Singer Songwriter Melissa Plett to Release 'Ghost Town' in September
By: Caryn Robbins Jul. 18, 2017
Montreal, Canada-based Americana singer-songwriter Melissa Plett is set to release her new full-length studio album on September 1, 2017. Entitled Ghost Town, the album was recorded in Nashville at Omnisound Studio with the help and guidance of well-known Nashville musician/producer Pat Severs and the collaboration of countless talented locals. The eight songs encapsulate Plett, who is a glittering bound of energy who holds your attention captive, blasts you across the room with her powerful voice and then slowly reels you in like a tractor beam, weaving her life experiences into the fabric of her craft with a laugh or with a tear. Her music is enriched by a lifetime of love and warmth, yet scarred by devastating heartbreak. Her influences come from the down-south storytelling of Johnny Cash, the pioneering tell-all nature of Kitty Wells, and the heart-wrenching tales of hardship from Etta James and Ray Charles.
The video for the album's title track, "Ghost Town," will premiere the morning of Monday, July 24th at www.bucketlistmusicreviews.com.
A truck-driver's daughter, Plett grew up in Manitoba, where, at the age of 13, she was involved in a vehicular accident that took the life of her cousin (and best friend) and almost cost her her own life as well. Plett overcame debilitating and life-threatening injuries to over half her body. With a second chance at life, Plett vowed never to take her existence for granted and at a very young age adopted a motto she has lived by ever since: "I'd rather die living than live not alive."
After pouring her heart out on the piano through her teenage years, she soon picked up a guitar and began her first foray into songwriting. Following a showcase at the 2005 Winnipeg Folk Festival, Plett released her first EP, Repeated Stories. In 2010, she released Outside the City, where she truly established her unique country/folk/soul sound.
As Plett's music career started to crescendo, news from the Manitoba family farm rocked her to her core. When Plett's mother was diagnosed with brain cancer and was given one year to live, the music stopped. Having to deal with not only the devastating loss of a parent, but her biggest supporter and encourager, took its toll. A few years later, Plett poured her pain into her music and had to rediscover the joy of performing, but eventually she found comfort in her mother's encouragements to "let your wail out!"
Out of the void came songs on her new album like "Trigger" and "Stay," along with a new motivation to take her music to the next level-in Nashville. The timing of the release of Ghost Town was very carefully chosen around a very special person's birthday and significant time of year. "In 2010, I released Outside the City on September 2nd, which was one day before my mother's birthday," says Plett. "In 2013, almost a year to the date of her diagnosis-and a few weeks after her birthday-my mom lost her battle with cancer. The reason I am releasing Ghost Town when I am is because of how full-circle my life has come in the past seven years. What I thought was the plan seven years ago with Outside the City was not the right time... what is happening now is. I know I'm in the right spot. I feel there is a huge significance in celebrating this 'full-circle' by releasing my new album so close to the anniversary of my last release and just a few days before my mother's birthday yet again. After all, my mom was the first one to encourage me to wail."
Plett plans to tour extensively in Canada and the U.S. in support of Ghost Town. She is celebrating the album release with a very special intimate, acoustic show in Nashville at Belcourt Taps on Wednesday, August 30th at 6 p.m. For $10, fans can get into the show and get a copy of the album a few days before its official release date. "The reason I am having the release party in Nashville is because of how everything that has happened in my life, up until this point, seems to have led to this," says Plett. "I truly feel like I am on the path I was purposed to be on in this life... I just had to go through everything I did to fully see it and recognize it. And I believe I have." Confirmed tour dates are listed below; more tour dates will be announced soon.
Melissa Plett Tour Dates:
Aug. 9 - Vergennes, VT / Bar Antidote
Aug. 11 - Richmond, VT / Stone Corral Brewery
Aug. 30 - Nashville, TN / Belcourt Taps (album release party)Sept. 8 - Richmond, VT / Stone Corral Brewery
Sept. 9 - Richmond, VT / Stone Corral Brewery Anniversary Party
Sept. 9 - Montreal, QC / The Brass Door Pub
Sept. 13 - Sault Sainte Marie, ON / LopLops
Sept. 16 - Winnipeg, MB / Le Garage
Oct. 21 - Montreal, QC / Grumpy'
Oct. 28 - Burlington, VT / Nectar's
Nov. 25 - Montreal, QC / Coming Together Project
...more dates to be announced soon!
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