A musician, native to Ipswich, Massachusetts. Her music could be described as alterative folk rock, with very personal, insightful lyrics and amazing right-hand guitar technique. (Another earnest folk singer?) An out lesbian for the length of her career, she has often been called "the other Melissa", although her sound is more similar to Ani Difranco than Melissa Etheridge.
When she was four, she approached her father and said that she'd wanted violin lessons "since before I was born." She got her violin lessons, and went to Berklee college of music in Boston on a full scholarship for trumpet, but soon after she got in, it was guitar that she fell in love with. She signed with Atlantic records in the early 90s (when she was only twenty), and produced the albums "Massive Blur" and "Willing To Wait". Record sales were not as high as Atlantic had hoped, and they dropped her from the label after Willing To Wait. She got together with What Are Records?, an independent label based in Denver, Colorado, and put out three more albums: a live one, "Melissa Ferrick +1", then "Everything I Need", and "Freedom". She then formed Right On Records and released a live two-CD set called "Skinnier, Faster, Live" in 2000. "Valentine Heartache" is her newest, released in 2001.
Melissa is growing in popularity, and has become a byword at least in dyke circles. Her song "Drive", about sex, is particularly popular. She is definitely a musician to watch out for.