It all started with a tiny violin. Melissa Ivey was 9 years old and living in Denver when she took her first music lesson on a violin that was almost as big as she was. She knew right away. She wanted to master the art of music.
When Melissa moved to San Francisco at age 12, she picked up her mother’s bass guitar and taught herself to play. At age 14, she tried the electric guitar. For two years, from age 12 to 14, Melissa practiced on her own before she revealed her talent to anyone outside the house.
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It all started with a tiny violin. Melissa Ivey was 9 years old and living in Denver when she took her first music lesson on a violin that was almost as big as she was. She knew right away. She wanted to master the art of music.
When Melissa moved to San Francisco at age 12, she picked up her mother’s bass guitar and taught herself to play. At age 14, she tried the electric guitar. For two years, from age 12 to 14, Melissa practiced on her own before she revealed her talent to anyone outside the house.
When Melissa felt she could play well enough, she got together with other musicians at school who were practicing in the music storage room, referred to as “The Closet”. They played together, wrote songs together. A short time later, they formed a band and entered one song in their high school talent show. They got a good reception. The next year, they entered the talent show again, but this time, they won first place and received $100.
That $100 prize was used to record a demo, which got the band their first gig. By the time Melissa was 15 years old, Melissa and her band, Manic Notion, were regular performers at the Cactus Club in San Jose, California. Her band opened for top punk bands including Agent Orange, and were a successful act in the local club scene.
It looked like Melissa was destined for a meteoric rise to stardom, but at age 16, Melissa moved back to Denver. The fourth day at her new school was the day of the Columbine shootings. Like so many students, she was traumatized by the incident and decided to attend a private high school. It turned out to be a good decision, because she got more personal attention and was encouraged to pursue a career in songwriting as well as performance.
In 2005, Melissa Ivey won Best Singer/Songwriter Award from Westword magazine, Colorado’s alternative weekly. She toured around the country doing more than 50 shows a year. Her West Coast tour included gigs at the Viper Room, Hard Rock Café and Universal City.
After a year of touring and nonstop songwriting, Melissa chose 5 new songs to record. She recorded an EP called Lovers and Stars. Denver's classic rock station, KQMT (99.5 FM The Mountain) debuted the title track on Jake Schroeder's Mountain Homegrown Hour to rave reviews. KTCL (93.3 FM) soon followed suit.
Dave Herrera (music editor for Westword magazine) wrote:
"This delicious pop ditty hits a sweet spot with me like no recording since the Fray's early demos. It's a quantum leap beyond anything she's produced before - a track that evokes Mary Lou Lord as much as it does Sheryl Crow -- Ivey's most polished effort to date."
The success of “Lovers & Stars” led to an invitation from KQMT (99.5 The Mountain) to be on their compilation CDs. Melissa has recorded on the Mountain Compilation Volumes III, IV, and is recently recorded a Led Zeppelin tune for Volume V. Ivey has also showcased her original music in Boulder at 97.3 KBCO Studio C.
The tour and new EP gave Melissa exposure outside of Colorado, and in 2006, she won Westword’s Best Singer/ Songwriter Award for the second year in a row. And in 2007 Melissa landed a leading role in a TV cartoon.
Melissa Ivey writes unforgettable lyrics, and music that stays with you forever. She is barely 5 feet tall, and a very petite size 0, but she is an enormous talent. She writes songs you won’t forget, and want to hear again and again. And she can sing. She can belt, she can be sweet, she can hit the high notes, and she can rock out.
Of all the young rock artists today, Melissa Ivey is clearly one of those destined for stardom.
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…shrink me down again
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