Melissa Giges Set for Live Album Recording Concert at Rockwood Music Hall, 4/21

On her latest album, Just When I Let Go, Melissa Giges has taken a chance. No longer hiding under a cover of mysterious lyrics, she is opening up, and it's enabled her to tell deeply personal stories about suitors playing strange games, about exes that should come with roadmaps, and the apparent crime of being single. The New York born and bred singer-songwriter will be performing those songs and telling the stories behind them when she records a live album on April 21st at New York's premiere venue for new music, Rockwood Music Hall.

For Melissa, even though she's an artist who has performed at the White House, Kennedy Center and sang the national anthem at Giants Stadium, and had her songs featured on shows like MTV's Real World Brooklyn and Keeping Up With the Kardashians, she was nervous about approaching this album and being much more vulnerable. "When I started writing music and performing my songs, there was a part of me that actually didn't want people to understand everything that I was saying," Melissa notes. "There were songs I'd written that had lines in them that wouldn't necessarily make sense to others but made perfect sense to me. I thought being vague was interesting, intriguing, and it felt safe. I didn't know I was putting up a wall up between myself and my audience. So, something I've learned is that being clear and honest is just a better way to go. It's more rewarding for everyone. Just When I Let Go is really about that. The theme of the record is: speaking up, being clear, showing vulnerability. There's no more decoding of lyrics needed! I feel like this album is the most relatable and most vulnerable record I've ever made. I'm really proud of that."

This is important to Melissa especially because she believes musicians shouldn't be afraid to handle any topic in their songs, and many of her latest songs are inspired by deep and often raw personal experiences. "I think musicians should and can write about anything they'd like," Melissa says. "In my case, I tend to use personal relationships as inspiration quite often--and not only romantic ones. Friends and family also enter the picture (although past and present romantic relationships do provide incredible material!). And hey, if some of them can't take the heat, they shouldn't date a songwriter. The title track, Just When I Let Go, is about dating in one particular situation: a guy pursued me, and then the moment I allowed myself to be open to the possibility of something with him, he disappeared. So I moved on, and the moment I did, he reappeared again. A strange game, especially for someone (meaning me) for whom games aren't a thing."

"In another song of mine, On The Surface," Melissa adds, "I describe a relationship with someone who meant a lot to me but I learned the hard way that our connection was really only surface-deep. Although he said he wanted to dive deep with me, he really never acted that way. After our relationship ended, I started thinking about some of the things his friends said to me while we were dating, and about why and how his previous relationships ended. It was like someone had just copied-and-pasted what he'd done with me. Amazing. So, I came up with this idea: imagine we could have a sort of guide or road map written or drawn for us by our partners' exes...things would be so much easier! We'd know what we were getting into: at three months, at six months, a year. It'd be all laid out for us and we'd know what lay ahead. As realistic as time-travel, perhaps, but hey...a girl can dream!"

Melissa notes how her song I Was The Criminal takes on something else that's important to her. "I've always been focused on my career--it isn't that other things aren't important to me--but, there's a reason I didn't get married when some of my friends did, and there's a reason I don't have a kid yet (if that's even something I'd decide to do). It's because I'm absorbed and focused on my music. So one day, I was catching up with an ex and it turned out he was about to get married. He asked me if I was seeing anyone at that time, and I said no. He made this snarky comment like, 'you're still single?' He was dead to me right then and there. You know, I've been made to feel like I'm committing a crime because I've been so focused on my craft, and on my music. And you know what, it isn't a crime...it's simply being driven. Lots of people can have a relationship and a career at the same time, but I've been learning steadily how to balance both so that each one is healthy. These days I think I'm pretty good at it, and it shows now, in both my music and in my personal life. Apparently you just have to find that right person who gets it. Being passionate isn't a crime, settling is."

For Melissa, what music inspires her is always changing and comes from a mix of genres. "Growing up, I was a classically trained pianist - I loved Chopin, Mendelssohn and pretty much anything slow and dark. And then when I started singing, I got into the jazz greats such as Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughn. I always loved the ballads probably because I liked singing them the most. Ultimately, I just like a good melody and a great, unique voice. But I'm all over the spectrum with music. It really depends on my mood. If I feel like being introspective I'll put on some Sia, Radiohead, James Blake, Imogen Heap, Beck, Fiona Apple, Death Cab For Cutie, to name a few. If I feel like kicking it up a notch and dancing around my apartment, I'll put on some Michael Jackson, Eminem, Fort Minor, pretty much anything upbeat. When I recorded my first album, Evident, with my producer, Blake Morgan, we used the mantra 'dark is good.' Dark is good but lately I've been reminding myself that lighter can be great too."

As a born and bred New Yorker, Melissa feels New York is a terrific but also a testing place for a musician. "One thing for sure is that New York musicians are strong-willed," she explains. "We support each other. We certainly haven't chosen the easiest career path but there isn't another option for most artists. This is our calling. Plan B was never an option for me, personally. What's special about my label, ECR Music Group, is that all the artists support and drive each other to reach higher. I play in their bands and they play in mine. Each one of us wants the other to succeed and grow. It's healthy competition in that we push each other to work even harder."

"Melissa embodies what we at ECR are all about," adds Blake Morgan, Founder and CEO of ECR, "Independence, vision, courage, growth--each of these describe Melissa, and even more importantly, they describe how she approaches making her music. I've watched her grow and blossom with each opportunity she's earned, and the success she's now enjoying is the happy result. We're very proud of who she's become, and very excited about where she's going."

One element of Melissa's engagement with her fellow artists is her involvement in the #IRespectMusic campaign. "The #IRespectMusic campaign is important to me because it affects my livelihood," Melissa says. "Artists aren't paid for radio play in the United States--and we're the only democratic country where that's the case. If my song is on the radio and people are enjoying something that I put my heart, time, and money into...why shouldn't I get compensated for that? If I can't make any money, I can't make records. If I can't get paid, I can't live in NYC, which is and always has been, my home. I can't afford a band and play shows for my fans. Bottom line is that middle-class artists need to be able to support their careers. This is the career that I've chosen based on my calling, and my nature, and I should have the same fair shot as others do in their professions. This is about simple fairness: artists--like everyone else in this country--should be paid fairly for their work."

Melissa can already feel her new openness paying off, as she carries over that new boldness from the safety of the studio to the bareness of the stage. "There's magic that happens in the studio when you're working with the right producer," she notes. "Blake understands me, and understood the vision I had for Just When I Let Go. Sometimes I wouldn't even have to say anything and he could read the reactions on my face. Now that's talent! But not only did we make the album I wanted to make, we had a blast in the studio. We were silly, serious, and emotional. I have album mascots that are little plastic farm animals that were a part of our studio sessions for both albums. They all had names too. It's weird, I know. But we left judgement outside of the studio. At least that's what Blake told me. With playing shows, I used to wrestle with anxiety before taking the stage. I think that anxiety crept in not because of the music but the anticipation of what I would say to the audience in between songs. I never used to feel fully comfortable with that aspect. But all that has changed, as my own openness in the songwriting itself has changed. I opened up that vulnerability in the recordings, and what happened to me in my performances followed immediately. Now I let it all fly, and I don't feel that anxiety at all anymore. It's really liberating. So at this point in my career, I truly love both, equally. Anytime I can be creative, I'm at my happiest self."

Tickets are still available for Melissa's Live Album Recording Session at Rockwood Musical Hall Stage 3, 185 Orchard Street, April 21st at 8.30pm. (With Special Guest Performers Janita and Blake Morgan.) For tickets, go to http://www.ticketfly.com/event/787155

Melissa Giges' new album, Just When I Let Go, is now available on ECR Music Group. http://www.ecrmusicgroup.com/discography/melissa-giges-just-when-i-let-go/

For more on Melissa Giges, go to http://www.ecrmusicgroup.com/artists/melissa-giges/

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