Melora Creager

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, 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. 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. 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 Perplexions - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2006 Raw Silk (3 Covers) (EP) - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2012 Fa La La - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2015

with Ultra Vivid Scene Ultra Vivid Scene - 1988 Mercy Seat (EP) - 1989 Rev - 1992

with Rasputina

Transylvanian Concubine/The Vaulted Eel, Lesson No. 6 (promo) - Oculus, 1993 Three (3) (promo) - Columbia, 1994 Thanks for the Ether - Columbia, 1996 Three Lil' Nothin's (promo) - Columbia, 1996 Transylvanian Regurgitations (EP) - Columbia, 1997 How We Quit the Forest - Columbia, 1998 The Olde HeadBoard (promo) - Columbia, 1998 The Lost & Found (self-released limited edition EP) - 2001 Cabin Fever! - Instinct, 2002 My Fever Broke (EP) - Instinct, 2002 The Lost & Found (second edition EP) - Instinct, 2003 Frustration Plantation - Instinct, 2004 A Radical Recital (live) - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2005 Oh Perilous World (Vinyl LP, CD & Limited edition CD) - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2007 Melora a la Basilica (Limited Edition Live EP), 2008 The Willow Tree Triptych (Limited Edition EP), 2009 Ancient Cross-Dressing Songs - A Special Recording For Brooklyn (Limited Edition EP), 2009 Sister Kinderhook - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2010 Great American Gingerbread - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2011 Unknown - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2015

Guest contributions Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce by the Goo Goo Dolls - cello - 2001 Gutterflower by the Goo Goo Dolls - cello - 2002 With the Lights Out by Nirvana - appears only on the song "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" - 2004 Repo! The Genetic Opera Soundtrack - additional cello - 2008 Riding a Black Unicorn... by Voltaire - cello - 2011 The Devil's Carnival Soundtrack - additional cello - 2012 The Bullet Within by Birdeatsbaby - featured on the song "Into the Black" - 2014 Raised by Bats by Voltaire - cello - 2014 Heart Shaped Wound by Voltaire - cello - 2017