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] She has since performed with artists such as Noname[3] and Mac Demarco.[4][5] 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,[6] 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.[3] She studied jazz guitar at the performing arts high school Nashville School of the Arts.[6]
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.[3] 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,[7] and was chosen by Fender to demo the Player Series of guitars.[8][9]
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 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.
- ^ 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.
External links[]
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Huntsville, Alabama
- Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
- 21st-century American women guitarists
- 21st-century American guitarists
- African-American guitarists
- African-American women musicians
- 21st-century African-American women
- 21st-century African-American musicians