Melody Mann: News

Wow! We had an awesome time opening for Bob Schneider at Nutty Brown Cafe on the outdoor "festival" stage last weekend. Sorry we weren't able to promote it, but it was a last minute deal. Bob was fabulous as always! And Melody Mann was pretty fabulous too, if I do say so myself. Hope to have a lot more shows at Nutty Brown in the future. If you haven't been out there, it's an awesome venue! And they have great food too. See you there!

-Kelly

Wow! What a great time we had at the 2007 Texas Music Awards in Linden, TX. The whole town came out and made all the nominees feel really special.

The show was very professionally done, and Thomas and I were really proud to have the opportunity to perform 'Hard Road'. We brought Kyle Clayton (an awesome stand-up bass player from Austin) along with us to create a trio. Thomas played his 1972 Hollow Body Gibson (Sophie, his baby) and the Gibson and the stand-up bass gave 'Hard Road' a really moody, dark feel. It was pretty powerful and we got a lot of tremendous feedback.

We went into the show without a lot of people knowing of Melody Mann, but we left at the end of the weekend with a lot of new fans and some great exposure. We were also asked by Richard Bowden, owner of the very cool Texas Music City Theater, to come back and play again. We're really excited about that!

Our friend, and fellow musician Brent Allen went along with us to enjoy the weekend festivities. He was the lucky winner of a door prize Saturday night - a mandolin signed by all of the award recipients. He was pretty excited, to say the least.

As you probably have already heard, I did not receive the 'Female Vocalist of the Year' award. That was presented to Barbara Maltese (last year's winner as well) of the Dust Devils. Honestly, I was just thrilled to be included with such talented women as Barbara, Pauline Reese, Brennan Leigh and Ashlee Rose.

Let me just say that Jinelle and Lucky Boyd, their staff, the sound crew, film crew and all the volunteers did a fabulous job putting on this awards show. As I said before, it was very professionally done and they made all of us feel like big celebrities. Jinelle and Lucky really do a lot for Texas Music and Independent Artists. I feel fortunate to know them and to be a part of the MyTexasMusic.com family.

I'll be posting pictures soon and hopefully there will be some video available at some point. Thanks again to everyone who supports Melody Mann and voted in the 2007 Texas Music Awards!

-Kelly Mann

Melody Mann is thrilled to be a part of the Desert Highway & Craving Records Showcase and Party taking place Saturday afternoon March 17th at Antone's. If you're in town for SXSW or live in the Austin area, please come check out the party. It promises to be a fun time and a fabulous show! And you can't find a better place than Antone's. It's the quintessencial Austin club, located in the 6th Street Entertainment District.

There will be an exciting line-up of talented bands/artists. The party kicks off at Noon and continues until 5pm. It's free! So please come out and enjoy!

Line-Up:
12:30pm - Jamie Blythe, Los Angeles
www.jamieblythe.com
1:15pm - Bill Reveles, Los Angeles
www.billreveles.com
2:00pm - Melody Mann, Austin
www.melodymann.com
2:45pm - Jackie Bristow, Los Angeles
www.jackiebristow.com
3:30pm - Kara Grainger, Australia
www.karagrainger.com
4:15pm - Elam McNight and the West Levee Phantoms, Memphis
www.bigblackhand.com

Antone's is located at 213 W. 5th Street in Austin, TX. www.antones.net

Wow! I'm really honored and excited. I just learned that I was a final nominee for 'Female Vocalist of the Year' for the 2007 Texas Music Awards sponsored by MyTexasMusic.com and the Academy of Texas Music.

There will be one more voting round beginning Feb. 5th and lasting thru Feb. 23rd. Please click on the logo below and cast your vote for me! I would really appreciate it.

Of course, no matter who receives the award, I am just thrilled to be a Nominee.

Thanks everyone for supporting Melody Mann!

It's time for nominations for the Texas Music Awards (www.texasmusicawards.org). Fan nominations will be taken thru January 19th. Please go to www.texasmusicawards.org/nominate/ to nominate Melody Mann. Please nominate:

Melody Mann for "Rising Star Award"
Kelly Williams-Mann for "Female Vocalist Award"
Thomas Mann for "Best Musician Award" for the CD "Hard Road'.

Thanks for your help!

Kelly and Thomas Mann will be appearing live on Texas Rebel Radio to promote their Windows on Texas showcase. You can listen live by going to www.texasrebelradio.com. They will be appearing on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 8:30am CST with Rick Star. Check it out!

Melody Mann is really excited to be selected as one of only 30 bands to play the 2007 "Windows on Texas" music showcase in Fredericksburg, TX Jan 11-14. This is the 5th year for the event, which showcases the best in emerging Texas talent. The event is presented by Dobson Cellular One and Texas Rebel Radio (KFAN 107.9 FM in Fredericksburg).

The event features a wide variety of Texas musicians and several different venues in and around Fredericksburg, with a culminating big bash on Sunday, Jan. 14th. In addition to Texas music, each venue will also showcase another aspect of Texas culture, whether it is cusine or Texas art.

Texas Rebel Radio has always been a leader in showcasing the brightest new Texas talent. And if you're not familiar with the radio station, they break all the rules for traditional programming. TRR focuses on Texas artists, music about Texas, other artists performing in Texas, etc. They pride themselves in not having a set playlist! TRR has received national recognitiion for it's trailblazing format from both the record and radio industries.

Melody Mann will be playing on Friday, Jan. 12th at Bonterra of Fredericksburg. I'm told it is a very cool venue located in a house on a hill just north of town at 1440 N. Hwy 87. Renowned local chef, Steve Howard offers an eclectic menu of Cajun and International cuisine. The showcase will be a great mixture of rockin' music from Melody Mann's 7-piece band and tantalizing flavors from Chef Howard. This is where the party will be Friday night!

We're really looking forward to it. Hope you can make it out. It's just a short road trip from Austin!

To find out more and the event and the other showcases, go to www.windowsontexas.com. You can also listen to TRR live online.

-Kelly

What a cool place! You have to make a day trip to Albert, TX. (www.alberttexas.com)

Albert is located between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, in the Hill Country, just a hop, skip and a jump from Luckenbach. The town was founded in 1877 and was later re-named Albert, after Albert Luckenbach. In 2003, Bobby Cave, a business owner and singer/songwriter from Austin, bought the town. He turned the old General Store into the Albert Icehouse. This place is so cool! The scenery is gorgeous, the Icehouse is a great place with a huge deck and picnic tables that sit under a huge Oak. I think the largest I've seen. There's a nice stage for the band as well.

Melody Mann had a blast! The crowd (made up of a mixture of local regulars and new comers who had heard about Albert as a great weekend destination) was great and they really dug the music. We will probably be playing their once a month, and can't wait to return.

So hop in your car or on your motorcycle and take a drive to Albert, TX. You will not be disappointed. It's a great way to spend a leisurely day, especially during these beautiful fall months.

Hope to see you there!

-Kelly Mann

Well a lot has happend in the 2 months since we released the CD 'Hard Road'. We've been working really hard to gig and promote the CD, and have managed to get the music played on a number of Internet radio stations and Pod Casts. We're also getting some local airplay in Austin on KUT (or KOOP).

We've also done a couple of live tapings in the last few weeks. Hank Sinatra's Songwriters Series was a hoot. We filmed it at Hank's place in East Austin out in the boonies. To get to the stage, we had to walk down a long sloping path next to a chicken coop and Billy Goats. But at the bottom of the path, they had an awesome stage set up and a very hi-tech control room (in a broken down travel trailer). The first impression was that this was just a bunch of Hillbillies who didn't know anything about filming music. But boy was that wrong! These guys are professional. They not only know how to film a good music show, but they also know how to throw a fun party! We had a blast. Check out www.texasradio1.com to watch the Songwriters Series. We're in the April show, along with John Pointer and Drew Smith.

A couple of days ago, we headed down to the ME TV studios here in Austin for a last-minute taping. We were there to promote the ATX Fest. Melody Mann taped 2 songs live, then I sat down with Sarah Innerarity (Buzz Productions) and Paul Saucido (Tex-Mix Host) to talk about the festival. It was a whirlwind taping. We basically went in, did our thing and left. But it, too, was a blast. The crew was really great! (In this space, I deleted some stuff previously written about a Reality Show being filmed that day, after being contacted by the person being filmed. Not that I approve of censorship, but if someone is that sensitive to a few good-natured comments made by a band who witnessed the filming, by all means, I'd rather not mention them at all.) Our songs will air today on ME TV on the Tex Mix show at noon and then again at 10pm. Hopefully, the tapings were good and they'll decide to put one or both songs in rotation.

Catch you later!

-Kelly Mann

For immediate release: February 14, 2006
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Contact: Sarah Innerarity 512.633.7140
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Melody Mann releases new album “Hard Road”
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Austin band plans weekend of events for CD release

(Austin, TX.) – Austin-based band Melody Mann today announces plans for the release of their new album Hard Road. Melody Mann has a full weekend of events planned to celebrate the release of the new album, with two performances in Austin to promote their new CD. Melody Mann features the vocals of Kelly Williams-Mann, Thomas Mann on piano, organ and guitar, and a full band line-up including bass, guitar, drums, saxophone & trumpet. Their unique sound combines Kelly and Thomas’s roots of blues, jazz, rock, and Honky-Tonk music with Texas-style songwriting and flair.

Melody Mann will host a Listening Party on Friday, February 24th at Waterloo Ice House, located at 600 North Lamar. Guests will enjoy an acoustic show featuring selected songs from Hard Road. They will also have the chance to purchase the CD at a discounted price. The show will be from 10:00pm-1:00am at Waterloo, and the admission is $3 per person at the door.

On Saturday, February 25th, Melody Mann will host a CD release party at Tambaleo, located at 302 Bowie. The full seven piece band will perform from 7:00pm-10:00pm. Guests will enjoy complimentary appetizers and drink specials while listening to the band. The admission is $14 per person for a ticket to the show and the Hard Road CD, or $5 per person for each ticket to the show.

"Thomas and I are so thrilled to finally be releasing Melody Mann's debut CD, 'Hard Road'. The CD is an eclectic collection of original songs that has something for everyone - a little blues, a little jazz, a little country and even some rock n roll. A real slice of Americana,” says Kelly Williams-Mann. “The shows will be totally different, so we really hope people
will consider coming to both venues to see first hand the diversity that Melody Mann has to offer."

For more information on these events and other upcoming concerts, please visit www.melodymann.com. For press opportunities, booking, and other questions about Melody Mann, please contact Sarah Innerarity at 512.633.7140

You can now purchase the Melody Mann singles for 99 cents at Austin Online Music.(www.austinonlinemusic.com/melodymann) This is part of the 'Weed' network, so you can earn money by sharing your music files with others. Here's how it works. You can purchase songs for 99 cents. The artist always gets 50% and Weedshare gets 15%. The other 35% is given to the last 3 people who helped distribute the file. When one of them buys it from you, you get 20%. If that friend shares the file and it gets purchased, you get 10%. If that person distributes it, you get 5%. Got it? It's a great way to help finance your own music downloads. Go to Austin Online Music for more information. (www.austinonlinemusic.com).

Hey Everybody!

It's that time again.....time to vote in the Austin Chronicle's Music Poll. Please cast your vote for Melody Mann for best new Austin band. We really appreciate your support! Also, don't forget the other categories for the individual musicians and vocalist. We'd all love your support in those categoies too. If you're not sure of any of the band members' names, check out our "Bio" page. Here's the link for the music ballot. Thanks mucho! -Kelly

http://www.austinchronicle.com/feedback/musicpoll/05/

Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe it's already 2006. My, how time flies when you're having fun!

Melody Mann is still on track for a February release of our CD, "Hard Road". We're working on plans for our CD Release party now. Please join our email list, if you haven't already, and I'll let you know when we get the place and time confirmed.

I hope everyone has a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2006!

-Kelly

Thom's jazz band, FBC, played The Bugle Boy in La Grange last Saturday. It was an incredible gig. The band was "on" and the room is wonderful. The Bugle Boy is a "listening room" in an old World War II barracks. The sound is awesome and the crowd is very appreciative and warm. Thom and I will be playing there on Friday (12/16) as part of the Austin Songwriter's Group -Songwriters in the Round. I can't wait! I've sung in a few places like this before and it's so awesome when your voice fills the room and resonates as it does there. Please come and see us if you can. I'll be singing along with 2 other great female singer-songwriters - Chelle Murrey (www.chellemurrey.com) and Idgy Vaughn (www.idgyvaughn.com). Thom will accompany me on guitar so I can focus on my main instrument, my voice. La Grange is only 50 miles from the Austin-Bergstrom Airport out Hwy 71. Go to The Bugle Boy website (www.thebugleboy.com) for a map. They also Pod Cast their performances, so you can hear both the FBC and the Songwriters in the Round shows over the Internet. Hope to see you there! - Kelly

Hey Everybody!

We have finally released the singles CD for our upcoming full-length CD, "Hard Road". The singles CD includes 4 of the 11 cuts. Please take a listen and let us know what you think. The full length CD will be released in February 2006.