MELA in November

The first Mela of the Fall will take place on Samhain, Dia De Los Muertos, All Souls Day- aka the day after Halloween, November 1st.

Join Mela featuring guitar by Angad Singh, percussion by Cody Rahn, Bass by Alex Minier, and a few tunes reconnecting with Elsa Nilsson on Flute. Mela's performance will be followed by Vanta, a collaboration featuring amazing musicians rooted in world music and jazz.

Where:
Two Moon Art House and Cafe
315 4th ave (Between 2nd and 3rd street)
Park Slope Brooklyn

When:
8pm- Mela
9pm- Vanta

Come to reconnect with the spirits and welcome the new season with music and energy!

June News

Hello friends and fans-

I hope you are enjoying the warm weather! The summer solstice is almost upon us, and I'm looking forward to the long days and warm nights filled with music and creativity that the summer always brings! Please join me for a few special events this month:

June 15th

Mela at the Waterfront Museum

3pm

290 Conover Street

FREE!

featuring:

Melanie Closs- marimachu, ukulele, guitar, vocals
Alex Minier- upright bass
Cody Rahn- percussion
Erin Webb- vocals

AND VERY SPECIAL GUEST SONGWRITERS!
Ruby, Lily, and Evia- Mela's students!

http://melamusic.bandcamp.com/

http://waterfrontmuseum.org/

Ongoing- ends July 10th

Support The Other Side- 

empowering women globally with drama and music

Please spread the word to your network and support The Other Side. We work with communities in New York and India, creating an exchange of personal stories through drama and music to empower girls to demand equality and justice for themselves.

Our online campaign supports the exchange of stories for our first after-school program in the fall for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.

Find out more and support here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-other-side-fa/x/3277081

And please spread the word!

Soak in all the summer sunsets and nautical adventures! See you at the bottom of the ocean,

Mela

Mela in India (playlist)

A true Mela in India!

Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning "festival" or "gathering of people". You might have heard of a big kum mela recently where millions of people flocked to the sacred crossing of two holy rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna, plus Saraswati, a mythical river, to bathe and worship. Well this Brooklyn-born Mela did visit the Ganga this year, plus brought her own gathering to two concerts in India!

I spent 4 weeks teaching drama and music in a rural girls school in Anupshahr, Uttar Pradesh. You can read about The Other Side, my program, here. After a few impromptu ukulele sessions on the roof of the volunteer dorm where I was staying, I decided to do two performances at the school. One was at International Women's Day on March 8th, and the other was a mini-concert for the volunteers, teachers, and the girls who were training in the Call Center. I also taught a few teachers and students how to play the Ukulele.

On March 23rd, I performed a full set at Kunzum Travel Cafe, Hauz Khas Village, in Delhi. Kunzum Travel Cafe is a very cool spot within a very cool area, a place for travelers to gather and drink coffee, share stories, and connect, a perfect venue for Mela. Many friends from Delhi and Anupshahr showed up for the gig, including new fans and friends from Delhi and around the world.

The interior of Kunzum Travel Cafe

While vacationing with the Lal family in Goa after my time in north India, myself and Angad Singh ended up changing the words to the Mela song "Dancing Water" to make it "Jungu Caca", a made up world in the sky created by Laila-Noor Lal, Angad's 3 1/2 year old cousin :)

Look for a video and recording of that soon!

Besides actually making the promised recording of the non-lyrical piece Sarasvati that I've been planning for a long time, I'm also working on a song I wrote about Anupshahr, and hoping to write another song about some of the people I met in India. India is inspiring on so many levels, and I hope it will infuse my music this spring and summer.

Videos of all the performances in India coming up soon on youtube!

Thank you to everyone who supported me during this trip and made it possible for Mela to be a part of The Other Side: India! Check back soon for the next performances!

updates

Oops! I haven't posted in a while! Well, here's what's been going on:

I played a great show in January with Brett Saxon at Bar 4, which featured a collaboration with Angad Singh on a few tunes. Bar 4 has a REAL piano so my fingers were very, very happy.

I've also released a new bandcamp album you can download of a live recording from Spike Hill in July 2012. You can check it out and download it here.

That will be the last show I'll play before I travel to India for a theatre education project with girls.

In the meantime, I'm working on new songs, an instrumental/non-lyrical piece inspired by Indian Ragas and pentatonic melodies, using some weird (for Mela) time signatures, called Sarasvati. The goal is to make a home recording where I play all the instruments.

I'm also working on a few new songs in collaboration with Angad Singh. We're working out a piece where he taps on Matilda, my Marimachu. I'm still figuring out what lyrics and melody will be :)

There's a possibility I'll play a small set with Angad in New Delhi in March. Stay tuned for details!

I'm also developing a living room tour this summer in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Philly, and anywhere else that I can bring a bunch of people to a living room to hear my tunes! Let me know if you are interested.

Oh and hey! Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/MelanieCloss

Free wine! Free make-up! Free Food!

Hi friends and fans

This December we have two special events a- happening.

Friday December 7th-
Mela live at Botta Di Vino 7-9pm, featuring Nidia Medina
SHADES OF WINE- giveaways from Sephora and Mary Kay Cosmetics!
Support this great wine shop in Red Hook (businesses in Red Hook need a lot of love after Sandy)
It's a tasting! That means free wine!
357 Van Brunt St. Brooklyn
http://www.bottadivino.net/

Monday December 10th-
Mela @ LIC Bar- 9-10pm
featuring Cody Rahn, Alex Minier, Nidia Medina, and Becca Schall
FREE FOOD BUFFET AT 9PM.
45-58 Vernon Blvd. Long Island City, NY 11101
http://www.bottadivino.net/

Can't wait to sing and consume free things with you!

Upcoming Fall shows

Earth mothers and sky fathers,

Join Mela at a series of very exciting Brooklyn events this fall!

October 13th- 4-5pm Gowanus Girls @ Gowanus Grove, Brooklyn

(girl-run craft and food market! Enjoy some sangria and hear some Mela tunes)

October 27th- ALL DAY HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE!

2-3pm Mela @The Waterfront Museum, Red Hook- featuring music set to poetry and others lyrics. Lets go back in time and travel across the globe, from Shakespeare's England to Ireland, China, Peru, and India...

Featuring Angad Singh on guitar and a small chior of sirens.

THEN TRAVEL WITH ME FROM RED HOOK TO GOWANUS!

4-5pm Gowanus Girls, @Gowanus Grove, Brooklyn!- enjoy the rest of the evening with drinks and more Mela fun times!

November 16th- Special Event Women of Color Wine Tasting and skin tone pairing-

7-9pm, Botta Di Vino, Red Hook

featuring Nidia Medina

Hope you can make it to dance, sing, meditate, discuss, drink, eat, and be merry with Mela this fall! It's the best season!

love and harmonies,

Mela

End of Summer, start of Autumn

Special thanks to everyone who made it out this summer to Spike Hill on July 24th, and The Waterfront Museum on August 25th. The show at the Waterfront Museum, featuring "Bruja Del Mar", a collection of songs about the water, as well as Angad Singh on guitar and a performance by Laura Dunn, was by far one of the best to date. The boat was rocking us slowly and bringing us together in the cozy comfort of the historic barge in Red Hook. All the friends and new fans who came out that day really brought a special energy in the air, leaving everyone feeling happy and content that Saturday afternoon.

Next up, Mela is working on creating a demo-at-home album of her songs for The Tempest for Green Theatre Collective's summer production. Check back for news of how to purchase, listen, download, and share.

Mela will be playing at the Waterfront Museum again on October 27th, featuring songs set to other's words- such as Shakespeare, Frieda Landau, Mona Canon, and Rilke. And since it's close to Halloween and Samhain, there will be costume wearing and some sort of Dia De Los Muertos inspired performance!

Mela and Angad Singh performing at the Waterfront Museum

View of Fairway, from The Waterfront Museum

The gangway of the barge

View from The Waterfront Museum

Laura Dunn, opening on August 25th

Summer news

"Melanie Closs’s music is so delicate and evocative that when the characters speak of the unearthly beauty of the music on Prospero’s island, one hears it just that way.  It’s part of the magic."
- Yvonne Korshak, Let's Talk Off Broadway, review of The Tempest by Green Theatre Collective on Shelter Island, New York


Green Theatre Collective's production of The Tempest on Shelter Island was indeed beautiful and magical. The sun setting behind us as we faced the ancient windmill at Sylvester Manor painted a lovely setting for this island-magic. Mela's original music was mostly performed by Jessica Giannone, who played the sprite Ariel.
http://greentheatrecollective.org/

Check out some photos of Mela's performance on Montague Street from the Make Music New York festival on June 21st. We had a great turnout and it was so much fun to play with Nidia Medina and Robert Cowie- sometimes knows as "The Cowies."

TONIGHT: Check out Mela perform some new and old tunes, and new arrangements of songs from The Tempest with Cody Rahn on percussion and Concetta Abbate on Violin. Special guest Joyce Lee on cello.

Spike Hill, Williamsburg (Bedford Ave and N 7th street)
10pm
Free!

Mela and The Cowies at Make Music New York

Jessica Giannone, who sings most of Mela's original music in The Tempest

Mela celebrates the summer solstice!

What an amazing weekend of Mela and festivities!
Thursday night, the summer solstice, we had a wonderful celebration playing with The Cowies and all the songwriting elves of PS 8, who were lending some interpretive dance to our Mela performance on Montague street.

And then, from one Montague to another- Mela took her solo act to Montague, MA for Mutton and Mead Medieval Festival. She sang with the faeries, danced with the gypsies, played and serenaded patrons, knights, wenches and children, in rain, sunshine, woods and in the tavern.
She let the sounds of bagpipes and fiddles infuse her, as well as the transformative smell and spell of the forest.

Now on to more seafaring adventures! Besides working on grant research and lesson planning for Green Theatre Collective, Mela is off on a journey to beaches and oceans of the East Coast, teaching her original music to the cast of The Tempest in the Hamptons, and taking a retreat in Fire Island and Florida, working on writing songs for her summer conceptual project called Bruja Del Mar- Sea Witch.
I must away now, I can no longer tarry...

Upcoming Mela Events

July 14-15th, 20-22nd
Green Theatre Collective presents The Tempest, featuring music by MelaShelter Island and Amagansett, Long Island, NY

July 24th
10pm- Spike Hill

 August 25th
1pm- Laura Dunn!
3pm- The Waterfront Museum, Red Hook

EP is released and ready for purchase and download!

Friends and fans-
Mela has finally released their first ever EP entitled Red Dust! You can get your download here:

http://melamusic.bandcamp.com/album/red-dust

Or if you come to a show or see me in person, you can buy a physical CD, each one labeled by hand, and stamped by a stone hand-carved stamp from China, with my name in Chinese.
The release party was so much fun, and I think everyone's favorite part was singing along with the new song my students wrote about a gust of wind that steals your money.

Upcoming shows:

Saturday, May 5th
2-4pm @ the Waterfront Museum
Hudson River Park, Pier 25 in Tribeca at the foot of N. Moore St

Thursday June 21st
Make Music New York
Sidewalk of Grand Canyon Restaurant
Montague St. Brooklyn Heights
time TBA

Looking forward to some awesome Mela music making this summer!
love,
Mela

Mela EP release party March 26th!

If you ordered an EP from the Red Dust Kickstarter, now is your chance to come on out, hear some music, eat some FREE FOOD, and pick up your album or Polaroid! We worked hard making some musical magic with the amazing talents of:
Robert Cowie (in addition to the other members of his Jazz Flophouse- Otto and Ella, and Mama Medina :)
Not to mention the amazing:
Cody "The Anvil" Rahn,
Charlie "The Blanket" Rauh,
Concetta Abbate (we're still working on her nickname- any ideas?)
Nidia "Mama" Medina
Cydney McQuillan-Grace.

ALSO obviously if you haven't pre-ordered an album, this is your big chance to come by and buy one! The album includes such mystical seaside hits as:
By The Sea
Chiarascura (that's the weird one with the singing bowl)
Goodnight Baby
These Are the Days (mixed and mastered by Aaron Cohen)
Red Dust

So come on out, eat some of the FREE BUFFET (Did I mention the free food yet?), hear some great music, and get your album or artwork from Scott Walsh!

WHERE: LIC Bar,
45-58 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101
(That's Queens everyone. It feels farther away than it really is- take the 7 or G train it's easy I swear.)

WHEN: March 26th, 9-10pm.
(Also, another talented singer songwriter Kelly Ash will be performing at 8 if anyone wants to hang out with me and listen to her beforehand :)

WHAT? THERE'S MORE?: Yes! Not only will you hear lots of great music and pick up the album and eat, but you will hear some NEW songs, including music for Green Theatre Collective's summer production of The Tempest, a song set to Lyrics by Kickstarter Backer (and talented singer and novelist) Lee Harrington, and other treats!

Please let me know if you will be coming to pick up your EP or artwork so I can put your name on a list!

CAN'T WAIT!!!

in musical love and harmony and worldly instruments-
Mela

Kickstarter funded, recording sessions done, EP release coming soon!

Hi friends! Our Kickstarter for the EP "Red Dust" and a photography project by Scott Walsh has been fully funded! Thank you so much for your support and love!
Last week we had four fantastic recording sessions for the EP. Now Robert Cowie is doing his magic mastering, and we're hoping to be able to release the EP by the end of the month.

We'll be playing a show with the full band on March 26th at LIC Bar in Long Island City. Hopefully we'll be able to give out EPs and prints that were pre-ordered with the Kickstarter, and if not they won't be far behind!

Hope to see you on the 26th, and look out for out of town gigs and touring this summer!
love,
Mela

RED DUST: Kickstarter launch!

In February, we'll be recording our first 5-track EP titled Red Dust. My dear friend, and also our Ukulele player's husband, will be engineering the album from his home studio, with the assistance of Otto and Ella (the best dogs ever.) The album will feature percussion by Cody Rahn, guitar by Charlie Rauh, Viola/Violin by Concetta Abbate, vocals and Uke by Nidia Medina, vocals by Cydney McQuillan-Grace, and myself (voice, piano, guitar, marimachu)

In order to make this recording happen, we have just launched a Kickstarter, which is a fun new way of fund raising for creative projects. I'm collaborating with photographer Scott Walsh, who will be working on a series of Black and White photos of the subway and coney island. His artwork will eventually become the album artwork, but for now we are exploring the ideas of anthropology in music and photography; how culture influences landscape and human relationships.

How does Kickstarter work? For the increasing amounts that you donate, you always get something in return. For example, for $10 you will get a hard CD of our EP. For $150, you get an 8x10 original Black and White print from Scott, in addition to the CD.

To check out our Kickstarter page and make a donation, copy and paste the link below into your browser:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1472973675/red-dust-mela-and-scott-make-an-ep-and-a-photo-ser

AND check us out on January 30th in Long Island City:
Opening for Inti and the Moon
8pm
LIC Bar
45-58 Vernon Blvd. Long Island City, NY 11101

Happy New Year and thanks for all of your support in 2011!

January Events and updates

Dearest MELA fans!

Check here VERY soon (hopefully in the next day or so) for an update about our Kickstarter to raise money for the first Mela EP!

Melanie Closs will be teaming up with photographer Scott Walsh to create this debut EP titled Red Dust, plus a photo series by Scott exploring what transient traces we leave behind, whether human connection in Mela’s travels, impressions of a natural environment, or a mark of graffitti on a subway station wall.

We'll be posting soon about how to donate, and what you get in return.

Also, check us out on January 30th, opening for Inti and the Moon.

30 January
8pm
Free (plus Free buffet!)
LIC Bar (Long Island City)

Happy New Year! It's going to be a good one!
Mela

Upcoming Events

December 5th

MELA featuring Concetta Abbate on Viola

Goodbye Blue Monday
1087 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11221

9pm- FREE

January 30th

MELA with Cydney McQuillan-Grace and Nidia Medina
sharing the bill with Inti and the Moon

LIC Bar- 45-58 Vernon Blvd.

8pm - FREE- plus a FREE Buffet!

Plus, stay tuned for a Kickstarter project raising money for our first EP, plus artwork by Scott Walsh

Wednesday, November 16th

MELA and Sea Teeth at Wicked Willy's!
Wicked WIlly's- 149 Bleeker st
8pm- MELA, 9pm- Sea Teeth (Philly based blues band!)
$5

This show has a few exciting things going on: MELA will feature just the lovely 3-part harmonies between Melanie, Cydney, and Nidia! Check it out! You will also be able to pre-order our EP to support our recording project! We might have some other treats for sale to compliment our EP project...so many things to look forward to!

And of course, check out Sea Teeth, with Dana Levin and the Philly crew, doing some old favorites and some original tunes by Dana himself.


Friday November 18th

MELA opening (solo) for The Orange Person- a musical by Laura Dunn and the Ghosts of Xmas Past!
The Gene Frankel Theater
21 Bond Street
New York, NY

8:00- MELA
9:00- curtain

For tickets and more information: http://www.theorangeperson.com/

And looking forward to December:
get ready for MELA featuring Melanie and Concetta Abbate on Viola, and a possible fund raiser party for the Green Theatre Collective project in India in Boston! And more album pre-orders!

Updates

MELA has gone through some changes, and have some interesting gigs coming up.

For one, we're adding an upright bass sound, by the lovely miss Lisa Dowling. We're creating a more solid sound with just upright bass, percussion, electric guitar, and Melanie's classic piano, guitar, and vocals. (and of course, her new featured love, Matilda the Marimachu.) In addition to the tighter simpler quartet, we'll be experimenting in our live performances with different combinations of duos and trios.

Our first experiment will be:

Wednesday October 12th 7pm
Wicked Willy's $5 cover
with Charlie Rauh- electric guitar
and Melanie Closs- piano, guitar, voice, Marimachu

We have plans to record an album and play small shows.

Look for another show at Wicked Willy's opening for Sea Teeth (blues) in November, and a house party fund raiser for girl's education in India in December. We're hoping to play in Boston at another fund raiser and Philly in the Spring.

Still working on the new website! Check back for updates and a link to the new site soon.

with love and peace and harmony and world folky-ness,
Melanie

Updates

Hello friends! This summer has been truly fantastic, the tour of As You Like It featuring MELA was a huge success. "A nature spirit appears -- Amiens, played alluringly by Melanie Closs, moves in and around singing the gentle, insinuating “Come Hither.” You bet!" - from Let's Talk Off Broadway, a Shelter Island publication.

We have a show on September 14th at good old Pirate-themed Wicked Willy's, and MELA's music will once again be featured in GTC's As You Like It for their brief relaunch on September 17th and 18th at Quail Hill Farm in Long Island.

This fall, besides playing shows, we will be working on our first album. Check for updates and follow our process. Also, check back for a link to our new website, once it's ready. Lot's of new fancy things to look forward to!

Right now it's time to take a break from all the touring, rehearsing and performing. Melanie Closs is heading off to Florida to visit her grandma and spend some time at the beach, and then she's off to Peru for 12 days! She has no idea what kind of adventures, epiphanies, inspiration and spiritual powers await her in the land of the Incas. You'll probably find out in some new songs this fall :)

September events:

September 14th, 9pm
MELA @ Wicked Willies
Bleeker st, NY

September 17th - 18th
As You Like It, featuring music by MELA, relaunch!
Quail Hill Farm
Long Island, NY

Thanks everyone for all your support and enjoy the rest of your summer!
Melanie