A young explorer at heart, Merry Ellen Kirk challenges the stigma of the formulaic love song, daring her audience to consider the world in a new light.
More than a songwriter, transcending the gift of a poet, and using her exquisitely enchanting voice, her lyrics and melodies stretch hearts and imaginations to the point of bursting, with songs revealing truths about ourselves we sometimes fear to face.
And lately, her art has been discovered by film creators and producers – internationally!
Merry Ellen has found a niche in licensing her music for small independent films, video games, & wedding videos. Recently, her biggest song placement on TV so far, the ABC Family show Jane by Design used her song “Tonight” performed by Merry Ellen’s duo The Shakespeares.
Her songs have received several honorable mentions from International Songwriting Competition, and this video for Merry Ellen’s song “Blinding Me” won a music video competition on OurStage last year:
Merry Ellen’s most recent release is a live EP recorded on analog tape, called “Feather & a Leaf” which she feels is some of her best songwriting to date. A tale of heartbreak & fragility, tension & resolution, deep longing & what-could’ve-beens, Feather & a Leaf is a poignant lyrical exploration of the human capacity to love:
And now Merry Ellen’s songwriting reach is international. This month, Vogue & GQ India used her songs for their April 2013 behind-the-scenes & cover videos. Check out this video ad for Vogue India with Merry Ellen’s “Candy” underscoring the story:
Merry Ellen enjoys playing solo (sans band), but with other singer-songwriters. Having been based out of Nashville for most of her career, Merry Ellen finds the Nashville-style writer’s round a favorite live show technique.
“It’s a great way to keep a live solo show interesting & varied,” says Merry Ellen, “as well as being mutually beneficial for everyone involved (we artists find each other new fans & the fans find new music.)” She believes it brings a nice homey touch to a show, helping things flow naturally and comfortably.
When it comes to live performance, Merry Ellen is fairly new to Tom Jackson’s Method (Merry Ellen was a ReverbNation Song Critique Winner in our Backstage Pass area…). But she is excited about what she’s learned from Tom so far and wants to better her live show with his teaching.
Merry Ellen is currently living in Alaska for a short time, focusing on her songwriting. (Maybe our Alaska friends can catch her live up there!) But she plans to be back in the lower 48 this fall. No doubt she’ll be bringing back even more moving, graceful poetry set to song when she returns – we look forward to hearing even more from this talented musician!
Tom Jackson
Tom is uniquely talented and skilled at transforming an artist's live show into a magical experience for the audience; helping artists at every level create a live show that is engaging and memorable, teaching them to exceed their audiences' expectations and to create fans for life. Tom has taught indie and major artists of every genre. He has worked with Taylor Swift, Le Crae, Home Free, The Tenors, Shawn Mendes, The Band Perry, Francesca Battistelli, Jars of Clay, & many more. Tom also teaches at colleges, conferences and events worldwide.
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