By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
BLUES MELODY
E
ven though it was blues women like
Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, and Bessie
Smith, who first popularized the
genre, the blues industry has never been
easy for women. Sexism, unequal pay, and
countless physical barriers make it excep-
tionally challenging for a woman to suc-
ceed as a blues musician, but after years of
struggling, singer, songwriter, and gui-
tarist Melody Angel is making her mark.
Last fall, she graced the cover and was fea-
tured in Blues Legacy: Traditions and
Innovation in Chicago (University of Illinois
Press), the latest book examining the influ-
ences of Chicago blues musicians by
ing me high fives.”
The emotional power of blues and
rock, as well as Melody’s talent and
charisma, earns her these kinds of
responses everywhere she performs.
Growing up on the Southside, a glimpse
of Prince playing guitar in the film Purple
Rain when she was seven-year-old
spurred her life-long musical obsession.
She taught herself to play watching Jimi
Hendrix, Chuck Berry, and Lenny Kravitz
YouTube videos. Melody formed a band
when she was in high school and has been
a professional musician ever since. And it
has not been a smooth road. “I’ve been
Melody Angel
David Whiteis. Last summer, Angel
played the Chicago Blues Fest for the third
time. She has also performed as a musi-
cian and actor in several local theatre and
film productions, including Goodman
Theatre’s Father Comes Home From The
Wars, and the Court Theatre’s For Colored
Girls. Melody also starred in and scored
Alley Cake's locally-produced 48 Hour
Film Project short Knockout, which
screened at the 2019 Short Film Corner as
part of the Cannes Film Festival.
And the success has not slowed down.
Last month, Melody performed the
national anthem at United Center for the
Bulls vs. Charlotte game. “It was a crazy
experience,” Melody said.” I’m a big bas-
ketball fan, I grew up playing it, and I had
not watched a game since Kobe died. I
could feel the energy; this was the stadium
where Kobe played, where Jordan
played.” The opportunity for a young
African American woman to play the
national anthem at a time of so much
political unrest was not lost on the 29-
year-old musician. “I have always
approached the national anthem the way
Jimi Hendrix did at Woodstock,” she
explained. “He had been in the military,
and people were outraged at how he per-
formed it. He used it as a protest. With the
anthem, I get to tell my story; how I feel
about this country and what has been
done to us.” Melody had to cram all of this
into 90 seconds. “I performed right before
tip-off, the game started immediately
afterward. When I was almost done, the
crowd was screaming and yelling. People
were coming up and hugging me and giv-
14 illinoisentertainer.com march 2020
told that my look is not acceptable for the
music industry,” she said. “They never
have a problem with how I play or my
songwriting. It’s the kind of music that I
do and how I look that they want to
change.”
Refusing to bow to the pressures to fit
into industry expectations, Melody has
eeked out weekly gigs at Rosa’s Lounge,
produced three studio albums, and per-
formed her brand of blues-rock around
the world. Typically, she is the only inde-
pendent artist on the roster at internation-
al blues fests, but she does not let a record
contract or industry approval stop her
progress. “Two years ago, I was strug-
gling. When things started happening, I
made a promise to stay positive no matter
what happened. A music career goes up
and down, but I’ve focused on staying
positive and pushing myself. I can’t
change how society is racist. I can’t change
how society is sexist. But, I can focus on
playing and performing well.”
Melody believes that her outlook has
earned her a little more respect from the
industry, and she has continued to book
more performances and projects. Last
year, she released her third album, Angels
& Melodies. The 12-track offering showcas-
es her well-crafted, politically aware song-
writing and infectious blend of blues-rock.
Highlights include the bluesy ballad title
track, the tasty blues boogie of “Say It
Ain’t So,” and “Justifiable Homicide,” an
evocative mid-tempo tune that connects
the history of martyrs like Emmet Till and
the Scottsboro Boys with contemporary
victims of the justice system, including