Melanie Faye
American musician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | May 16, 1998 |
| Occupation | Guitarist |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Website | melaniefaye |
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 how 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]
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)