Melanie Darnall

My name is Melanie Darnall, I am 23 years old, and to play music is to breathe, for me. In 2005, I taught myself how to play guitar and began writing songs while residing in a mental institution. While being locked up I had a profuse amount of excess time on my hands. I also had a cassette player, the Red Hot Chili Peppers tape "Californication," and a guitar my mom had given me. So, whenever my roommate was out of the room, I sat down on the floor next to my little tape player and strummed along to the guitar parts while playing the RHCP tape. I picked them out the best I could. Soon, neighbor patients were hearing me through the walls and wanted more but I was too shy. I would first have my roommate come in and sit inside the closed closet while i played and sang. Eventually I told her she could come out and I got brave enough to play with her sitting on the bed across from me, but turned around staring at the wall. Finally, by some miracle, I was able to play and sing with her staring right at me AND all the lights were on. Today, I get a rush out of performing in front of people. I long to share my music with an audience and, hopefully, one day help someone by showing them overcoming adversity is possible. There is nothing more that I would rather be doing than sharing my story through song. Thank you.