Monday, August 24, 2009

It’s All About Music, It Always Is

There is no news, no television or computer and not a whole lot of conversation when on the job. My dad has this guy Timmy who helps him out and he is a great guy, very hard worker and willing to pitch in and do just about any job you throw at him from demo to finish work. I have been picking him up and dropping him back off every day and we have had a chance to chat and get to know each other more which has made working together a more pleasant environment.

But here is the thing about Tim, he isn’t exactly up on the ins and outs of the daily world as he lives in his truck and primarily listens to Oldies 103.3. So, although I like sharing stories about the fact that the DPW has decided the perfect time to cut the trees along route 2 is rush hour or he tells me about the time he spent working at the base as a military “brat”, we have very little in common aside from my dad (who by the way is almost never out at the job).

When I get home at night I am so exhausted I barely talk to anyone and have extremely low motivation to get on the computer. I feel out of touch and it is a foreign concept to me. In some ways it’s liberating to be free of the little electronic box but for the most part I just don’t like it.

To work out my psychosis called ‘left out-ness’, I turn to my favorite music. Although the other day I said Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains were making a come back, at the end of the day, on the hour long ride home after dropping Timmy, I need something far less heavy. So I turn, as I often tend to do, to Melissa Ferrick.

Recently on her digital release Goodbye Youth she covered the tune “Glycerine” by Bush. It is just her & an acoustic and it is awesome. I have seen her in places where there might have been 100 people at best and I was about a foot from the edge of the stage but although that is amazing, I really feel that this woman should be playing for crowds of thousands.

I have talked about her before but have probably not given her the insane props she really does deserve. Answering a survey the other day I mentioned something about all of her albums are as if she came over, read my journal and wrote her lyrics and it is totally accurate. She is raw, emotional and oh yeah, one hell of an amazing guitar player.

She has released 13 albums (including 2 live albums, one of which is a 2 disc) and if someone asked me to choose my favorite I would immediately name all of them before settling on ‘I can’t decide’. If I were to recommend one to get started on the road to Ferrick fandom however it would have to be either Freedom or Valentine Heartache or a mix cd with a sampling from everything. That might be a four disc set though.

I have seen her live at least 10 times, with a full band in a decent sized venue like the Ironhorse in Northampton, Mass or with nothing but a guitar and her honesty at Club Passim in Cambridge. Once Matt and I were even lucky enough to catch her show outdoors at the Museum of Fine Arts and we had the chance to meet her after the show. She was gracious and sweet and genuinely appreciative of our drooling fan-ness. It was so sweet how excited she was to hear we were going to be playing “The Stranger” at our wedding. Then she was sweet enough to let us snap a photo with her.

So speaking of sweet and to share one of my top 10 of hers of all time here’s a little live action to whet the eardrums, not only does she play guitar but trumpet on this one. Buy her stuff. She is amazing & you will not be sorry.




9 comments:

Chris said...

Glycerine is a great song. I'll have to check out the cover version.

Tabitha Bird said...

cool song:) What would life be without music?!

ginger said...

oh! i can't listen right now because i'm at work (s'okay, i'm on lunch), but i'll check her out ASAP! i always look to my friends for new music recommendations since i don't typically listen to actual radio very much.

hope you get back to normal very soon...just so you can relax and feel comfortable again. i mean, i miss you and all, but i'm trying to not be selfish here and it's not like i've been posting a lot lately either. :)

xoxo

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Thanks, I had not heard of her. This is my kind of music.

Audrey said...

What's wrong with Oldies stations? Hello!! We aren't all 20 anymore. LOL
Thanks for the links to the two sites you like - will definitely check them out!!

Theresa said...

Nice song. Thanks for the recommendation.

Judi FitzPatrick said...

That MFA show was one Eileen & I attended, too. It's a great venue to hear music.

Ferrick in not my favorite by any means, but I can understand why you like her stuff.

Hugs and love, Mum

Andrea said...

What a great song! Thanks for sharing!

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

@Chris please do, she does a nice job with it

@Tabitha you said it!

@Ginger Yeah its like there is a big hollow space on top of my neck right now just begging to be filled with wonderous witty words but can't get there. This too shall pass right? ♥

@Elizabeth glad you like her, love to share the love for Ferrick!

@Audrey lmao! OK in all fairness its not that I don't like the Oldies station, hey I'm not exactly 20 either but when I start hearing Billy Joel on there I am reminded of that fact & must go listen to something all the kids are digging :-]

@Theresa its totally one of my faves, just love her!

@Mum I remember, you ladies were knitting the entire show haha Yeah nothing like a concert under the stars. That's the first time I heard her sing Nebraska live ♥

@Andrea happy to do so always, spread the Ferrick love!