Las Vegas Jam Band Society

Complete LVJBS Schedule

Melissa Ferrick:2/29/04
Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet:3/6/04
Modereko:3/27/04
OFFICIAL LVJBS PHISH AFTERSHOWS
Addison Groove Project: 4/20/04
LVJBS Band Camp --
Weekend of May 7-9 / 2004

Indian Springs Casino - Indian Springs, NV.Friday 10 pm to Sunday 6 pm A weekend of camping, dancing, and fun with all your favorite local Las Vegas Jambands on the grounds of the AREA 51 SOUNDTEST Announcmet of line-up and schedule coming soon...

The Las Vegas JamBand Society presents...

Melissa Ferrick
Little is known about Melissa Ferrick from a biographical standpoint. She is a songwriter who was born and raised in Massachusetts. She has been through the “industry” yet still is in love with it. And she plays and sings from her feet.

Melissa, along with musical partner Brian Winton, recorded and mixed Listen Hard at The Power Station New England in Connecticut from January 2nd through the 23rd, 2002. Choosing the ten strongest songs and having tons of ideas, they jumped into this project with only the music’s well being in mind.

While self-producing Listen Hard, Melissa relied heavily on Brian Winton. His knowledge of the material and his overall sensitivity for the songs became an essential element for Melissa. With Brian’s background in engineering and his forte in drumming, he seemed to take his rhythms almost instinctively out of Melissa’s head. Brian’s welcomed additions allowed Melissa the opportunity to experiment with production ideas that she previously had been unable to execute.

Listen Hard marks the first professionally recorded album Melissa has produced since her sophomore Atlantic release, Willing to Wait, in 1995. This time around, Melissa’s own label, Right On Records, and her loyal fans put some money into the making of the album. Utilizing The Power Station’s state-of-the-art equipment; head Engineer Jon D’uva’s great knowledge of the room; and hiring Bob Ludwig (Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME) to master it, the quality of Listen Hard is immediately audible. Additionally, Melissa and Brian called on some friends for musical input:

Sara Lee – Bass (B-52’s, Ani DiFranco, The Indigo Girls)
Jimmy Ryan – Mandocello & Mandolin (Catie Curtis)
Edie Carey -- Background Vocals
Wil Masisak – Organ, Melatrone, Piano & Jupiter6 (Dan Bern, Wilbur)

Once basic tracks and overdubs were complete, Melissa and Brian realized how they would be doing their project a disservice by mixing it on their own. They contacted friend Wil Masisak (Producer of Dan Bern’s 2001 release, New American Language) and, as luck would have it, found him in New England just 24 hours away from flying home to Boulder. So, with the purchase of a new airline ticket, Wil agreed to stay on and help mix the project. The result? Listen Hard is the most passionate and personally invested album release by Melissa Ferrick to date.

There seems to be no stopping Ferrick; this woman who now lives in the arena of owning and running Right On Records from her home. She says, “Right On Records is really a means to an end. To me, records aren’t complicated. You make one, try to get it into stores, make sure your posters don’t suck, you stay on the road, and you keep your website interesting and accessible. I have an incredibly devoted fan base, an amazing crew [Tour manager Jen Perry and Publicist Bryna Gootkind], the agency I’ve always wanted [Fleming & Associates] and a distributor who I respect tremendously [Goldenrod/Lady Slipper]. I am pleased to say that Right On Records is an independent-artist run label.”

Right On Records is proud to be part of the music business, and we hope you love Listen Hard
as much as we do. Thanks for listening.