Interview with Melissa Ferrick

Photo courtesy Erica Beckman

See singer/songwriter Melissa Ferrick at Club Cafe tonight, and read more about her in Whirl’s February issue.

Victoria Bradley: So, we’re really excited about you coming to Pittsburgh. Tell me what you remember about Pittsburgh, what you think of when you think about Pittsburgh…

Melissa Ferrick: Well, a lot of things, only because I feel like I’ve been to Pittsburgh a lot. It’s definitely been a place that I’ve stopped in more than twice in 10 years. I played Club Cafe a lot when I first started out. One of my fondest memories — and kind of a bittersweet memory — was playing there with my old friend, Chris Whitley, who passed away after that tour. We played Club Cafe together, and I think that was the first date on the tour, and we had never met before. I also remember years ago, when I was on Atlantic, I opened for Del Amitri at, like — down where all the kinda Frat boys hang out…

Victoria: South Side?

Melissa: Like, Rosebud or something?

Victoria: Oh, you were in the Strip District. Yes, Rosebud.

Melissa: Yeah, we were playing on one side of the club, and on the other side of the club, Julianne Hatfield was playing with Jeff Buckley. That was pretty great. There’s a great radio station there. Um, on the other side of the river, I guess the South Side?

Victoria: WYEP maybe?

Melissa: Yeah, that’s it: YEP. I usually go there and do an on-air whenever I’m in town. They’re just really supportive. And I played The Rex with Dana Kurtz. And then I played there with Bitch and The Exciting Conclusions as well. I love that room. I just, I like that town a lot. It reminds me a little bit of Boston, in the fact that it’s, you know, on the water. And I know how to get around, oddly enough.

Victoria: That’s so cool that you have so many memories here. Do you remember food here at all?

Melissa: Well, there’s a great Italian restaurant across the street from Club Café…

Victoria: I bet that you went to Cafe Allegro. It has since closed.

Melissa: Yeah, I ate there, and then the only other place I eat when I play on that side of town is, like, an independent coffee shop, uh down the street…

Victoria: The Beehive.

Melissa: Yeah, they have sandwiches and soup in there…

Victoria: Tell us what we can expect from this show and this tour.

Melissa: Well, uh, that’s a really good question. I’ve had a lot of time off this fall, just writing and recording at home, and just taking a little break from the constant touring. It’s been really nice. Um, it’s kind of allowed me to be kind of in one place for more than two weeks and three weeks at a time. It’s been really rewarding and really confusing at the same time. Mostly, on this tour, I’ll just be showcasing new material. I’m in the process of making a covers EP right now, but it could turn into a record by the end. It seems like nowadays the legitimacy of having an album that makes sense thematically doesn’t really exist. So, there’s a part of me artistically that feels like putting a record out with half covers and half originals would be really weird, but then I’m like, people just buy songs these days, you know? Is there a way that I could align cover songs with original songs — whether it be in topic, or in time signature, or feel — you know what I mean? I’m covering Aimee Mann, one by U2, and, like, I’m doing Radiohead’s “High and Dry.”

Victoria: I think you can do whatever you want, especially with song order. The industry is changing.

Melissa: I know, I know. It’s so funny because I had wanted to do exactly what the Indigo Girls did which was to put out a double album: one disc of just the songs with the guitar, and then the other disc of, you know, me f***ing around in my home studio. And when they did that I was like, pissed and excited all at the same time. Like, did I say that out loud in front of Amy, and then like, she stole my idea? I feel like that kind of stuff happens to me. I’m sure it happens to all of us. I remember like, this is such a random tangent, but do you know that song, that, by Sarah McLachlan, called “Adia”?

Victoria: Of course.

Melissa: Right. But I wrote a song called “Aida,” A-I-D-A, about this woman who lived at the bottom of my street when I grew up, who like, only went out at night, and everybody thought she was crazy and scary, and we called her ‘the pigeon lady’ because she always had pigeons all over the roof of her house. So, I wrote the song called ‘Aida,’ and it’s on, like, a demo from 1996 that I made in L.A., and then in like 1998 or ’99, Sarah’s song came out. That is so freaking weird.

Victoria: Do you have any stories about crazy moments on stage?

Melissa: Well, at Club Cafe particularly, because everybody’s so close, and the bar’s right there at stage left… I remember one night, the whole crowd was quiet except for this one particularly … over-served … person at the bar. And she just wouldn’t shut up. I mean, it was unbelievable; she was just having a full-on conversation with someone who had her back to me. I just remember freaking out on stage and just like yelling at her. I just unloaded on her. She yelled at me back, and I was like, “Get out!” I had the door guy give her her 15 dollars, you know? I was like really mad about it. As soon as she was escorted out the door, everybody just started clapping and screaming. It’s definitely distracting for me, you know? But like, at the same time, it’s more upsetting for people who like, really it’s like my protection of the fans.