For Melissa Ferrick, acoustic rocker from Ipswich, Mass., coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous.

If this bit of conventional wisdom is true, God hasn’t revealed himself in a blaze of glory to her because her career has thrived on coincidence.

“If I didn’t believe in God before, I don’t know how I couldn’t now,” she said.

At the dawn of her career in 1991, when Ferrick was a mere 20, she received a last-minute invitation to open for Morrisey (ex-frontman for the Smiths) at Boston’s Great Woods Amphitheater.

Ferrick wowed Morrisey so much that he asked her to be the opening act for the remainder of his U.S. tour and for his European tour.

Upon her return from the U.K., she was greeted with a seven-album record deal with Atlantic records.

Unlike artists concerned with making short-term hit records, Ferrick knew initially that once she thrust herself in the industry, she didn’t want to be a flash in the pan. She wanted her relationship with Atlantic to be monogamous.

“I didn’t want to make one record or two records and then hide,” she said.

In 1993, she made her debut into the recording industry with the acoustic-laden “Massive Blur.” In 1995, her career made a turn for the worse after releasing “Willing to Wait,” an album which she describes as “totally non-accessible [for radio airplay.]”

Later that year Atlantic dumped her because of slow album sales.

But Ferrick isn’t one to point fingers at anyone but herself.

“I didn’t sell enough records, and I got dropped,” she said candidly about her record deal gone bad.

After her breakup with the label, Ferrick’s life changed drastically.

She was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying, “There was a period of time when I couldn’t do anything after I got dropped. I stayed in my apartment with the shades drawn.”

To fill the void in her life, Ferrick sought comfort in the bottle.

“I certainly was a lot more screwed up then than I am now,” she said.

She continued to tour without a label and was discovered by a photographer named Herb Ritts while performing at a club in Santa Fe. Ritts introduced her to tour agent Sandy Gallin.

From there, she signed with the indie label What Are Records? out of Boulder, Colo.

In 1997, the label released Ferrick’s live album “Melissa Ferrick + 1,” which garnered more airplay than either of her previous efforts.

Her latest album, “Everything I Need,” produced by Rob Laufer (Fiona Apple), is a declaration of independence of sorts. She has come to the realization that joy comes from more than achieving platinum status. Or gold, for that matter.

“Happiness doesn’t lie within record sales,” she said with an air of confidence.

The title for the new album emanated from a song she wrote after complaining to a friend about the things she didn’t have. Instead of focusing on her deficiencies, her friend told her to compile a “gratitude list” of what she had to be thankful for.

“I do have everything I need,” she said.

She described the title-track as a simple pop song with easily understandable lyrics, a type of music she says she’s not accustomed to making.

“[“Everything I Need”] is a very simple song,” she said. “[I’m learning that] everything I write doesn’t have to be deep, dark, depressing and hard to figure out. I’ve got to get over my issues with writing simple songs.”

In an ironic twist of fate, Ferrick returned to Boston’s Great Woods — this time for the 1998 Lilith Fair tour. She said sharing the stage with Lilith Founder Sarah McLachlan was monumental.

With the Lilith appearance and a busy tour schedule to bolster the new record, she noted the flow of sales of “Everything I Need” has been more steady than for her previous releases.

Coincidence?

Doubtful.

With her incessant touring schedule and the maturity she’s developed even through her dark days, Ferrick has shed her old skin and has emerged a pearl.

Melissa Ferrick will play a free, all-ages show Sunday at Java Joe’s in Des Moines. The concert begins at 7 p.m.