Based in the New York City suburbs, singer/songwriter Lorraine Ferro is a big-voiced adult alternative pop/rock artist whose gutsy, aggressive, forceful vocals have inspired comparisons to Melissa Etheridge, Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow, and Alanis Morissette (among others). Like Morissette, Ferro can bring a great deal of angst to her songs; like Etheridge, Osborne, and Crow, she can be quite bluesy. Ferro is far from a delicate, waif-like singer à la Jewel or Suzanne Vega, she is most definitely a belter and her impressive vocal range is perfect for her emotional, introspective performances. Ferro, who is from Dix Hills, NY, grew up in the suburbs of the Big Apple. In the '90s, she had countless gigs in Manhattan clubs. But like so many of the vocalists who live in and around New York City, Ferro has not relied on club gigs to pay her bills -- she has found the jingle industry to be quite lucrative and has done television or radio jingles for Folgers Coffee, Nabisco, Pillsbury, GMC Trucks, and many others. Ferro has also worked as a staff writer at EMI; her songs have been recorded by artists like Susan Ashton ("Stand") and Christian pop-rocker Margaret Becker ("Only Your Love"). As a background vocalist, Ferro has often joined Lesley Gore on-stage; in the '90s, she also provided background vocals on albums by Liz Queler and fellow singer/songwriter Dar Williams. But it wasn't until the early 2000s that Ferro finally recorded an album of her own. Languishing in Turbulence, Ferro's debut album, was released on the Firethorn label in 2001. ~ Alex Henderson