If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Shervin Lainez For the past eight years, Melissa Ferrick has been working in academia, but she's finally returning to releasing new music. Her first single off her upcoming album, "Black Dress," may be folk rock, but it's possibly the most rocking version of that possible. The song has a biting edge to it, and is fairly stripped down for a rock song but heavy for a folk song. Ferrick also adds a certain swagger and groove to the song, and the result is pretty damn close to punk. If this is the kind of music we can come to expect, we're welcoming back the veteran musician with open arms! You can listen to "Black Dress" below. Melissa Ferrick's upcoming album will be released on Kill Rock Stars in 2024. For more on Ferrick, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook .

Photo by Shervin Iainez Melissa Ferrick is a legendary singer/songwriter based out of Boston. They are a Berklee trained musician who is currently a Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University and a former Associate Professor of Songwriting at Berklee College of Music. Ferrick isn't an obvious choice for a Sleater-Kinney cover, but they've recorded a version of "You're No Rock N' Roll Fun" as part of Kill Rock Stars' thirtieth anniversary covers series Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars). While I said they weren't an obvious choice to cover Sleater-Kinney, now that you know it exists it is kind of a dream cover, isn't it? Ferrick takes more of a traditional folk/rock look at the Sleater-Kinney classic, but since it is Ferrick it does have their non-traditional take on the standard classic singer/songwriter thing. Both Melissa Ferrick and Sleater-Kinney are wonderfully unique artists, and this cover reflects that. You can listen to Melissa Ferrick...