When I was at the Song School in August I had the pleasure of taking a creative writing class with performing singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick. She gave us a great exercise to get the creative juices flowing, and listened to a few people’s songs and gave them feedback.

After the class I mentioned to her that I had a radio show and said I’d be happy to do an interview with her sometime and she said “How about tomorrow?” Luckily I had a digital recorder with me (for recording classes) so I said “Sure!”

The next day Melissa and I managed to fit in a quick interview before her next class and she talked about the artists she was excited to see at the Folks Festival, staying ahead in the indie music industry, plus all about her new album Goodbye Youth.

Goodbye Youth is a departure for Melissa in that it’s just her and the guitar. That’s how most of her fans know and love her in concerts, but she’s never done a studio album that way. From what I’ve heard of it so far, it sounds really great!

The album is released only on iTunes and at concerts starting today, with an “official street date” in January. Sounds like it’s a great way to get the album out in the hands of the fans without having to wait for all the hoops you have to jump through for a traditional album release.

You can preview some tracks on Melissa’s MySpace.

Get the album on iTunes:

I’ll be airing the interview on the Lyrical Venus Radio Hour this week. That’s Tuesday from 9-10 am KRUU-LP 100.1 FM, or kruufm.com for you internet listeners!

P.S. For a little sneak peek into Song School, here’s a video of Melissa working out a song with Sarah Sample (winner of the 2007 Folks Festival Showcase and soon to be guest on Lyrical Venus Radio!). It’s in the tent where I had my class and interview with Melissa. You can see the main Festival stage in the background:

Feed and email readers may need to come to the blog to see the video.

Hang tight peeps! As seems to be par for the course this summer, I’ve just gotten home from one trip and am diving headfirst into my next projects – this time as in a bunch of part time job offers. I need to do a little figuring out, because they all sound cool, and if I do all of them, I won’t have any me time left! Which, after going to Song School, I’ve discovered I very much want me time for my own music! More on all that as it gets more clear.

Anyhoo, for first impressions after Song School, check my MySpace blog.

And know that I met a whole heap of A-MAZING musicians out in the mountains, and I plan to introduce you to a bunch of them here soon!

PS I have a few random pix up on flickr – I was so immersed in the classes that I didn’t have much chance to document, and then I ran out of batteries on the last day when I was ready for it. But you get some of the idea: