sara melson--vocals, guitar, piano/keys;
kane mcgee--drums;
austin nicholsen--bass;
michael levin--cello, keys;
karl d'amico--lead guitar
Influences
Full Moon, New Moon, Sunsets, Sunrise, Ocean, Mountains, Trees, Yoga, Food; Beatles, Stones, Floyd, The Band, The Who, early Bowie, Zeppelin, Chopin, Debussy, The Verve, Oasis, Primal Scream, Neil Young, Dylan, Carole King, Mazzy Star, Wilco, Nick Drake, early James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel, Velvet Underground, PJ Harvey, Cat Power, King Crimson, Eno, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, e.e. cummings, Neruda, Rumi, Krishnamurti, Kundera, Nabokov, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Salinger, Frost, my Grandmas
Sounds Like
I've heard everything from Mazzy Star to "a female Jeff Tweedy." (!)
Request Sara on the Radio
Indie 103.1: 877-900-1031
KCRW: 310-450-5183
KXLU: 310-338-5958
Featuring "Feel It Coming" from Grey's Anatomy and "Dirty Mind" and "Never Been Hurt" from South of Nowhere
Sara Melson grew up in a small town in Indiana, the daughter of two college professors, in a house with books covering every wall from floor to ceiling. Her parents also had an impressive record collection. There wasn't too much to do in Indiana, and Sara spent hours after school memorizing every word and note of classics by the Beatles, Stones, Dylan, The Band, Bowie, Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel, the Velvet Underground, Carole King, and Van Morrison. Classically trained on the piano, she taught herself to play the guitar, and began to wed her own words and poems from her journals with melodies to form her first songs.
Sara performs both solo and with her band. Her timeless songs blur the boundaries between folk, rock, soul, country, and pop in a soulful voice that is at once tender and strong. At times soothing, at others chilling, that voice is, always, distinctly her own. Sara writes about love and lust, growth and change, and faith in a better future, both personal and global, in lyrics that are introspective, frank, witty and precise. Despite harsh realities, Sara's unswerving idealism and optimism shine through.
While attending Harvard as a scholarship student majoring in writing, Sara worked as a dishwasher in the school cafeteria by day and as a waitress in a local bar by night. It was during these years that the Brit-pop sound of the Verve, Blur, and Oasis, as well as the Americana tradition of songwriters such as Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, and Jeff Tweedy began to shape her sound and songwriting into a unique blend of diverse influences.
After graduation, Sara moved to Los Angeles, where she worked as a kids' music teacher, a yoga instructor, and an occasional film and television actress. She continued to raise the bar on her songwriting and playing, crafting her songs and honing her recording skills. The self-recorded and self-released Five Song EP was selected by Launch.com/Yahoo as a "Top Ten Pick" in its Cool as Folk Radiocast, along with Beck, Damien Rice, and Sondre Lerche, was aired on Indie 103.1, XM Satellite Radio, and KCRW, and featured in the ABC television show Men In Trees, the Viacom teen cult show South Of Nowhere, and in the independent films Spectres and Safe Harbour. Sara shared the stage with Silversun Pickups, Inara George, Ben Lee, Jill Sobule, Neil Halstead, and Juliana Hatfield, toured as guest vocalist with Mojave 3, and was sponsored on an acoustic tour of Japan.
Sara's self-produced debut full-length, Dirty Mind, came out this past spring on Nettwerk Records. Dirty Mind was featured on iTunes' "What's Hot," climbing the iTunes pop chart upon its release. Grey's Anatomy used the album's first track in its entirety in the climactic final scene of a recent two-part episode; Yahoo Music chose her as their New Buzz Artist, and featured her video in their Who's Next/User's Choice promotion. Songs from the record can currently be heard on American Airlines Radio, and will be featured in upcoming episodes of MTV's Exiled and the N Network's South of Nowhere this fall.
:] your music is amazing :D i started to listen to you because your music was on South of Nowhere [my favorite show] :] :] :] i wanted to learn dirty mind or never been hurt on the piano.. but i cant find sheet music anywhere :[
Thank you for the add. I am addicted to IMDB.com I was watching something the other day and looked up the show and found your name. That's how I ended up on your page. Funny how things like that happen. But anyway, I LOVE your music. I have already created a Sara Melson internet station on Pandora. Keep up the good work!
Hi Sara :) Thanks for accepting my add request and thanks also for the nice comment, I can't stop listening to your album, it's simply awesome, and your voice is amazing, my favorite song is Never Been Hurt, keep up the great work and good luck for more success, have a wonderful week :)
And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
Online Now!
