by Lee Zimmerman, New Times - Broward, Palm Beach Speaking on the phone from her home in Nashville, Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk -- better-known to Baby Boomers everywhere simply as Melanie -- sounds exactly as one would expect: personable, engaging, down to earth, and, in the slightest way, ever so fragile. THE FIRST LADY OF WOODSTOCK: The serendipitous life of Melanie Safka by David Laurell, LifeAfter50.com - January 08, 2013 “I’ve gotten to that point in my life – past 50 – and the music business and entertainment industry types have noticed. They call it old. I have gotten older – as some of you have – and others of you will – if you’re lucky. That’s okay with me." "She has been touring and recording all along and has racked up more than 25 albums of absolutely brilliant music. She is an American classic who has never quite gotten the reward that her abilities deserve." Review: "Ever Since You Never Hear of Me" by Michael Scott Cain, Rambles.net - October 27, 2012 Justin Vivian Bond Sings Melanie at 54 Below by Stephen Holden, New York Times - December 24, 2012 Justin Vivian Bond has a visceral imagination. During a recent performance of the Yuletide show “Snow Angel,” at 54 Below... "The show succeeds on multiple levels...I think I got a tiny glimpse of what it must have been like to be part of Woodstock, and the movements of the 60's that defined Melanie's career and life." Review: "Melanie and the Record Man" FINDING A PERSONAL PEACE by Eric Rezsnyak, Rochester City Newspaper - October 24, 2012 "I cannot remember ever being in an audience where raw, true emotion became an actual character on stage, but it did so unquestionably in Melanie and the Record Man." Review: 'Melanie and the Record Man' at Blackfriars truly a treat by Caurie Putnam, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - October 22, 2012 Miley Cyrus' Backyard Performance of "Look What They've Done to My Song" by Rebecca Macatee, E! Online - Oct. 3, 2012 In her newest backyard video, premiering exclusively on E! Online courtesy of MileyCyrus.com, the 19-year-old sings an impassioned cover of Melanie Safka's "Look What They've Done to My Song"... A Conversation with Melanie by Mike Ragogna, The Huffington Post - Sept. 24, 2012 Mike Ragogna: Who could this be? Why, it's the very lovely, very iconic, Melanie. Melanie: Hey! MR: Hi Melanie, how are you? M: I'm good. MR: I have to get my clapping over with. Okay, there we go. Melanie, it's a joy. Your latest album is Ever Since You Never Heard Of Me. Traditionally, on all of your albums, we would see the credit "Produced and Arranged by Peter Shekeryk," though this one was also produced and arranged by Beau Jarred Schekeryk, your son... Woodstock legend Melanie finds another ‘Brand New Key,’ plays Saturday at Woody Guthrie Folk Festival by Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman - July 13, 2012 The singer-songwriter, best known for her 1970s novelty hit as well as her performance at Woodstock, is making her debut at Okemah’s Woody Guthrie Folk Festival on Saturday, what would have been Oklahoma icon’s 100th birthday... Redefining Melanie: The Interview Lemia Leval - June 28, 2012 Get ready: Melanie Safka, better known as simply "Melanie", is coming back to Eureka Springs this July as part of a 2012 concert tour that began June 2 in (drumroll please...) Woodstock, New York, and so far has taken her across Germany... Guy Portelli's Melanie Love & Light scuplture at Dimbola The sculpture is now on display and available for purchase at the Dimbola Museum & Galleries on the Isle of Wight. Melanie's WAMC Interview (Northeast Public Radio) by Sarah Laduke - May 30, 2012 Congressman introduces Melanie at ASCAP gala (Washington, D.C.) – On Tuesday, May 15, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx) had the honor of introducing Queens native and renowned singer-songwriter Melanie Safka before her performance at the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers annual “We Write the Songs” event. Melanie Safka grew up in the Astoria section of Queens and attended New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts... Melanie at Jammin' Jiva by Michael Cain, rambles.NET - May 19, 2012 On May 15, the legendary singer-songwriter Melanie, who was in the Washington, DC, area to perform at the ASCAP Gala at the Library of Congress, played a fill-in gig at Jammin' Java, a nice listening club with a magnificent sound system just outside Washington in Vienna, Va. She played a loose, make-it-up-as-you-go-along set that had the audience feeling as though they had dropped by an old friend's house where some picking and singing was going on... ‘Brand New Key’ singer Melanie bound for Kent Stage by John Benson, The News Herald - May 02, 2012 As far as she’s concerned, ’60s and ’70s singer Melanie Safka, known simply as Melanie, takes full responsibility for the archetypal female vocal sound — good or bad — that has dominated the last four decades of pop radio. Click here for the full article. Melanie's XROCK 103.9's interview "Woodstock Reflections" show hosted by Tom Lounges - April 21, 2012 Click here to listen to the interview Woodstock veteran Melanie embraces her signature song, 'Brand New Key' by Tom Conway, The Herald-Palladium - April 19, 2012 THREE OAKS - The Acorn Theater has thus far hosted two musical artists who performed at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 - Richie Havens and Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane/Starship). On Saturday, The Acorn will welcome their third Woodstock veteran when singer-songwriter Melanie Safka performs at the venue. Click here for the full article. Woodstock artist Melanie still singing her songs by Tim Harmon, South Bend Tribune - April 15, 2012 If it lives in your memory at all, Woodstock is probably nothing more than a cacophony of sounds and a montage of grainy images. Those intrepid young people who walked or hitchhiked their way into that historic concert in summer 1969 are in their 60s now, or older. Many of the artists are a long time gone. Melanie Safka says she walked onto the stage at Woodstock "an unknown person. I had one underplayed hit. When I sang any of my songs, no one had heard of them before." Click here for the full article. Melanie's WDIY Radio Sellersville interview "Folk Classics" show with host Steve Aaronson - April 05, 2012 Click here to hear the interview Melanie still lays it down with honesty
phillyBurbs.com - April 04, 2012 by Ed Condran, Correspondent It's usually a good idea to not to take recording artists at face value. When Melanie Safka said she wanted an address to send a doodle she sketched during an interview, who knew that she would actually send it? But a week after the chat, the letter arrived with a sheet adorned with silver and black lines. Click here for the full article. Melanie returns, with a 'Brand-New' CD
Montgomery News - April 03, 2012 by Mary Cantell, Correspondent Melanie is back. We’re not talking Melanie Griffith. You know…the cute long-haired girl with the big eyes and a guitar…back when roller skates had keys. Yes, that Melanie. She was the girl who sang and wrote songs even before there was the term “singer-songwriter.” Remember the chart-topper, “Brand New Key”? Hewlett Packard does. It recently used the song in one of its commercials. Click here for the full article. 'Brand New Key' singer Melanie to perform at Dennis Flyer Theatre
NJ.com - March 23, 2012 By Jim Six/South Jersey Media Group The title of her newest album pretty much says it all — “Ever Since You Never Heard of Me.” That’s Melanie, in a nutshell.The singer with a unique voice seemingly burst into America’s consciousness on the stage at the legendary Woodstock music festival in 1969. Click here for the full article. Blackfriars producing original musical about Melanie Safka
Democrat and Chronicle - March 16, 2012 By Tia Long Blackfriars Theatre is hoping to catch the wave of nostalgia for ’60s and ’70s music with a new musical developed by artistic director John Haldoupis and starring Melanie Safka, whose hits include “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” “Beautiful People” and “Brand New Key.” The musical, Melanie and the Record Man, will be an eight-actor show about Safka’s life. Haldoupis, who has been working in musical theater for 35 years, has been a fan of Safka for as long as he can remember. Click here for the full article. Blackfriars Theatre musical 'Melanie And The Record Man' features Woodstock legend
HenriettaPost.com - March 11, 2012 Al Alexander, GateHouse News Services Blackfriars Theatre, a professional, not-for-profit theater in Rochester announced its first original production, “Melanie And The Record Man – A Musical Memoir,” starring Billboard Female Vocalist Of The Year and multiple gold record award winner, Melanie Safka, and Blackfriars alumnus, Nicolette Hart (Broadway /National tour RENT, Legally Blonde, The Wedding Singer) as Melanie's younger self. Click here for the full article. Melanie shares tunes from Woodstock to national stages
NewHampshire.com - March 08, 2012 Interview by April Guimet, Union Leader Correspondent Before there was Pink and Madonna or even Cher, there was another singlenamed singing sensation and her name was Melanie. Now 65, the former “shy kid from Queens” said she remembers her fated Woodstock appearance as if it happened yesterday. Click here for the full article. A Brand New Melanie
New Hampshire Magazine - March 01, 2012 Interview by Rick Broussard Remember Melanie - the sweet-faced quintessential hippie chick who sang "Brand New Key" and "Candles in the Rain"? Well, you might say she's back, but the truth is she really never left. Click here for the full article. Melanie--Yes, It's the real Melanie--at Tupelo
The Complete Hoot Magazine - February, 2012 There are few of us who came to age in the mid to late 1960s who don't remember who Melane is: "I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key." There was--and is--something incredibly catchy about the combination she create in the words and the originality of the melody in this song. Click here for the full article. Legends Radio interviews Beau Jarred
February 08, 2012 Legendsradio.net spoke with Melanie's son, Beau Jarred Schekeryk. A virtuoso guitarist and talented composer in his own right, Melanie's fans are very familiar with Beau, through his extensive invovlement in her career as an accompanist, a performer and a producer. Click here to hear the full interview. Review: Four decades after Woodstock, Melanie retains passion, message
Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune - January 19, 2012 PHOENIX – When it came time for Melanie to sing her 1970 hit “Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)” while performing on Jan. 12 at the Rhythm Room, it was only fitting to expect some audience members to raise cigarette lighters as happens so often at rock concerts. It didn’t happen though. Perhaps a byproduct of recent antismoking legislation. Click here to read the full article. Phoenix New Times' Jason Woodbury does a Q&A with Melanie
January 9, 2012 ​Though best known for her folk-pop ditty "Brand New Key," (also known as "the roller skate song in Boogie Nights") Melanie Safka hasn't stopped making music over a four decade span. Her latest, Since You Never Heard of Me, is full of the wry, sturdy songs that have defined her oeuvre (when the bouncy, not-very-characteristic roller skate hit is removed from equation)....Click here to read the full article. KQCK Arizona's Daniel Dullum interviews Melanie in advance of Phoenix show
January 8, 2012 Arizona's Daniel Dullum of KQCK recorded this interview with Melanie in advance of her January 10th performance at the Rhythm Room. Click here to listen to the interview. Visit the News Archive (2010-2011) |
