When Melissa Ferrick takes to the Red Marquee stage at this year's Fuji Rock festival, prepare to have your jaw drop. This American singer-songwriter plays her acoustic-driven folk-rock with the energy and intensity of several people at once: she is a heart-broken lover, a self-reliant survivor and a glowing feminist superpower all at the same time. Her music spans the rock genre, from sensitive songs of love, loss and devotion to electric odesseys of defiance and liberation. And her voice ﾐ a sensual yet sinewy siren call ﾐ matches and surpasses any others out there today in strength and depth. Her voice and her music reach deep into your soul, and that's just what she likes: "I love to be the vehicle to which people have an emotional response", she says. And this emotion is cyclical, she says. It's the crowd who gives her the spark, which she then gives back ten times over. Critics have raved about how she can fill a stage and a venue with only her guitar and her voice..

She won't have to do it alone, however. She'll be joined by her drummer and good friend, Brian Winton. The two share a chemistry that's fascinating to watch onstage. It's been said that they share a sort of musical telepathy, often able to read where the other will take the next chord or beat. "We don't talk about [this relationship]," she says, "It's just too weird."

Ferrick lives for performing. As a self-described "Musician's musician", she states simply how she wants nothing else than to play her music to people who want to hear it. She's also extremely excited about performing at FujiRock ﾐ her first show in Japan. Many musicians look at FujiRock as a foot in the door to Japan's immense music market ﾐ the second biggest in the world. But Ferrick is just happy to play to new people. "The question is not if something is going to happen in Japan", says Ferrick, "Something already HAS happened." To be able to meet new people and to see a new country is enough for her, she proclaims.

Modest as she may be, there will no doubt be Melissa Ferrick fans after her live performance that Sunday. Not that she needs them. She already has a die-hard fanbase in America (dubbed "Ferrick-heads") and her own label to produce her work without compromising with the music industry. She's already done her stint with major labels (Atlantic) and toured with big names (Morrissey). She now focuses on her craft through constant touring and recording.

Ferrick loves festivals. She's played at Lilith Fair, the Newport Folk Festival and the big daddy of them all, Glastonbury. She's done a few other "hippy-oriented" festivals, like Moe-down. "I love it... just hanging out and soaking up the atmosphere".

But just because she wants to take it all in doesn't mean that she won't put it all back out for the fans. Ferrick says that she is serious about her music and her work and shows up first and foremost to perform. She points to her last six years of sobriety as an important aspect of her life and a point of inspiration for her. One side effect has been a more effective tour schedule. She has done as any as 250 shows in a single year, all the while recording new music, promoting her work and running the recording studio. "One of the things about an addictive personality," she muses, "is that I get a LOT of stuff DONE."

Although she completely out in the open about her sexuality (coming out years ago), she looks at this less as inspiration and more as "…just who I am,"

"But my sexuality is NOT my identity, it's just a fact of my life." Being "out", she says, is still a political statement, however, although she wishes it wasn't. "I would love to get to a place where we wouldn't have to identify ourselves from a sexual perspective. Where I could transcend my gender. Where I would just be a human being - born female."

Although her fans are predominantly women, she says that more and more men are attending ﾐ whether with their girlfriends or alone. She says that she now takes a moment to thank the men and the heterosexual community for coming out (heh, heh) to her shows, and she makes it a point to let everyone know that once at her gig, they are in a "free" zone, where everyone is accepted.

"I'm really interested in the crowd's response to our non-rock star attitude," she says. Ferrick like to walk around and interact with the people at the festival. And pretentious she is not. Some festivals and musicians "are very secluded", she says. But not her and her band. They enjoy being part of the festival, and doing their part for those who watch. "We talk to people if we can, and we sign autographs until there's not a line."

Aside from the Patti Smith and Galactic shows, Melissa and Brian plan to soak up at much atmosphere as they can, and hope to meet a few of you along the way, Their sense of dedication and community in music is inspiring. And to the true Fuji Rockers out there, this is music to our ears.

reported by ORG-jason (July 2, 2002)