Melissa Ferrick

Melissa Ferrick is a singer-songwriter. Born in 1970, raised in Ipswich, Massachusetts and educated at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, she began her career singing and playing in coffeehouses in the

Melissa Ferrick is a singer-songwriter. Born in 1970, raised in Ipswich, Massachusetts and educated at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, she began her career singing and playing in coffeehouses in the Boston area. 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; her emergence onto the national scene was around 1993, when she released her first studio album Massive Blur under a contract with Atlantic Records.

Ferrick's relationship with Atlantic was rocky, and she was dropped after two albums; a few years later, in 1996, she -- in her words -- "bottomed out", drinking and "taking a bunch of pills." She soon returned to music, however, joining up with the indie label What Are Records?, which gave her a much greater degree of creative freedom. 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. 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.