Melissa Ferrick

Melissa Ferrick is an artist, agent, and educator. As a booking agent at Paladin Artists in NYC she currently represents: Antonia Bennett, Sandra Bernhardt, Gail Ann Dorsey, Elizabeth and the Catapult, Pete Droge, Jenna Nicholls, Janis Ian, Vandoliers, Of The dell, and Mt. Juliet. As a professor at Northeastern, Melissa teaches courses in music business, songwriting, and entrepreneurship. Prior to Northeastern, Melissa was an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music for seven years. She holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University.

Ferrick signed with Atlantic Records in 1992 at the age of 21 after touring with British rocker Morrissey in the US and the UK. 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. She released her debut and sophomore albums on Atlantic Records before moving on to the independent label W.A.R. Records in 1996. In 2000 Ferrick founded the independent record label Right On Records. In 2014, Melissa released the album, The Truth Is, which won her the Independent Music Award for Album of the Year. Ferrick currently records her material for the venerable Kill Rock Stars Records and continues to co-write in the country(ish), folk/rock, and Americana genres.

Over the last thirty years she has released eighteen albums, one documentary, one covers album, and performed more than six thousand shows. Her songs have been placed in major and independent films and on TV networks including HBO, Sears, ABC, and TBS. She is regarded in the industry and by her peers as one of the most prolific, hardworking, honest writers and performers active in the independent music industry today.

Some of the artists Melissa has toured with include: Morrissey, Joan Armatrading, Weezer, Tegan and Sara, Mark Cohen, Paul Westerberg, Ani DiFranco, John Hiatt, Bob Dylan, k.d.Lang, G-Love & Special Sauce, Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, and Anais Mitchell.