Melissa Robertson – Ride of Your Life

Melissa Robertson – Ride Of Your Life by Ian Dearden
Melissa Robertson hails from Cowra in NSW and this 6 track EP is her recording debut. Melissa has an attractive voice and the four self-penned songs on the EP (Ride OF Your Life rather inexplicably turns up in standard and “extended” versions) suit her country folk style well. Pete Seeger’s timeless antiwar classic Where Have All The Flowers Gone is the only cover version on the album. The instrumentation is bare, with just guitar and Melissa’s overdubbed harmonies, which do add a special touch. However, Melissa’s guitar playing is rather pedestrian and this EP would have benefi ted signifi cantly if the budget had stretched (or friends could be found) to fl esh out the arrangements with a few other instruments and well as some tastier fi ngerstyle guitarpicking to replace and/or supplement the strumming. Despite those reservations, Melissa’s debut recording has been well received and from her My Space page – www.myspace.com/ melleyrobertson – it appears that she is receiving ;local radio airplay and performing regularly in country NSW. Get out there and support her and get a copy of this EP while you’re at