Melissa Ferrick with Gracie and Rachel - Unicorn Bar Kingston

Name: Melissa Ferrick with Gracie and Rachel - Unicorn Bar Kingston
Start: 2024-12-07T20:00:00-04:00
Location: Unicorn Bar (Kingston)

Schedule

Sat Dec 07 2024 at 08:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Unicorn Bar (Kingston) | Kingston, NY

Tickets on sale Sept 13 at 10am!
Melissa Ferrick with Gracie and Rachel at Unicorn Bar Kingston!
7:00 p.m. doors
all ages show!
Melissa Ferrick
ARTIST/AGENT/EDUCATOR
30 years into a prolific career as a genre and gender-defying songwriter, Melissa Ferrick continues to disrupt normative categorization. Indie, Alternative, Folk, Punk….Melissa Ferrick won’t be labeled. With disarming wit and raw vulnerability, every lyric in Ferrick’s immense catalog is an invitation to confession or catharsis.

In 2023, Ferrick signed with K*ll Rock Stars, a label that has long been emblematic of authentic storytelling and home to indie acts including Sleater-Kinney, Bikini K*ll, The Decemberists and Elliott Smith.
“Being on this label is an alignment of who I am musically. KRS serves all of the different approaches to music that exist in me.”

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, Ferrick has re-recorded her critically acclaimed album Everything I Need, set to be released October 11th, 2024. “Just me and the guitar using live takes and no overdubs,” Ferrick captures the emotional intensity that has become a signature of her live performances. “The power songs have on marking time dumbfounds me. I remember writing each of them, I remember recording them, I remember the first time I heard Everything I Need on the radio, and I remember the first time an audience sang along. This album marked a time in my life when I was freed of so many boundaries - some imparted and some I hadn’t been willing to let go.” In June, Ferrick released the new single, “Black Dress” and a cover of Tegan and Sara’s “Where Does the Good Go,” both of which will be included as bonus tracks on the album.
Ferrick’s impact reaches far beyond her music. As one of the few openly queer artists in the 1990s, she navigated and challenged the sexism, homophobia, and rigid gender expectations of the music industry. Her trailblazing journey not only paved the way for future generations of artists but also created a space where they could express their identities and be celebrated on their own terms. Most recently, Melissa launched Drive Music Agency (DMA), a booking agency and consulting company designed to help launch new acts in the indie scene. She is also a Professor of Practice at Northeastern University, teaching courses in music business, songwriting, creative entrepreneurship, demo recording and production, and the psychology of creativity. Melissa was an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music from 2013 to 2019 and holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University.
Growing up in Ipswich Massachusetts, Ferrick’s passion for music began at an early age. Classically trained in violin and piano, Ferrick’s education is also rooted in jazz, playing both trumpet and bass. As a self-taught guitarist, Ferrick began her career playing local venues in Cambridge like The Middle East and T.T. The Bear’s, which paved the way for legendary acts like The Indigo Girls, The Pixies, and The Flaming Lips. Ferrick’s major breakthrough came in 1991 when she stepped in for Morrissey's opening act just an hour before showtime. Her impressive performance earned her an invitation to tour with Morrissey in the U.S. and UK, leading to a major label deal with Atlantic Records. Her debut album, Massive Blur (1993), introduced her blend of introspective songwriting and genre-crossing sound.
Between 1996 and 1999, Ferrick released three albums with the Colorado-based indie label W.A.R. Records. In 2000, she launched the nationally distributed independent record label Right On Records. Ferrick published two critically acclaimed albums with NY-based label MPress Records between 2011 and 2013. She's released eighteen albums throughout her 30 year career and has won numerous awards for songwriting, production, and performance.

Ferrick has shared the stage with countless acts, some of which include Bob Dylan, Joan Armatrading, Weezer, Tegan and Sara, Mark Cohen, Paul Westerberg, John Hiatt, Ani DiFranco, k.d. Lang, Suzanne Vega, and Shawn Colvin.
As she continues to challenge conventions, Melissa Ferrick continues to reinforce her genre-defying legacy with each new project.
Jami Smith
Songs That Saved Your Life
Gracie and Rachel
The Brooklyn-based piano-violin duo Gracie and Rachel has emerged as a formidable force in challenging the boundaries of pop music. Blending baroque elements, ethereal sonic-scapes, and penetrating vulnerability, the duo creates an emotionally haunting sound all their own. Their sophomore album, Hello Weakness, You Make Me Strong, released on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, explores the depths of their emotional states and the walls we build up inside ourselves. It’s music to excavate our inner fears and help us find empowerment from within. Seen on stages opening for Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Julien Baker, San Fermin and more, the collaborative duo of keyboardist, Gracie Coates, and violinist, Rachel Ruggles, have performed two NPR Tiny Desk Concerts and been praised by the outlet’s Bob Boilen to “mix pop and classical in stark, infectious ways and make unforgettable, surprising music.” Gracie and Rachel’s catalog is marked by hauntingly spare arrangements, bold, baroque flourishes, evanescent vocal stylings, and penetrative lyrical tact. The duo’s latest EP, Nowhere Now Here, out on Righteous Babe Records, honors these sonic elements and elevates them, a melodious new vigor coursing through the track list, ranging from pointedly delicate to tenderly anthemic.