How the Song Came to Be with Melissa Ferrick - Episode 21

Melissa Ferrick was an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, the Artistic Director of the Performing Songwriter Division for Berklee’s Five Week Program, and holds an Ed. M at Harvard University Graduate School of Education with a concentration in Arts in Education and management of nonprofit organizations.

 

Signed to Atlantic Records in 1992 at the age of 21, after opening up for Morrissey in the US and UK, she released her debut and sophomore albums on Atlantic before moving on to Independent label W.A.R. Records between 1996-1999. In 2000 Ms. Ferrick launched her nationally distributed independent record label Right On Records; her publishing catalog is represented worldwide by Raleigh Music Group. Melissa has released 17 albums over the last 24 years.

 

Regarded in the industry and by her peers as one of the most prolific and hardworking artists in the business, Ferrick still tours regularly playing throughout North America. She has shared the stage with Morrissey, Marc Cohn, Paul Westerberg, John Hiatt, Joan Armatrading, Weezer, Tegan and Sara, G-Love & Special Sauce, Bob Dylan, Dan Bern, Ani DiFranco, k.d. Lang, Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, and many others.

 

In our conversation from 2017, Melissa shares:

• Why she does not have a daily creative practice (Why she can't "will it" to happen)
• How writing short stories led to writing songs
• Why judging can keep us locked away
• Keeping the door open to our songs