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Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, and Mike
Brown. But the showstopper is “American
Dream,” blasting with thundering riffs
and chorus charges - ”They wasn’t think-
ing about me when they were thinking
about American dreaming /They wasn’t
talking about me when they was talking
about American dreaming /American
dream /Was not intended for me to
know it /American dream /They want-
ed me to feel like I stole it.”
In January, Melody started a YouTube
series called "Music Mondays." After she
released her engaging documentary Black
Girl Rock, fans requested more insight into
her daily career. She’s produced eight
videos that chronicle her songwriting,
touring, and guitar tips. “I’ve been getting
messages from people saying they love it,
little girls saying they got their first guitar.
Amazon asked to sponsor a video.” But
the most unexpected message came from a
fan who works at Guitar Center. “I got this
message from a fan who wanted me to
send him my P.O Box so he could ship me
a guitar. I did not believe it, but he
overnighted a Fender Strat,” she said, as
her voice choked up. “I have never had a
new guitar ever. My guitar is from a pawn
shop. I didn’t even know how to take it
out of the box. He said he saw how hard I
worked, and he wanted to support me
and keep me moving in the right direc-
tion. It’s the guitar I always wanted but
knew I couldn’t afford it. The guitar I’ve
been playing since I was 15 has been
through the fire. It came at the best possi-
ble time.”
Melody Angel headlines an acoustic set at
Uncommon Ground, 3800 N. Clark St. on
Saturday, March 21, at 8 PM.
IE: How is it to play small clubs again, but
this time with the spotlight beaming directly
down on you?
MC: I love it. And it’s good that I had all those
formative years with The Dirty Knobs
between Heartbreakers tours to go out and
play clubs, because I got used to fronting the
band, and I’m really comfortable with that
now. I think I learned a lot, and I got a lot of and we spent about three days together, and
we wrote several songs. And one day he goes,
“I had this idea that might make an interesting
song someday — “Fuck That Guy.”' And I
immediately related to that — we’ve all had
that moment at least once a day, where some-
body deserves to be told, “Hey — fuck that
guy!” So I said, “Can I mess around with
that?” And I literally spent five minutes on it,
confidence from all that woodshedding. And
I’ve got this great band, and they follow me,
and there are no egos in the band, so I can’t
wait to play the small places. I started out
playing the small venues, and in some ways, I
prefer that to the big arenas, because you’re all
in the same room, you all hear the same thing,
and you’re up close, and you’re really sharing
the experience together in a very intimate
way. I really love playing that way. as a joke, really, and the band played it once,
and that’s what you hear on the record. And
it’s funny that people have noticed that song a
lot, I guess because they relate to the idea. But
it was done really quick, with a sense of
humor, and it’s really fun to play live. People
really get into it.
03•2020
IE: And you’re having a hoot on this debut,
too. As on the half-spoken-word “Fuck That
Guy,” probably the first time that sentiment
is in a song title.
MC: Well, that’s an interesting story. Chris
Stapleton, who I had only met briefly once
when we played Wrigley [Field], and he
opened for us. And he called me up — and I
don’t normally do this, because it’s outside
my comfort zone — but he said, “Do you
want to get together and try to write some
songs?” And I said, “Okay.” So he came out,
IE: What’s your take on mortality now?
MC: Well, we only get so much time. So, my
take on it is to treasure every moment, and not
worry about when it’s your time to leave. It’ll
happen when it happens. But in the mean-
time, just try to spread as much goodness as
you can, and enjoy the love you have around
you. And don’t take it for granted.
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs appear
Wed., March 11 at Park West in Chicago.
Tom Lanham
Continued from page 34
revered? You have cult status in the under-
ground scene.
SC: I don’t know. It seems like in the past ten
years; everything has picked up for us. We
started getting these show offers to go to
Europe and play these fests. All those years
before that, nobody really gave much of a
care. But I guess it's just a younger generation
of people who like us. It's definitely not peo-
ple our age (Carroll is 52). They can pick up a
record of ours from like 1991-93, and it's like,
“Oh my God, this is 30 years old!” So, I think
a lot of that is the internet. The internet
helped, there’s no denying it.
Mosh: How has it been working with
Hell's Headbangers Records?
SC: It's great because they take care of every-
thing. We just did a handshake deal for our
last album, and we've been good friends ever
since. We really have no contract, and they
paid for everything. They put us in a studio. I
don't even know what the record cost. So,
they'll take care of any of that. We love the
guys because we order records from there so
often. We're fans of the label because they’re a
heavy metal underground company run by
brothers [from Ohio], and they're just incredi-
ble. Everything they've said to us, they've
given us. Whatever they say they're going to
do, they actually do it. They’ve been nothing
but nice. I had no interest in doing it myself
because I like a physical product, I love to
have a vinyl or a CD, and I would die if I had
to go to the post office every day to mail stuff
out. I'm happy they do it, and I'm glad they
can make money and keep their business
going.
44 illinoisentertainer.com march 2020
Mosh: Autopsy is another well-respected
journeyman death metal band like your-
selves. What is your connection to them?
SC: We played at Reggie's with them maybe
eight years ago. I got to interview them for
The Reader. It was like a band-on-band story. I
interviewed their singer and drummer, and
we've been friends since probably 1990-91.
Back in the day, the guys in Autopsy actually
wrote us a fan letter! That's how we became
friends and we would trade tapes and stuff
back then. Then we lost contact for a while,
but when we played with them [however
many] years ago, it was just like seeing an old
friend. I assume this will be the same sort of
thing, those guys are great. They're basically
just like us, only the San Francisco equivalent.
We've been friends forever.
Cianide plays Reggie's on Saturday, March 7
with Autopsy, Professor Black and Molder.
MOSH-WORTHY RELEASES: Innards Back From
the Grave, Straight in Your Face (Transcending
Obscurity) — Portugal death metal newcom-
ers successfully merge the old with the new
on its nasty debut release, featuring guest per-
formances by Massacre vocalist Kam Lee and
Sodom guitarist Frank Blackfire. Midnight
Rebirth by Blasphemy (Metal Blade) The "one-
man-band" from Cleveland unleashes its
fourth full-length album, Rebirth by
Blasphemy*, consisting of filthy, blackened
speed metal. Blasphemer The Sixth Hour
(Candlelight Records) Italian blackened death
metal stalwarts return with its third release, a
concept album about the last day of Christ.