Artist: MelodieLocation: Bronx, New YorkInfluences: Aretha FranklinWhy You Should Know Melodie:As a little girl, Melodie Nicholson couldn’t help herself as she sang her own versions of classic songs like “Man In The Mirror” – deep down she was an artist. It was all set in stone as she became a student of the legendary LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. “I have four generations of LaGuardia in my blood,” says the LaGuardia graduate. With a sound heavily bedded in neo-soul she blends poetry and humor into her repertoire.“You can laugh and sing at the same time. You can interact with the audience, and you can touch them, and you can bring them into the show – you can make them a part of the show. [The audience] don’t always have to just sit and watch and listen.” The velvet voiced Bronx native Melodie Nicholson nonchalantly describes her shows as a reincarnation of Bette Midler’s early bathhouse shows. Honestly, the humor that bathes Melodie Nicholson’s shows is reminiscent of Bette herself – sexually charged and…well, a bit naughty. But you won’t catch the witted mouthed songstress writing any kind of comedic material down, as she bluntly puts it, “I’m not a comedian.” We’re entering an era where finding the perfect combination of performer and vocalist is like finding your size in the clearance bin. Upon finding that clothing article that fits, it becomes the most memorable, and that’s Melodie Nicholson. – the perfect recipe of lyrics, music and performance.Melodie illustrates her family as a replicate of the Cosby’s, she reminisces a particular story about the first time her father and brother heard her sing the sexual ode “Till I Say So” (Lyric: “Turn me over/hold my legs/make it hurt babe/make me beg”). That story ended in her father having a talk with her boyfriend at the time, and her big brother’s attempt to cut the mics at a show. In her early teenage years her diabetes-ridden grandmother had her leg amputated but, Melodie says, “She was still doing everything…in the kitchen and started cooking.” From that inspiring sight “Hero” was birthed – a gospel tinged and vocally powerful song which sounds like a whole choir of Melodie’s singing. But divine inspiration also came in funny moments. As Melodie got in her boyfriends car she found a blond hair, she knew who it belonged to but still decided to tease her boyfriend about it – from there came “1, 2, 3” a song she wrote purely to joke around (Lyric: 1, 2, 3 that’s how many cops were looking for me/after I pulled the trigger/Didn’t mean to shoot him/just wanted to scare that ni**a). That worse-case-scenario song became a fan favorite at every Melodie show.Yeah, she’s funny, but without the proper balance a voice would be stunted. Melodie is far from a stunted artist penning songs about infidelity, sex, and fallen hero’s that aren’t so fallen. One of Melodie’s most powerful songs steps into the realm of human mortality. At the time of one her friend’s mother’s death she wrote a song for them called “Ask Thy Heart.” With the lead vocals coming from the perspective of the deceased and backgrounds despairingly come from the viewpoint of someone left to grieve here on earth, its gut wrenching and takes you to a place where you might be doing the same one day.It’s more than obvious that Melodie has created the soundtrack to her own life without realizing it – even her humorous moments offspring fan favorites. Still, there’s an eagerness emanating from her voice. Even though she won’t say it – she’s anxious to have more people hear the music that’s so dear to her. Perhaps, there’s an untold desire to have it become yours, and not so much hers.“Having someone else understanding and accepting what I’m writing. You always write for personal reasons but it something else when someone else gets it and gets something else. You [could] keep everything in a book or in a journal and just let it sit there, ‘Yeah I got my feelings out!’ But when someone else can read and get the same feelings out. That’s the biggest part for me. Those are the moments. It’s not about selling trillions of records and having everyone recognizing you in the streets. Those are MY moments.”For music, show dates, and more information on Melodie: www.myspace.com/melodiesoul
