Melora Creager was in school when we moved to Emporia, Kansas for my first pastorate. Her parents were our next door neighbors, and their kids were always practicing their music. In Melora’s case, it was a turn for the good. She is the creator, songwriter and chief personality of the rock group Rasputina that is built around the cello.
Her website puts it this way: Born and raised in Kansas, Creager comes from a musical family and received classical training. At 18 she moved to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design. While majoring in photography she began playing her cello in rock bands. She formed “The Fingerlakes Trio,” a falsely geeky classical group that performed covers of disco hits, before joining NYC’s Ultra Vivid Scene who recorded three albums for cult British label, 4AD. It was her first exposure to the professional rock world — UVS opened for label mates like The Pixies, Belly and Throwing Muses. Following a tour with Nirvana as a cellist on their In Utero tour she desired to do a project of her own, and she created Rasputina. The concept for the group came to her fully formed; the idea was written as a manifesto. Her intention was to create an electric cello choir — no boys or guitars allowed. Through want ads she recruited like-minded young cellists. Rasputina evolved, employing elaborate costuming, as they were unable to move about while forcibly stationary in their chairs. What began as strictly “Victorian Whites” — bloomers, corsets and hoopskirts, has evolved into an amalgam of historical feminine icons — Indian princesses, Hawaiian handmaidens and fallen medieval queens, Rasputina keeps their cultish following enthralled with intimate recitals and post-show receiving lines. Rasputina works as an anomaly in popular music. By ignoring fashion trends and maintaining artistic integrity coupled with musical enthusiasm, the group has thrived as time has passed. They expose passionate fans to historical tales, and inspire young string players to seek alternatives to the classical world.
She is coming to Boston to perform at the Paradise Club so I think I will go. I have been listening to her music trying to get the hang of her themes. She seems to be a story teller but clearly not in the Joel Osteen tradition!!! She is very much in touch with the darker side and does a lot of truth telling.
