Ratsy isn't her real name, of course. But the Boston-based singer-songwriter won't tell you what her family calls her.

"I don't tell people my name. What if really early in Madonna's career her real name came out?" Comparing herself to Madonna might seem a bit audacious for the up-until-now pretty-much totally- unknown folksinger. But after awhile, one gets used to such brash, outrageous statements from the 29-year-old winner of the 1994 Acoustic Underground Competition who bills herself as the "soon to be extra super famous folk songstress." Ratsy gets away with such nakedly blatant self-promotion for a number of reasons.

For one, it's all in good fun. She says these things with a wink and a smile, which was readily apparent even over the telephone when she was interviewed recently from her home in Boston.

Secondly, she pokes fun at celebrity egotism in her songs, and at the same time complains of low self- esteem. She is as easily self-deprecating as she is self-aggrandizing; for every song she writes like "Love Me!" with lines like "I want to be the next big thing that happens//have my face plastered on People Magazine," she's got two like "If You're Not Dead," where she gets stood up or teased or worse. Then, of course, there is the very real potential of a self-fulfilling prophecy. And with her unique, straightforwardly infectious style, Ratsy just may BE ``the next big thing,'' at least in alternative folk music.

``I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes,'' said Ratsy, explaining why she has chosen such a direct approach to promoting herself. ``It's not like I'm taking anything away from anyone else. I'm just saying that this is what I want to be. In general I get a good response from people, or else they think I'm a nut, but a nut in a good way.''

Judging from her debut CD, the self-produced ``Squished Under a Train,'' Ratsy is a bit nutty. For example, she's got a song called ``Margy Nairs Her Forearms.'' When asked about the usage of the proper noun that way she said, ``You mean `Nair' isn't a verb?''

She also has a song called ``Just Because You're You,'' in which the singer fantasizes about punching out a really irritating person and imagining him dead: ``And I know where you'll go after they bury you//And I hope you rot//And slimey worms and maggots crawl through you.''

``Folksinging gets a real `Kumbaya' reputation, and I'm not singing Joan Baez songs,'' said Ratsy. The majority of Ratsy's songs are not quite as eccentric as these. If the simply rendered and delivered songs on ``Squished...'' have an overall theme it is one of diminished expectations and resignation brought about by disappointment. ``I'n not lonely or depressed, although somebody once told me they really enjoyed my music because I could sing so openly about being rejected,'' said Ratsy.

``I wrote most of these songs last year, when I was pretty happy. I was just remembering back to a period when I was kind of alone and depressed.''

After attending college at Michigan State, Ratsy went to beauty school in Ann Arbor. During a visit to Boston, she was drawn to the thriving busking scene centered around Harvard Square.

She moved to Boston in 1987 and played in the streets, subways and folk clubs for three or four years. She then took a few years off from performing (she calls this her ``hermit'' period) and stayed in her apartment designing a line of Ratsy hats.

``I needed time away,'' said Ratsy. ``I didn't believe in my music as much. I needed time to work out other stuff and to realize that I really wanted to be an extra super famous folk songstress.''

In the fall of 1994, a friend talked her into sending a demo tape to the Acoustic Underground competition. She wound up being named Best Female Performer, launching her on her way toward famous folk songstressdom.

Like many of her cyberminded peers, Ratsy not only promotes herself on CD and in concert, but also on the Internet. She has her own home page on the World Wide Web designed and maintained by her brother. It includes sound samples, a personal photo album and an up-to-the- minute tour schedule.

Visit the Official Ratsy website at www.ratsy.com

COPYRIGHT 1996 Seth Rogovoy. All Rights Reserved.

This article first appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on February 8, 1996.

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