Musical Expression

Melissa Ferrick's songs reflect her life's highs and lows

By Laura Latzko

Melissa Ferrick

When she performs, singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick hopes to evoke emotional responses in audience members who can identify with her struggles and triumphs.

"I think I always hope that people feel that I'm putting words to something they are feeling but aren't able to put words to," Ferrick said.

As part of her "Still Right Here" tour, named for the album she released in September, Ferrick will perform Oct. 22 at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix. She also performs regularly at Nita's Hideaway in Tempe.

Ferrick said music has allowed her to express positive and negative feelings and share life experiences, including her struggles with alcoholism and the highs and lows in her romantic relationships.

Ferrick got her big break after playing with Morrissey during a 1991 tour. She released her first album Massive Blur in 1993 on Atlantic Records. After she was dropped from the label, she started the independent label Right on Records in 2000.

Ferrick's new album, which she said she took two years to produce, includes the song "Let Me Be Me," a collaboration with Ani DiFranco.

A Massachusetts native, Ferrick said music has been a part of her life since she was a child. She said she started playing the violin when she was 5 years old and began the trumpet in the third grade.

While attending Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship, Ferrick started playing the guitar. She said she took an interest in the guitar because of her desire to write songs.

"When I started to play guitar, it was a vehicle for my songwriting," Ferrick said. "When I got a guitar in my hand, it made sense."

Ferrick said her musical inspirations include artists such as Sheryl Crow, Janis Joplin, U2, REM, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen. She said that she wants to be like musicians who have a deep connection with their music and care about others.

"They reflect a sense of humanity and compassion that I look up and I aspire to," Ferrick said. "I try to be a good person. I hope that I live my life with integrity and compassion."

Ferrick said it is important for lesbian and gay musicians to serve as good role models to keep young people from feeling self hatred and internalized homophobia and to help prevent them from harming themselves.

Since the beginning of her career, Ferrick said she has shared different parts of herself, including her sexuality, with others.

"That's important to who I am, and I'm honest about who I am," Ferrick said.

Vandaveer, a folk band created by Mark Charles Heidinger and Destinee Quinn, a country singer from Surprise, will also perform during the Phoenix show. -E

VITAL STATISTICS
Melissa Ferrick
8 p.m. Oct. 22
Crescent Ballroom
308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix
602-716-2222; www.melissaferrick.com