{"id":10329,"date":"2013-08-06T09:37:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T16:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=10329"},"modified":"2013-08-06T09:37:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T16:37:00","slug":"melissa-ferrick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2013\/08\/melissa-ferrick\/","title":{"rendered":"MELISSA FERRICK"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><b><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10330\" alt=\"MELISSA-FERRICK-Issue-No27\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MELISSA-FERRICK-Issue-No27.jpg\" width=\"660\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MELISSA-FERRICK-Issue-No27.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MELISSA-FERRICK-Issue-No27-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>MELISSA FERRICK<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><b>Teaching opens creative doors for the veteran singer-songwriter<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Teaching lyric writing at\u00a0Boston\u2019s Berklee College of Music has fostered a career renaissance for folk-rocker Melissa Ferrick. \u201cI\u2019m surrounded by all these jazz musicians, classical composers and theater professionals,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s such an intensity\u2014and it\u2019s a good thing. It\u2019s made me into a happier live performer. I\u2019ve been exhausted but completely fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The academic gig came at the right time. After releasing a dozen albums with varying degrees of success, the Massachusetts native nearly quit music. \u201cI was having a hint of bitterness about music and wondering if I wanted to do it anymore,\u201d she says. \u201cThis reignited my desire and allowed me to discover music again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ferrick\u2019s new album, <i>The Truth Is<\/i>, examines the aftermath of a long-term relationship that came to a \u201ccrashing, horrific halt.\u201d She didn\u2019t realize the depths of her pain until the tail end of a creative dry spell. \u201cThe writing of this record was different from any other album I\u2019ve made,\u201d she admits. \u201cThe breakup was a complete life-changing moment. What you\u2019re reduced to\u2014it\u2019s scary when that happens, but very relieving.\u201d Eventually she staged an emotional recovery by applying what she learned in the classroom. \u201cThe students turned me on to music they were listening to. It gave me new energy. I saw in my head what I wanted the record to sound like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From the first single, \u201cWreck Me,\u201d which features harmony vocals from friend Paula Cole, Ferrick\u2019s sound is polished but not overproduced. \u201cThis is an arranged show with a rehearsed band,\u201d she says of upcoming performances. \u201cI\u2019ve done the out-of-control and unorganized, both musically and emotionally. I understand the beauty of that. Now that I\u2019m teaching I find myself thinking about melody and technique. The question is: \u2018Am I giving my audience something to sing along to?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ferrick has also traded in the angry tirades of her earlier days for more mature, reflective material. \u201cYour talent is a vessel,\u201d she muses. \u201cI\u2019m honoring that by making sure I\u2019ve dressed it up and gotten it ready to be shown. I used to be a stream-of-consciousness writer. What interests me more now is the process. I used to live for the initial receiving, and felt like I had to create havoc and pain to write, which isn\u2019t the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MELISSA FERRICK Teaching opens creative doors for the veteran singer-songwriter Teaching lyric writing at\u00a0Boston\u2019s Berklee College of Music has fostered a career renaissance for folk-rocker Melissa Ferrick. \u201cI\u2019m surrounded by all these jazz musicians, classical composers and theater professionals,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s such an intensity\u2014and it\u2019s a good thing. It\u2019s made me into a happier [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[1762,6875,3265,10156,6927],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10331,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329\/revisions\/10331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}