels.

Melissa Ferrick’s music

Since then, she’s worked with a number of artists like Marc Cohn, Paul Westerberg, Dwight Yoakam, John Hiatt, Weezer, Tegan and Sara, G-Love & Special Sauce, Bob Dylan, Dan Bern, Ani DiFranco, k.d. Lang, Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Joan Armatrading, Mike Doughty, The Indigo Girls and many others.

She also does tours regularly and plays throughout North America, performing around 100 shows a year.

She had albums produced with Atlantic Records, W.A.R.?– What Are Records?, MPress Records, as well as her own label, Right On Records.

Her single, “Still Right Here” debuted on Billboard’s Heat-Seekers Album Charts and won an 8th annual International Acoustic Music Award (IAMA). She likewise received two Independent Music Award (IMA) nominations. In 2012, she won the International Acoustic Music Awards Song of the Year for “You Let Me Be.”

She’s an eight-time Boston Music Award winner for Best Singer-Songwriter, and won the 2014 Independent Music Award for Alt-Country Album of the Year Fan Vote for her self-produced album the truth is. Meanwhile, she was a featured music honoree in OUT Magazine’s OUT100, which focuses on artists who make an impact on the community.

Check out her latest single below from her new album, “Melissa Ferrick.” You can also read up on Lesbian News’ exclusive interview of her in our October issue.