Melora Creager

Melora Creager
Creager in 2007
Creager in 2007
Background information
Born (1966-03-25) March 25, 1966 (age 60)
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
OccupationsSinger, songwriter, musician, cellist
Instruments
Years active1989–present
Labels
Member ofRasputina
Formerly of

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

Early life, beginnings and Rasputina

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, and adopted by a graphic designer and physicist, Creager was raised in Emporia, Kansas. 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. 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. In the late 1980s she played with the New York indie rock band Ultra Vivid Scene. 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". 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.

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 and steampunk.

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

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. 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," and "It was an amazing experience but I couldn't be happier being where I am now." 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.

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). Creager was a featured artist on the song "Into The Black" by English band Birdeatsbaby on their 2014 album The Bullet Within. 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).

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.[citation needed] She continues her relationship with Anna Sui, occasionally designing fashion show invitations and T-shirts.

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. 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. Creager also wrote the music for the film, which appears on the Rasputina compilation album Great American Gingerbread. 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. Creager also contributed additional voices to the 2018 pilot of the Adult Swim animated series Tigtone.

Personal life

Creager has two daughters. She lives in Hudson, New York.

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. Processing this experience, and the "mental breakdown" it caused her, became much of the inspiration for the 2015 Rasputina album Unknown. She has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Discography

Solo albums
with Ultra Vivid Scene
with Rasputina

Guest contributions

References

  1. ↑ Creager, Melora. "Rasputina history". Rasputina. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007.
  2. ↑ Creager, Melora (May 12, 2013). "Meloraville". Tumblr. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Buchanan, Brett (December 29, 2017). "The Story Behind Nirvana's Most Forgotten Member". Alternative Nation. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  4. ↑ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (July 22, 2004). "Rasputina". The Pitch. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Newsbunny". Rasputina's Official Website. Archived from the original on December 3, 2002. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  6. ↑ Stratton, Jeff (October 30, 2003). "Cello Darkness". The Pitch. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Meloraville". Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  8. ↑ Miller, Laura (Spring 2017). "Wrought By Rasputina". Enchanted Living. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Alexander, Jeff (June 27, 2014). "Rasputina: 21st Century Victorians". The Big Takeover. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ Kiffel, Jamie. "Rasputina: An Interview with cellist/singer Melora Creager". Lollipop Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  11. ↑ Valcourt, Keith (October 19, 2015). "Rasputina cellist Melora Creager discusses steampunk, goth rock and Nirvana's final shows". The Washington Times. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  12. ↑ Polacheck, Angeliska. "Melora Creager: Sweet Sister Temperance". Coilhouse. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  13. ↑ White, Aria (August 2, 2007). "Unexpected rockers". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  14. ↑ Fusilli, Jim (June 14, 2010). "Melora Creager Pulls the Strings". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  15. ↑ Gluckstern, Nicole. "Cello Rock!". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Design Gallery". The Visual Works of Ryan Obermeyer. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  17. ↑ Nirvana Fanpage. Accessed 19-07-2008.
  18. 1 2 Condran, Ed (October 27, 2011). "It's not the fame, it's about music for Rasputina". The Mercury. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Dedication Compilation". Meloraville. 2014. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  20. ↑ "JOHN CAFIERO (OSAKA POPSTAR) TEAMS W/ MELORA CREAGER (RASPUTINA) FOR KURT COBAIN DEDICATION COMP". Misfits Records. October 1, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  21. ↑ "RAISED BY BATS- the 11th studio album from Aurelio Voltaire". Voltaire.net. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  22. ↑ "RAISED BY BATS- the 11th studio album from Aurelio Voltaire". Voltaire.net. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Into The Black (feat. Melora Creager)". Bandcamp. July 14, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  24. ↑ Gullotta, Steven (August 5, 2015). "BIRDEATSBABY - THE BULLET WITHIN". Brutal Resonance. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  25. ↑ Turner, Gustavo; Creager, Melora (August 10, 2010). "Guest Blogger: Letters From Rasputina, Part 1". LA Weekly. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  26. ↑ Blanks, Tim (May 30, 2017). The World of Anna Sui (ebook). ABRAMS. pp. 286, 287. ISBN 9781683350262. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  27. ↑ Levy, Emanuel (June 16, 2021). "Longtime Companion (1990): Narrative Structure (Chapters, Events, Characters)–Full Cast and Credits". emanuellevy.com. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Film". KimWood.org. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Rasputina- Great American Gingerbread". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Under the Corset with Rasputina – a documentary by Dawn Miceli". Underthecorset.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Newsbunny". Rasputina's Official Website. January 18, 2012. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  32. ↑ Rogovoy, Seth (October 29, 2014). "Rasputina's Melora Creager in November Residency at Helsinki Hudson". The Rogovoy Report. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  33. ↑ Dan, Jen (July 17, 2015). "Interview with Rasputina". Rebel Noise. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  34. ↑ Mosk, Mitch (October 21, 2016). "Rasputina's Spellbinding Cello Rock - Meet Rasputina". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  35. ↑ Gourley, Bob (August 25, 2026). "Melora Creager Talks Rasputina's Return". Chaos Control Digizine. Retrieved August 30, 2026.