Montana Folk Festival Artist Spotlight: Melody Angel

The Montana Folk Festival is always a great opportunity to experience new music. Bands you haven’t heard before, cultures you are unfamiliar with, it is an incredible learning experience. We have talked ad nauseum about everything available during the Festival. From road closures to volunteering opportunities, what you should bring, and of course what you should leave at home. We also looked at every performer booked for the weekend.

I wanted to take that last one a little deeper and spotlight a few performers to give you an idea of the talent coming to the Mining City. I want to introduce you to Melody Angel, and yes that is her real name.

First, sit down, put everything else aside, and watch this.

Melody Angel is the complete package, a gifted guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer. Her music covers the spectrum of Rhythm & Blues, Rock, Folk, Funk, and is steeped heavily in Chicago blues.

Music runs thickly through her veins, her mother Stephanie is a gifted singer, and her cousin Otis Rush is a blues legend. Otis, along with Magic Sam, and Jimmy Dawkins created the “West Side Sound” in the late 1950s. Growing up, Stephanie recounts memories of Otis jamming in their living room with other Blues legends like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Howlin’ Wolf.

Melody is surrounded by talented women, her mother, her auntie Tanya, and her grandmother Yvonne, along with a pair of great aunties, all powerhouse musicians.

Melody started playing the guitar at the age of 15 and started her first band in high school. She lists several influential guitarists as artists that have shaped her playing, they include Prince, Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Santana, Chuck Berry, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

She has headlined countless Blues Festivals around the country, most notably the Chicago Blues Festival, which exploded her popularity in the region and gained her a loyal following.

Melody is a rare talent and one of the 21 different acts booked for this year’s Montana Folk Festival. You can learn more about Melody on her Website.

Learn more about the Montana Fold Festival HERE.

I look forward to seeing you uptown.

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