Melissa Ferrick

Ferrick's rigorous touring schedule generally includes more than 150 shows per year. She plays solo gigs in small to medium-sized clubs and numerous festivals, as well as larger venues accompanied by a band. In 2007, she performed at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and opened for Ani DiFranco. Her song "Drive" from the Freedom album became popularly known as a "lesbian anthem".

In the Eyes of Strangers, released in October 2006, was the sixth album released on her own label. Ferrick partially financed the recording costs for In The Eyes of Strangers with digital downloads of acoustic versions of select songs which fans could purchase directly via her website. Her fourteenth album, Goodbye Youth, was released September 2008. In Spring 2010, she released an album of cover songs called Enough About Me, and announced plans to release an album of original material later that same year.

In 2000, Ferrick founded her own record label, Right On Records. The first studio album released on her own label was Valentine Heartache. Since her departure from Atlantic, the rise in her popularity has been driven by her fan-base, by reviews in the independent and alternative press, and by word-of-mouth.

In 1996, she—in her words – "bottomed out" After sobering up, she returned to music, signing with the indie label W.A.R.? - What Are Records?. Ferrick released three albums on the label; Made of Honor, Everything I Need, and Freedom, the latter inspired by Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope. Her 1998 album Everything I Need was nominated for Album of the Year by the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA).

Ferrick began her career singing and playing in coffeehouses in the East Village, New York City. She received a great deal of publicity in 1991 when she replaced, at the last minute, the opening act for the singer Morrissey on tour. She was subsequently signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records and released her first studio album, Massive Blur, in 1993.

Melissa Ferrick (born September 21, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University.