Album Notes

BIOGRAPHY
Whether singing about the majestic beauty of the Rio Grande River, offering political commentary on environmental issues, or catching her partner in bed with the Maytag repair technician, Crabtree's enthusiasm and love for the wild side of things sets even the most sedentary soul's heart on a wondrous journey.

Crabtree has been living her life as an outdoor guide and musician. With the wilderness as both her home and her muse, her songs transport the listener to a world of mammoth cliffs and rushing rivers. Playing live, Crabtree delivers heartfelt stories with her distinctively husky alto and pleasingly twangy guitar-style. She loves playing on the back porch, and brings the same easy going, down-home style to the stage.

While performing across the Rocky Mountains and on the West Coast, Crabtree has played at the Oregon Country Fair and the Taos Solar Music Festival. In 2002, she was among the 10 finalists in the songwriter showcase at both the Rocky Mountain Folksfest in Lyons, Colorado and the Tuscon Free Folk Festival. She has shared the stage with Patty Larkin, Catie Curtis, Ani DiFranco, Alice DiMicele, Jenny Bird, Cosy Sheridan, Tony Furtado, Keith Greeninger, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Leo Kottke, Melissa Ferrick, and Caroline Aiken.

Crabtree's debut album "Off the Beaten Path" was released in the spring of 2002. It was produced with Cookie Marenco and Wally Ingram, and features Tony Furtado, Darol Anger, and a host of other fine musicians. The title track was inspired by southwestern fringe living, as experienced by Crabtree and her friends. In the first lines of the song, we are introduced to a "Dusty, dusty devil, spinnin' lots of sand" who "kicks up her heels and flies across the land" and by the end, we recognize that the song is an autobiographical sketch of the guitar-toting, river-running artist herself:

"She's swirlin in an eddy, getting caught in the cane, She gets stuck in that eddy, and swirls around again, She spends her days out on a river raft, She walks off the beaten path."

In the spring of 2002, Crabtree toured across the country in a van powered by recycled vegetable oil to promote her new CD and to protest our nation's petroleum addiction. She also produced a compilation CD of songs about alternatives to fossil fuels. The c.d is called Biodiesel Van and features songs by Melissa Crabtree and Rachel Garlin, and spoken word by Julia Butterfly Hill, and Dune Lankard.


Quotes:

"A road-wise folkie with a bluesy soul reminiscent of early Michelle Shocked, Melissa Crabtree is an original storyteller and performer not to be missed." - Catie Curtis
"This is one bad ass who knows how to weave a soulful tune". - Tony Furtado

"I'm glad she's on the Planet." - Patty Larkin

Melissa's music is like the white water she guides on; "A Bluesy wild ride down a river of emotions or environmental issues, dealing with them honest and in ernest, not letting them get the best of her, as she outrides them and paddles down the river... her performance is strong and free...just like her rivers." - Caroline Aiken