Showcase Artist Feature: Melody Walker

1) You do a lot in Nashville. On top of being a GRAMMY winning songwriter, you also host a weekly writer's round, play in a drag Grateful Dead cover band called "Bertha," and you just announced a vocal masterclass with Nashville Country School. How do you find time to do it all?

Honest answer, I often default to cutting corners in my own self care, from showering to laundry and dishes to personal relationships. I'm trying to have better boundaries and let some things be imperfect while making sure I'm making time for myself, and my mental and physical health, but the struggle is real. Mostly it means not overcommitting myself, and being okay with just getting a couple things done each day, and that's okay. 

2) You won a GRAMMY this year with "American Dreaming," which you wrote with Sierra Ferrell. When you wrote the song, did you know it was going to be this special? 

I think we knew pretty quickly that this song was going to be special. She played it as a special acoustic encore at her New Years Eve show at Brooklyn Bowl and I cried while the whole audience sang along. And when I played it out at my writers night, people always shut up in that special way where you know you've got something on your hands. Definitely a gift to be a part of a song like that. 

3) You collaborate with a lot of people and it's clearly paying off. When did you start co-writing and what are some lessons you've learned from it? 

It aint payin' but it's payin' off! I started co-writing hardcore after my band Front Country broke up in 2020. I didn't know what the hell I wanted to write about for me, so I think at first I was escaping into helping others write their stories. I found that to be really rewarding, and I think I had to almost be running away from myself to be able to give over to writing in someone else's voice. Of course, I'm still a big flavor in every song I help write, but I love being more of a song doula than some Svengali with an agenda. 

4) In your bio, you talk about your struggle with finding artistry and joy for music after 10 years of touring and going on "auto-pilot." When you create now, what are some ways you find joy?

Community has been the biggest key in finding joyful creativity again. Creating alone was so LONELY and I needed badly to have it not be so precious and to just be in a flow and part of a collective culture. I'm surrounded by so many talented friends that inspire me and it seemed like such a wasted resource to not collaborate with them in more radical, open-hearted, chaotic ways. I am in love with my community and it comes through in the music.

5) Tell us more about the four songs you'll be playing at the showcase in April.

I'm not sure of every song I'll be presenting yet, but I know I will play "Room", which is a song about radical non-competition and community building. In the spirit of that, I wrote it with my friend Sarah Potenza, and ended up recording it with Crys Matthews and Heather Mae, two very community-minded artists, and we released it together. If they are free that night, maybe they'll come sing it with me!

6) If you could have a dream collaboration with any artist, who would it be and why?

I would love to write with Chappell Roan or Maren Morris or maybe Janelle Monae. They are all outspoken queer artists who aren't afraid to ruffle feathers and speak truth to power. I don't have any use anymore for folks who want to color all inside the lines. 

7) Anything else? 

Folks can always catch me hosting my weekly show Writers' Kitchen on Tuesdays at Jane's Hideaway. 

They can also catch her with a full band (a performance set up she does not do often,) on April 2nd at 3rd & Lindsley with our HellCats!