Melissa Carper is an American singer, songwriter and double bassist raised in North Platte, Nebraska, United States. She came from a musical family and started playing bass when she was a child, performing in a family band at churches and rest homes around North Platte.[1] She has traveled the country playing in the oldtime, blues, western swing and country styles.[2]
Carper considered majoring in music in college but left before earning her degree. She then worked at a fish factory in Alaska before moving to Eureka Springs, Arkansas where she could feel comfortable within the local gay community.[3] In 2009 she moved to Austin, Texas and then to Nashville, Tennessee in 2014 where she met Dennis Crouch which led to her first solo album Daddy’s Country Gold recorded in 2021.[3][4] Her next album Ramblin' Soul was named one of the best country albums in 2022 by Rolling Stone.[5] Carper, Kelly Willis, and Brennen Leigh released a six song EP Wonder Women of Country[6] which was one of The Boston Globe music critics' favorite albums of 2024.[7] Her solo albums Ramblin' Soul (2022) and Borned in Ya (2024) are backed by Americana imprint Thirty Tigers.[4][8]
Her song "Making Memories" was featured in the closing credits of an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.[9]
Collaborations
edit- Brand New Old-Time Songs - Rebecca Patek (2018)
- Daddy's Country Gold - Dennis Crouch (bassist), Andrija Tokic, Brennen Leigh, Sierra Ferrell (2021)
- Wonder Women of Country - Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh (2023)
References
edit- ^ Havighurst, Craig (2 June 2021). "Q&A: Songwriting, Bass-Playing Melissa Carper Mines For Old Country Gold". WMOT (89.5 FM). Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ Fuentes, Gladys (14 March 2023). "Melissa Carper Rambles Into Houston". Houston Press. ProQuest 2786638344.
- ^ a b McCord, Jeff (1 December 2022). "Melissa Carper's Emotional Wanderings". KUTX (98.9 FM).
- ^ a b Freeman, Doug (2 September 2022). "The Ramblin' Soul of Songwriter Melissa Carper". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
- ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (28 December 2022). "Country Singer Melissa Carper Doesn't Wince When You Describe Her Music as 'Retro'". Rolling Stone.
- ^ Horowitz, Steve (11 March 2024). "Willis, Carper, and Leigh Are the 'Wonder Women of Country'". PopMatters. ProQuest 3039102197.
- ^ "The 20 best albums of 2024 (so far)". The Boston Globe. 10 May 2024. ProQuest 3053020932.
- ^ "New Releases". Thirty Tigers. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ Smittle, Stephanie (9 September 2022). "Speaking of Melissa Carper, check out this scene from 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
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