Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series featuring Tony Award® nominated actress, singer, and writer Melissa Errico.

In this spirited conversation, Melissa joins us to discuss her 2026 album I Can Dream, Can’t I? — a deeply personal and revealing project created with pianist Tedd Firth, one of New York’s most intuitive accompanists. Together, they explore a quieter lineage of the American Songbook, focusing on songs that ask questions rather than make bold declarations.

Melissa performs each piece like an interior soliloquy, uncovering the emotional subtext within the work of Cy Coleman, Jerome Kern, Duke Ellington, Rodgers & Hart, and Joni Mitchell. The album weaves together her gifts for storytelling, curiosity, and emotional nuance, offering a reflective lens on creativity and expression in 2026 America.

Rather than leaning into bombastic standards, I Can Dream, Can’t I? reveals the Songbook’s most powerful moments as intimate, inward, and quietly searching.

🎶 Get the album:

https://melissaerrico.com/music/albums/i-can-dream-cant-i/

For More Neon Jazz:
Shows via MixCloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/neonjazzkc/
Subscribe via Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/user/neonjazzkc
Subscribe via iTunes/Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/famous-interviews-joe-dimino/id546432639?mt=2

The Home of Neon Jazz:
http://theneonjazz.blogspot.com/

Joe Dimino Podcaster/Artist

Joe Dimino has been writing & creating in a variety of capacities since his college days at the University of Missouri-Kansas City somewhere around 1993. If you are keeping score, that would be about 29 years+. It all began at UMKCs University News as a Sports Writer & turned into a myriad of expressive avenues. Inventing poems, art, video & audio has always been in the proverbial cards.