Melissa Li is a fierce Asian-American lesbian singer-songwriter, who has performed in the Boston area for over 8 years. Her music is a mixture of folkrock and pop, with a hint of soul and a whole lot of queer, and heavily influenced by Ani DiFranco, Jonatha Brooke, Dar Williams, and other singer-songwriters. Through deeply personal acoustic songs, often punctuated with an R&B vocal style, Melissa rants about love, loss, and social injustices.
Melissa started performing in high school talent shows, developing songwriting skills and teaching herself the guitar at the age of 15. She performed wherever she could, starting from small coffeehouses, community groups and even in underground train stations. Since then, she’s carved a name for herself as one of the most talented and popular Asian-American performers in Boston. She has performed at the Brattle Theater, Somerville Theater, and Boston Pride main stage to an audience of hundreds. She has also performed in most colleges and universities across New England.
Most recently, she won the honorable Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation award for her first musical Surviving the Nian, produced by The Theater Offensive in the Spring of 2007. Surviving the Nian is the story of a young woman who returns home to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year with her African-American lover. The unfolding of the family drama that ensues directly confronts stereotypes facing queers and Asians in mainstream society today. In 2008, Surviving the Nian won the Independent Reviewers of New England Award for Best New Play.
Listen to samples of her work here. Purchase her much-anticipated debut album here.
