Cafe Eleven

  &nbspFerrick began her career singing and playing in coffeehouses in the East Village, New York.[1] She received a great deal of publicity in 1991 when she replaced, at the last minute, the opening act for the singer Morrissey on tour. Largely as a result of her standout performances with Morrissey, she was signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records and released her first studio album Massive Blur in 1993.
Ferrick’s relationship with Atlantic was rocky. She was dropped when her first two albums did not meet the producers’ financial expectations. Nonetheless, Willing To Wait, her second album with Atlantic, is still highly praised by her fans.

In 2000, Ferrick founded her own record label, Right On Records, in a move reminiscent of fellow “folk rocker” Ani DiFranco’s choice to release under Righteous Babe Records. A few of Ferrick’s more recent songs refer to the sometimes constraining nature of being signed with a major label. The first studio album released on her own label was Valentine Heartache. Since her departure from Atlantic, the rise in her popularity has been driven by her fan-base, by reviews in the independent and alternative press, and by word-of-mouth.
In The Eyes of Strangers, released in October 2006, was the sixth album released on her own label. Ferrick partially financed the recording costs for In The Eyes of Strangers with digital downloads of acoustic versions of select songs which fans could purchase directly via her website. In September 2007, she released Live at Union Hall, a live album recorded in Brooklyn, New York. Following her latest live album, she announced her intention of releasing future studio material as singles to be released one at a time digitally prior to compiling into full-fledged albums.[3]
Ferrick’s lyrics are characterized by confessional and highly personal content. She mostly accompanies herself on a Collings OM3 SB acoustic guitar, which she often plays with rapid fingerpicking and complicated riffs. She has also experimented with a range of accompaniments, including, in particular, brass instruments. She is famous for her excellent guitar play, even if critics do not always approve of her songwriting skills.
Melissa Ferrick on stage is claimed to be a totally different experience to listening to her studio albums. Her rigorous touring schedule generally includes more than 150 shows per year. She plays solo gigs in small to medium-sized clubs and numerous festivals, as well as occasionally larger venues accompanied by a band. In 2007, she performed at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and opened for Indigo Girls and Ani Difranco.