Melanie Faye

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.

Melanie Faye
Born (1998-05-16) May 16, 1998
OccupationGuitarist
Years active2016–present
Websitemelaniefaye

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
  1. Johnson, Hailey (21 March 2018). "An Interview with Melanie Faye: R&B Artist On the Rise". Affinity Magazine.
  2. Starling, Lakin (3 August 2017). "Melanie Faye's Divine Guitar Skills Will Make You Cry". The Fader. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  3. "Q&A: Melanie Faye | TUNED UP". 10 November 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  4. Blackman, Rachel (8 January 2018). "Striking A Chord With Melanie Faye". These Days News. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  5. Helman, Peter (12 April 2018). "Mac DeMarco & Melanie Faye – "Eternally 12"". Stereogum. Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  6. Britton, Luke (1 May 2018). "Mac DeMarco's new track 'Eternally 12' is a super smooth slow jam". NME. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  7. Paulson, Dave (19 May 2018). "Guitar Hero". The Tennessean. Vol. 114, no. 139. USA Today Network. pp. 1A, 16A. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. "Watch Melanie Faye Demo the Player Series Stratocaster". www.fender.com. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  9. Reyna, Fabi (February 2018). "Melanie Faye". She Shreds. No. 14. pp. 42–51.
  10. 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.
  11. Hermann, Andy (26 June 2018). "Women Are Saving the Electric Guitar". Los Angeles Magazine.
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