Melora Creager Explained

Melora Creager
Birth Date:25 March 1966
Birth Place:Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Occupation:Singer, songwriter, musician, cellist
Years Active:1989–present
Current Member Of:Rasputina
Associated Acts:

Melora Creager (born March 25, 1966) is an American cellist, singer-songwriter, performing artist and founder of the rock band Rasputina.[1]

Early life, beginnings and Rasputina

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and adopted[2] by a graphic designer and physicist, Creager was raised in Emporia, Kansas.[3] [4] She started studying music at the age of 5, and at age 9 began playing the cello. As a child she was also a member of the Wichita Youth Symphony.[5] Though she briefly quit playing in her teen years, after Creager moved to the east coast to attend Philadelphia College of Art and Parsons School of Design, she was convinced by friends to take it up again.[6] [7] [8] In the late 1980s she played with the New York indie rock band Ultra Vivid Scene.[9] In 1991, Creager founded alternative cello ensemble Rasputina by writing a manifesto and placing a want-ad in the Village Voice stating "electric cellists wanted".[10] Cellist/composer Julia Kent was the first respondent. Rasputina performed regularly at NYC venues such as CBGB's Gallery, Brownie's and Fez before being signed to Columbia Records in 1996, for whom they subsequently made two albums. Since 2005, Rasputina and Creager have released their music under her own label, Filthy Bonnet Recording Co.

Creager makes unique use of historical events and figures in her lyrics and themes. Inspirations include the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, Howard Hughes, Rose Kennedy, victims of Josef Mengele, Emily Dickinson, Pitcairn Island, and Columbia County, New York. Combining history and humor in song-form and spoken-word pieces, Creager is also unique in exploring women's history through pop music.[11]

Through more than eight albums and frequent touring, Creager through Rasputina, with varying members, has been an originator of and influence on such movements as freak folk[12] [13] and steampunk.[14]

Creager has created all of Rasputina's album covers, except for The Lost & Found which was designed by artist Ryan Obermeyer.[15]

Other work and collaborations

Creager played cello with Nirvana on the European leg of their In Utero world tour in 1994, including the band's final show in Munich.[8] [16] [17] According to Creager, Kurt Cobain personally called to offer her the job. She has said that touring with the band, as well as Cobain's suicide, made her realize that she found the idea of large-scale fame unappealing, stating, "Fame is just so unnatural. Fame kills and it was valuable to learn that early on,"[8] and "It was an amazing experience but I couldn't be happier being where I am now."[18] In 2014, in honor of the 20th anniversary of Cobain's death, Creager launched Dedication Compilation, what she referred to as "a collective free arts release". The Compilation, a webpage containing poems, songs and art in memory of "those we've lost to suicide or overdose", included contributions from Melissa Auf der Maur and John Cafiero.[8] [19] [20]

Creager's debut solo album Perplexions, was released in 2006.

Creager has been a frequent collaborator of Voltaire, playing cello on his albums Riding a Black Unicorn... (2011), Raised by Bats (2014) and Heart Shaped Wound (2017).[21] [22] Creager was a featured artist on the song "Into The Black" by English band Birdeatsbaby on their 2014 album The Bullet Within.[23] [24] She was also credited as "additional cello" on the soundtracks to Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich's films Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) and The Devil's Carnival (2012).[25] [26]

From 1988 to 1996, Creager was employed as a jewelry designer for Erickson Beamon, creating costume jewelry for Anna Sui, Donna Karan, Barney's New York, and Vogue magazine. She continues her relationship with Anna Sui, occasionally designing fashion show invitations and T-shirts.[27] [28]

Creager also has a short list of acting and film credits. In 1989 she briefly appeared as a member of the fictional Finger Lakes Trio in the film Longtime Companion.[29] [30] In 2003, Creager starred in the short film "On My Knees", by filmmaker Kim Wood, as Hannah Cullwick, whose diaries the film is based upon.[31] [32] Creager also wrote the music for the film, which appears on the Rasputina compilation album Great American Gingerbread.[33] In 2010, Creager and Rasputina were the subject of a documentary entitled Under the Corset, created by podcaster and then-future Rasputina drummer Dawn Miceli.[34] Creager also contributed additional voices to the 2018 pilot of the Adult Swim animated series Tigtone.[35]

Personal life

Creager has two daughters, Hollis and Ivy.[36] She lives in Hudson, New York.[37]

At some point in 2015, Creager became the victim of identity theft when her computer was hacked into and subsequently corrupted to the point of being unusable.[38] Processing this experience, and the "mental breakdown" it caused her, became much of the inspiration for the 2015 Rasputina album Unknown.[39]

Discography

Solo albums
with Ultra Vivid Scene
with Rasputina

Guest contributions

References

  1. News: Creager, Melora . Rasputina history . Rasputina . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070629204941/http://www.rasputina.com/history.html . 2007-06-29.
  2. Web site: Creager . Melora . Meloraville . Tumblr . 10 July 2022 . 12 May 2013.
  3. Web site: Reyes-Kulkarni . Saby . Rasputina . The Pitch . 2 July 2021 . 22 July 2004.
  4. Web site: Newsbunny . Rasputina's Official Website . 2 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20021203084550/http://www.rasputina.com:80/news.html . 3 December 2002.
  5. Web site: Stratton . Jeff . Cello Darkness . The Pitch . 18 August 2021 . 30 October 2003.
  6. Web site: Meloraville . 30 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150121054226/http://www.dedicationcompilation.com/ . 21 January 2015 . dead.
  7. Web site: Miller . Laura . Wrought By Rasputina . Enchanted Living . 1 July 2021 . Spring 2017 .
  8. Web site: Alexander . Jeff . Rasputina: 21st Century Victorians . The Big Takeover . 2 July 2021 . 27 June 2014.
  9. News: Kiffel . Jamie . Rasputina: An Interview with cellist/singer Melora Creager . Lollipop Magazine . February 24, 2018.
  10. Web site: Valcourt . Keith . Rasputina cellist Melora Creager discusses steampunk, goth rock and Nirvana's final shows . The Washington Times . 2 July 2021 . 19 October 2015.
  11. Web site: Polacheck. Angeliska. Melora Creager: Sweet Sister Temperance. Coilhouse. 23 August 2012.
  12. Web site: White . Aria . Unexpected rockers . The Baltimore Sun . 17 July 2021 . 2 August 2007.
  13. News: Fusilli. Jim. Melora Creager Pulls the Strings . Wall Street Journal . 14 June 2010 . https://archive.today/20210915033215/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703561604575283320218748914 . 15 September 2021. 23 August 2012.
  14. Web site: Gluckstern. Nicole. Cello Rock!. San Francisco Bay Guardian. 23 August 2012.
  15. Web site: Design Gallery . The Visual Works of Ryan Obermeyer . 28 June 2021.
  16. http://www.solarnavigator.net/music/nirvana.htm
  17. Web site: Buchanan . Brett . The Story Behind Nirvana's Most Forgotten Member . Alternative Nation . 13 August 2021 . 29 December 2017.
  18. Web site: Condran . Ed . It's not the fame, it's about music for Rasputina . The Mercury . 13 August 2021 . 27 October 2011.
  19. Web site: Dedication Compilation . Meloraville . 18 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141116000049/http://meloraville.squarespace.com/ . 16 November 2014 . 2014 . dead.
  20. Web site: JOHN CAFIERO (OSAKA POPSTAR) TEAMS W/ MELORA CREAGER (RASPUTINA) FOR KURT COBAIN DEDICATION COMP . Misfits Records . 18 August 2021 . 1 October 2014.
  21. Web site: RAISED BY BATS- the 11th studio album from Aurelio Voltaire . Voltaire.net . 13 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131103075049/https://voltaire.net/raised_by_bats_cd . 3 November 2013.
  22. Web site: RAISED BY BATS- the 11th studio album from Aurelio Voltaire . Voltaire.net . 13 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141030111503/http://voltaire.net/raised_by_bats_cd/ . 30 October 2014.
  23. Web site: Into The Black (feat. Melora Creager) . Bandcamp . 11 August 2021 . 14 July 2014.
  24. Web site: Gullotta . Steven . BIRDEATSBABY - THE BULLET WITHIN . Brutal Resonance . 11 August 2021 . 5 August 2015.
  25. Web site: Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) Full Cast & Crew . Imdb . 7 September 2021.
  26. Web site: The Devil's Carnival (2012) Full Cast & Crew . Imdb . 13 August 2021.
  27. Web site: Gustavo . Turner . Melora . Creager . Guest Blogger: Letters From Rasputina, Part 1 . LA Weekly . 17 July 2021 . 10 August 2010.
  28. Book: Blanks . Tim . The World of Anna Sui . May 30, 2017 . ABRAMS . 9781683350262 . 286, 287 . 17 July 2021 . ebook.
  29. Web site: Longtime Companion (1989) . Imdb . 3 July 2021.
  30. Web site: Levy . Emanuel . Longtime Companion (1990): Narrative Structure (Chapters, Events, Characters)–Full Cast and Credits . emanuellevy.com . 3 July 2021 . 16 June 2021.
  31. Web site: On My Knees (Short 2003) . Imdb . 2 July 2021.
  32. Web site: Film . KimWood.org . 2 July 2021.
  33. Web site: Rasputina- Great American Gingerbread . AllMusic . 2 July 2021.
  34. Web site: Under the Corset with Rasputina – a documentary by Dawn Miceli. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120714114513/http://underthecorset.com/. 14 July 2012. 7 December 2012. Underthecorset.com.
  35. Web site: Tigtone and the Pilot . Imdb . 3 July 2021.
  36. Web site: Newsbunny . Rasputina's Official Website . 2 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110614220929/http://www.rasputina.com/newsbunny100118.html . 14 June 2011 . 18 January 2012 . dead.
  37. Web site: Rogovoy . Seth . Rasputina's Melora Creager in November Residency at Helsinki Hudson . The Rogovoy Report . 10 July 2022 . 29 October 2014.
  38. Web site: Dan . Jen . Interview with Rasputina . Rebel Noise . 13 August 2021 . 17 July 2015.
  39. Web site: Mosk . Mitch . Rasputina's Spellbinding Cello Rock - Meet Rasputina . Atwood Magazine . 13 August 2021 . 21 October 2016.

External links

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