Melissa Ferrick

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=194291" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#AAAAAA" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c467d1euxmic.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Kristi Singer</b></FONT><B>     </b><B>|     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kristi Singer"><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id148.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mandorico"><U>Mandorico</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id186.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marc Siegel"><U>Marc Siegel</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id140.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mark Wills"><U>Mark Wills</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mashanda Favors"><U>Mashanda Favors</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id222.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="matchbox twenty"><U>matchbox twenty</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id237.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maybe Sunday"><U>Maybe Sunday</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id151.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Merl Saunders"><U>Merl Saunders</U></A>   |   <B>Melissa Ferrick</b>   |   <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michelle Sims"><U>Michelle Sims</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tim Burton, Mighty Mighty Bosstones"><U>Tim Burton, Mighty Mighty Bosstones</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mighty Mighty Bosstones"><U>Mighty Mighty Bosstones</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Moe Black"><U>Moe Black</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Morning 40 Federation"><U>Morning 40 Federation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mushroomhead"><U>Mushroomhead</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writing Samples"><U><B>Back to Articles</b></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Melissa Ferrick</div> <bR> <div> <B>Melissa Ferrick gets by with help from her fans</b></div> <div> By Kristi Singer</div> <div> <I>Star-News Correspondent</I></div> <div> October 25, 2002</div> <bR> <div> Most independent artists have to save their pocket change – and lots of it – to record a studio album. But for Boston-based singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick, putting on a good live show is paying off.</div> <bR> <div> The artist had a little help from her fans in funding her latest CD, Listen Hard.The May release cost about $32,000 to produce, Ms. Ferrick said, with more than 10 percent of that money came from fans.</div> <bR> <div> "I was totally amazed. I think they feel like we give and they wanted to give back. There's been plenty of times that I've put people on guest lists or gave them $20 for gas," Ms. Ferrick said. "I think if you're giving without expectations – because you want to, not because you expect anything back – then amazing things like this happen to you. I'm forever grateful to these people for really helping me be able to do my art."</div> <bR> <div> Listen Hard took only three weeks to record. The artists treated the recording process like a real job – entering the studio at noon and not leaving until 3 a.m. then getting up the next morning and doing it all over again. Since the studio space was costing her $800 a day, Ms. Ferrick said she wanted to make sure work got done.</div> <bR> <div> "These people that take a year and a half to make a record, it's just unbelievable to me. I just wonder how much of that time they're actually playing video games and eating gourmet food," Ms. Ferrick said.</div> <bR> <div> Ms. Ferrick wrote the songs for Listen Hard while touring in 2001. The CD follows Valentine Heartache, an album recorded on a 16-track home recording studio.</div> <bR> <div> "It was limited in its production, but at the same time, I really wanted to make a home-grown record. So with Listen Hard I really wanted to go into a studio and hire some players, and I was able to do that," Ms. Ferrick said.</div> <bR> <div> After tossing around title ideas – Fear of Country, Fear of Pop – Ms. Ferrick settled on Listen Hard, a line from the track You.</div> <bR> <div> "I was thinking about Listen Close because the production was bigger than what I had done in some time," Ms. Ferrick said. "Listen hard to the soul of the songs, listen hard to the production, and listen to the difference. You should take time with an album. It took time to make; it should take time to sink in."</div> <bR> <div> Listen Hard has a heavier sound than Valentine Heartache, she said. The new album is reflective and celebrative, compared to Valentine, which was inspired by an emotional breakup and new love.</div> <bR> <div> "I had just broken up with someone who really tore my heart out, and then in the middle of the record I had started a new relationship. Valentine Heartache moved from complete desperation to hope," Ms Ferrick said.</div> <bR> <div> Listen Hard is the third release on Right On Records, following Valentine Heartache and Skinnier, Faster, Live at the BPC.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>