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Melora Creager (born March 25, 1966) is an American cellist and singer-songwriter. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, she grew up in Emporia, Kansas, with an older brother and a younger sister; all children were adopted. Her mother was a graphic designer and her father was an administrator and physicist at a university; both were very supportive of the arts, and encouraged their children to take up musical instruments. Creager began playing the piano at age five, and the cello at age nine. She gave up the cello in the eighth grade (not wanting to be involved in the orchestra scene), only to pick it up again several years later in college. In the mid-1980s she moved to New York City to study photography at Parsons School of Design, where her friends encouraged her to resume playing the cello. In 1989 Creager formed a duo with Julia Kent called the Travelling Ladies' Cello Society (Rasputina in its fetal stage). Kent remained in the band for ten years, finally leaving in 1999 amid much drama and disagreement; she and Creager's relationship has been described by Creager as a "decade-long dysfunctional marriage." In 1991 Creager founded the Brooklyn-based alternative band Rasputina, which originally consisted of six other cellists (whom she found by placing classified ads in the newspaper). The group was influenced by both rock and classical cello music. By 1996 the band was trimmed down to two other cellists and a drummer. Creager also played cello for Nirvana on the European leg of the In Utero world tour (including the band's final show in Munich). Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... is the 84th day of the year (85th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello, or cello (the c is pronounced as the ch in cheese), is a bowed stringed instrument, the lowest-sounding member of the violin family. ... Nickname: Location in Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties in the state of Missouri. ... Emporia is a city located in Lyon County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 26,760. ... For other uses, see Adoption (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... The Parsons School of Design, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, is a design school affiliated (since 1970) with the New School University. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Julia Kent is a Canadian musician who is best known as a founding member of all-cello group Rasputina. ... Rasputina is a varying collection of cellists playing alternative rock. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Rasputina is a varying collection of cellists playing alternative rock. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Nirvana was an American rock band that formed in Aberdeen, Washington. ... In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released in September 1993 by Geffen Records. ... Munich (German: , pronounced  ; Austro-Bavarian: Minga[2]) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ...

Creager is known for her unique fashion sense, including an obvious interest in corsets and Victorian bloomers, which she wears during her live performances. She is also fascinated with historical events and people of the past, including the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911, Howard Hughes, Rose Kennedy, victims of Josef Mengele, and others. She weaves these stories into the lyrics of her songs, as well as creating fictional stories of her own, sang in her wispy, tremulous vocals. The song "Mr. E. Leon Rauis" on the album Thanks for the Ether was inspired by a black-and-white photograph of a man she found in an attic, and expresses the wonder she felt about him and what his life could have been like. It is now known that his name was actually E. Leon Rains, and he was a fairly well-known opera singer from around the turn of the 19th century till the middle of the 20th century. Creager's lyrics employ a sly, dark irony and quirky humour. Her songs can be enigmatic and vaguely ominous. Hourglass corset from around 1880. ... During the middle and late Victorian period, various reformers proposed, designed, and wore clothing supposedly more rational and comfortable than the fashions of the time. ... The Triangle Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911 was a major public-affairs crisis in the United States which led to improved working conditions for sweatshop workers as well as better fire inspections. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For the Welsh murderer, see Howard Hughes (murderer). ... Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22 , 1890 - January 22, 1995) married into the Kennedy family and became its matriarch in the second half of the 20th century, when its members helped shape American politics. ... Josef Mengele Dr. Josef Mengele (March 16, 1911 – February 7, 1979), was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. ... Thanks for the Ether is the debut album of Rasputina, released in 1996 with Columbia Records. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...

In 2003, Creager starred in the short film On My Knees, based on The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick. Cullwick, a literate Victorian maid and fetishist, secretly married Arthur Munby in 1873, a middle-class solicitor who relished watching Cullwick go about her daily chores, covered in the soot and mire of her occupation. Her diaries detail their secret relationship and the sadomasochistic games in which they engaged; for much of her life, Cullwick wore around her neck a heavy chain and padlock, to which only her "massa," as she refers to him, had the key. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hannah Cullwick (1833-1909) was a Victorian diarist and maid of all work, born and raised in Shropshire. ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... A maidservant or in current usage maid is a female employed in domestic service. ... A fetish (from French fétiche; from Portuguese feitiço; from Latin facticius, artificial and facere, to make) is a natural object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular a man-made object that has power over others. ... Arthur Munby (1828-1910) was a Victorian diarist, poet, barrister and solicitor. ... 1873 (MDCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ...

Creager is the mother of a young daughter named Hollis Willa Lane, who wrote and sang the lyrics of the song "Nov. 17dee" on the album Frustration Plantation. Frustration Plantation, the fourth studio album recorded by cello-dominated goth rock group Rasputina, was released by Instinct Records on March 16, 2004. ...

Discography

• Transylvanian Concubine/The Vaulted Eel, Lesson #6 - Oculus Records, 1993
• Three (3) (promo) - 1994
• Thanks for the Ether - Columbia Records, 1996
• Three Lil' Nothin's (promo) - 1996
• Transylvanian Regurgitations (EP) - Columbia Records, 1997
• How We Quit the Forest - Columbia Records, 1998
• The Olde HeadBoard (EP) - Columbia Records, 1998
• The Lost & Found (self-released limited edition EP) - 2001
• Cabin Fever! - Instinct Records, 2002
• My Fever Broke (EP) - Instinct Records, 2002
• The Lost & Found (second edition EP) - Instinct Records, 2003
• Frustration Plantation - Instinct Records, 2004
• A Radical Recital (live) - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2005
• Perplexions (solo recording) - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., 2006
• Oh Perilous World! (Vinyl LP, CD & Limited edition CD) - Filthy Bonnet Recording Co., June, 26th 2007

Thanks for the Ether is the debut album of Rasputina, released in 1996 with Columbia Records. ... Transylvanian Regurgitations is an EP by Rasputina and remixed by Marilyn Manson which was released by in 1997 with Columbia Records. ... // Extended play (EP) is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs which contain more than one single but are too short to qualify as albums. ... How We Quit the Forest is an album of Rasputina, released in 1998. ... The Lost & Found is an EP record by Rasputina, the first edition of which was self-released in 2001 and the second edition released in 2003 by Instinct Records. ... Cabin Fever is the third studio album of Rasputina released in 2002 with Instinct Records. ... My Fever Broke is an EP by Rasputina, released in 2002 on Instinct Records. ... The Lost & Found is an EP record by Rasputina, the first edition of which was self-released in 2001 and the second edition released in 2003 by Instinct Records. ... Frustration Plantation, the fourth studio album recorded by cello-dominated goth rock group Rasputina, was released by Instinct Records on March 16, 2004. ... This is an excellent live recording of a Rasputina recital held in Pittsburgh, PA, on Halloween, 2004. ... Perplexions is an album by Rasputina frontwoman Melora Creager which was released on December 4, 2006, by the Filthy Bonnet Recording Company. ... Oh Perilous World, the sixth full length album from chamber-rock trio Rasputina, was performed by the bands creator cellist/lead singer Melora Creager and drummer Jonathon TeBeest with second chair Sarah Bowman contributing additional vocals. ...

Trivia

• The name of the band came from the title of a song Creager wrote a long time ago, and of course her preoccupation with Rasputin. The "a" is presumably to make it feminine and thus give it a different meaning, contrasting the daintiness associated with women of that age with Rasputin's reputation for depravity and controversiality. In an interview, Creager said, "'Rasputina' implies sex, death, unkillableness, revolution, history, drama, religion..."
• Creager was a jewelry designer for several years before taking up the cello professionally.
• Creager was in a band called Ultra Vivid Scene in the late 1980s.
• When asked in an interview whether she thought people were inherently good or evil, Creager replied, "I think people are inherently lazy, which is harder to overcome."
• Creager collects beads and ribbon as well as old portraits, her favorite of which is the one she found of E. Leon Rains. She also has one of a hunchback midget lady that she likes very much, and many of children.
• When asked in an interview about the reaction of classical musicians to Rasputina, Creager said, "People who are specifically cellists of all different ages will make a point to see us. They love it, because they know exactly what we're doing...playing the cello. But I think the classical music world is a pretty tight and closed thing. I've never been involved in it. I don't even know if they know of us, because for us to perform and put out records in a rock world... I don't know that anyone crosses over at all."
• Creager described herself as a loner growing up, always being in a fantasy world. She recalls spending entire summers without going outside, instead playing games such as "Victorian maid" with her sister, in which she would force her to assume some kind of character.
• In art school, Creager was accused of having a "commercial" drawing style and using visual tricks as an illustrator would. She does all the art on Rasputina's album covers (except the cover of The Lost & Found) and on the band's official Website.
• Creager played in the Kansas Youth Symphony.
• Creager appeared in cameos in the films Longtime Companion (whose title refers to the only term in which a gay man's lover could be mentioned in an obituary in the 1980s) and Back Fire!.
• Rather than keeping up with new musical trends, Creager prefers listening to old records she knows and likes over and over; these include music by Bach, Arvo Pärt, Michael Nyman, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Andrews Sisters, a lot of music from the 1930s, and some movie soundtracks.
• Creager prefers reading nonfiction to fiction.
• Creager's best friend is a fashion designer named James Coviello.
• Rasputina performs the first song on the tribute CD Where's Neil When You Need Him?.

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Russian: ) (22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1869 – 29 December [O.S. 16 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic with an influence in the later days of Russias Romanov dynasty. ... Ultra Vivid Scene was an indie pop band started by Kurt Ralske. ... A bead is a small, decorative object that is pierced for threading or stringing. ... A ribbon is a thin band of flexible material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. ... Self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person. ... Hunchback may refer to one of the following. ... In the 19th century, midget was a medical term referring to an extremely short but normally-proportioned person and was used in contrast to dwarf, which denoted disproportionate shortness. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... An illustrator is a graphic artist who specializes in enhancing written text by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text. ... Cameo is a method of carving; or an item of jewelry made in this manner. ... Longtime Companion is a 1990 film with Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, and Mary-Louise Parker. ... In music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat, A, C, B natural. ... Arvo Pärt (born September 11, 1935 in Paide), (IPA: ˈɑr̺vɔ ˈpær̺t) is an Estonian composer, often identified with the school of minimalism and more specifically, that of mystic minimalism or sacred minimalism. He is considered a pioneer of this style, along with contemporaries Henryk Górecki... Michael Nyman (born March 23, 1944) is a British minimalist composer, pianist, librettist and musicologist, perhaps best known for the many scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway. ... Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. ... David Bowie (IPA: []) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and audio engineer. ... Led Zeppelin were an English rock band who formed in 1968. ... For other uses, see Black Sabbath (disambiguation). ... The Andrews Sisters on the cover of the reissue collection The Best of the Andrew Sisters: The Millennium Collection. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... A tribute (from Latin tribulum, contribution) is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. ... Wheres Neil When You Need Him? is a tribute CD to writer Neil Gaiman consisting of seventeen tracks performed by various artists who are fans of Gaimans work. ...

External links

• Official Rasputina Website
• Melora Creager at the Internet Movie Database
• Melora Creager at the All Music Guide
• Melora Creager at Discogs
• Melora Creager at MusicBrainz