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Why I Wrote The Maysgiving Table
There is a moment that kept coming back to me, year after year, as I cleaned up after Maysgiving dinner. The table full of dishes we had cooked together. The lingering smell of turkey and pie. The sound of people still talking even as plates were being cleared. And this quiet, certain feeling that something…
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Multi-Passionate Creative: How Quilting and Songwriting Feed Each Other
Can you be a musician and a quilter? Absolutely yes. Many creatives work across multiple disciplines and find that cross-disciplinary practice strengthens each individual area by teaching transferable skills like patience, pattern recognition, working within constraints, and the satisfaction of completing complex multi-stage projects. More Than One Creative Thing A lot of people know me…
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This One Is for Her
There are blogs I write because they are timely. There are blogs I write because they are useful. And then there are blogs like this one, that I write because I simply have to. This Mother’s Day, I am not writing about music in general. I am writing about one woman. My mom. The one…
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Summer Music Preview 2026: How My Songwriting Is Shifting With the Season
What summer music is Melanie Grace releasing in 2026? Melanie Grace is releasing her Americana album ‘Merica on June 8, 2026, as her primary summer release. The album has a wide-open American summer sound rooted in landscape and love of this country. Additional projects are planned throughout the rest of 2026. The Creative Shift Into…
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For the Creative Moms: You Don’t Have to Choose Between Art and Motherhood
Can you be a mom and a musician? Yes, absolutely and completely. Many working musicians are also parents, and the creative demands of music and the emotional depth of parenthood frequently feed each other in ways neither could provide alone. The key shift is moving from waiting for perfect conditions to working consistently in the…
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Americana Music and Place: How American Landscapes Shape Songwriting
What is Americana music? Americana music is a genre rooted in traditional American musical forms including folk, country, blues, and roots rock, combined with a strong storytelling emphasis and a sense of geographic and cultural identity. It values authenticity, narrative honesty, and emotional truth over production polish. Music That Sounds Like Land I have been…
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How to Write Song Lyrics: A Real Songwriter’s Honest Process
How do you write song lyrics? Writing song lyrics starts from one of three entry points: a title or phrase that demands to become a song, a melody that needs words shaped around it, or an emotion you need to process. From any starting point, the craft involves drafting without judgment, revising with skill, and…
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Cinco de Mayo Playlist 2026: Songs That Make You Want to Celebrate
What songs make you want to celebrate? The best celebration songs share a few qualities: they are rooted in a specific joy rather than generic happiness, they have genuine forward rhythmic momentum, and they invite the listener into the feeling rather than describing it from a safe distance. The best party music feels personal even…
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What Is Maysgiving?
(And Why May Is My Favorite Month) Every year, right in the middle of May, something shifts in my house. The good dishes come out. The table gets set like it means something. There is a turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pie. And no, it is not November. It is Maysgiving. The 4th Thursday of…
About
Singer-songwriter turning 10+ journals of songs into reality ✨ Classical soprano gone indie | Transparent about AI collaboration | “Through It All” album Feb 2026 | Mom of 2 | 5:30am fitness | Also quilts sewmelanie.com
