Melanie Faye
Melanie Faye | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 16, 1998 |
| Occupation | Guitarist |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Website | melaniefaye |
Melanie Faye (born May 16, 1998), is an American R&B[1] musician and social media personality. She became known after a video of her guitar playing on Instagram went viral in the summer of 2017.[2][3] She has since performed with artists such as Noname[4] and Mac Demarco.[5][6] She was a featured artist at the NAMM Show.
Early life and education
Born in Huntsville, Alabama and raised in a Jehovah's Witness household by chemist parents,[7] Faye began writing songs at an early age. Her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was three, and in the third grade she won a music competition run by the Country Music Hall of Fame.[4] She credits her fascination with becoming a musician from learning to play Guitar Hero in middle school. She got her first guitar a year later "trading in her Xbox controller for the real thing."[8][3] She studied jazz guitar at the performing arts high school Nashville School of the Arts.[7] Faye had "idolized Mariah Carey when I was a little girl," and started writing songs when she was 19.[3]
Career
Faye's guitar skills came to prominence in the summer of 2017 when SZA retweeted a 2016 video of Faye playing her sky blue Fender Stratocaster. Amassing a large number of followers and receiving critical acclaim, she dropped out of school to pursue music full-time.[4] She cites Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, and Eric Gale as major influences on her playing style, which varies between R&B, neo-soul, and funk. She has performed nationwide with associated soul and R&B acts such as Noname, Bibi McGill, Masego, and Dammo. She was featured on the cover of She Shreds magazine,[9] and was chosen by Fender to demo the Player Series of guitars.[10][11] Faye sees her guitar playing as a role model for others: "I want more people who don't necessarily listen to rock to also play guitar."[8] As one of the youngest Black female guitarists whose music runs the gamet from Mariah Carey to Jimi Hendrix and her own originals, her career is on the rise.
Discography
Singles
- Melanie Faye EP (August 13, 2020)
- It's a Moot Point (March 17, 2020)
- Super Sad Always (December 20, 2019)
- Eternally 12 (February 1, 2019)
References
- ^ Johnson, Hailey (21 March 2018). "An Interview with Melanie Faye: R&B Artist On the Rise". Affinity Magazine.
- ^ Starling, Lakin (3 August 2017). "Melanie Faye's Divine Guitar Skills Will Make You Cry". The Fader. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ a b c "Q&A: Melanie Faye | TUNED UP". 10 November 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Blackman, Rachel (8 January 2018). "Striking A Chord With Melanie Faye". These Days News. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ Helman, Peter (12 April 2018). "Mac DeMarco & Melanie Faye – "Eternally 12"". Stereogum. Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ Britton, Luke (1 May 2018). "Mac DeMarco's new track 'Eternally 12' is a super smooth slow jam". NME. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ a b Paulson, Dave (19 May 2018). "Guitar Hero". The Tennessean. Vol. 114, no. 139. USA Today Network. pp. 1A, 16A. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ a b "Watch Melanie Faye Demo the Player Series Stratocaster". www.fender.com. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ Reyna, Fabi (February 2018). "Melanie Faye". She Shreds. No. 14. pp. 42–51.
- ^ DeBord, Matthew (19 June 2018). "Fender is renewing its commitment to budget-minded players with a revamped line of affordable electric guitars". Business Insider. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ Hermann, Andy (26 June 2018). "Women Are Saving the Electric Guitar". Los Angeles Magazine.