NASHVILLE |FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN/LATHUM NELSON
MELISSA MANCHESTER JOINS
AMERICAN IDOL’S DIANA DeGARMO IN THE STUDIO
FOR NEW RECORDING OF ‘DON’T CRY OUT LOUD’
As MELISSA MANCHESTER climbs the charts with her single “After All This Time”–positioned at #8 on FMQB’s AC chart–the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-musician last week re-visited one of her signature hits, 1979’s Top 10 pop single “Don’t Cry Out Loud.” She went into a New York City recording studio to lend support as American Idol finalist Diana DeGarmo cut a new version of the song, which DeGarmo is releasing as a double-A side single on June 29.
MELISSA said she “enjoyed working with Diana. She’s a very eager student and a very sweet young woman,” adding: “Diana’s rendition of ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ is really good, and I am sure the more she performs it, the more she will discover the drama of the song.”
DeGarmo’s interpretation utilizes the original version’s tracks and arrangement as the foundation for the new production. In the studio, MELISSA helped Diana “to create an emotional framework so that she could sing the lyrics as truthfully as possible. She is only sixteen, with much less worldly experience than I had when I sang the song.”
MELISSA has been on the road touring for much of this year in connection with WHEN I LOOK DOWN THAT ROAD (Koch Records), her first album of all-new material in 10 years. Described by Performing Songwriter (May 2004) as “a brilliantly understated intimately soulful 12-track collection of tunes,” WHEN I LOOK DOWN THAT ROAD reinforces MELISSA’s commitment to a new creative method of stripping aside the extraneous elements in order to get to what really matters: the heart of the song. MELISSA wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, which forgoes heavy production to reveal the warm, intimate side of her voice that highlighted early hits like “Midnight Blue” and “Come In From The Rain.” Emblematic of MELISSA’s new approach is the first single “After All This Time,” graced by guest Keb’ Mo’s slide guitar.
MELISSA’s career is spotlighted in the PBS mini documentary series “Profiles Of A Performing Artist” throughout the months of June and July, and will be featured in the book “Fearless Women”, which is scheduled for release in early 2005. Other participants in the book include Joni Mitchell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cybill Shepherd and Debbie Allen.
For more information, visit: http://www.melissamanchester.com.
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