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Recently I paid high dollar to see one of my favorite Female vocalists perform an Aretha Franklin tribute show. I was excited about the show but not excited about the venue. I’ve played this venue on several occasions, the first time as a teenager. Every time I’ve had issues with feedback, with stage monitors, and with the sound person not listening to the needs of performers.
I was hoping that since this event was a high dollar, one night only, tribute show to a legend that the venue would up their audio game for show time. At any show the first few songs you can always expect a little adjustment, the mix is getting used to all the people in the room. By song four everything should be dialed in with the band and with the sound engineer. Around the the fifth song the lead singer was now talking and pleading with the sound person to adjust levels in between songs. By song 7 I could see her and the band being the utmost professionals and just dealing with the inexperienced sound man. At one point the sound man walked right in front of the monitors, bumped into an elderly lady shoulder checking her and was just completely rude. This attitude and the screeching ruined the show for me. After apologizing for my generation to the shaken woman, I talked to the club owner and he took no responsibility just made excuses as well. So unfortunately a lovely night with one of the most talented 10 piece bands was ruined because of the lack of attention from one person, the sound man. Why I learned to run my own sound: When I was 13 I was in my very first band. An eager little punk rocker who had a year of guitar and no lead vocal experience out side of choir class. I had to wait for my guitarist to hook up the PA so that you could hear my vocals. As a true vocalist I always wanted to hear myself and more of me in the speakers. So finally I learned how to set up the PA. How to set up my amp and vocals so I could practice when the band wasn’t there. By 14 years old I was empowered to run the sound board and my little 4 piece band if needed. Over the years I have taken sound lessons from the engineers who produced my records and ran my live band on countless gigs. I’ve worked with hundreds of sound men and a handful of sound women at festivals and workshops. I’ve produced showcases, hosted open stages and MC’d several events. The star of the show to me, the hidden talent that you should never notice is the sound person. Ever hear that screeching high pitched noise, that most likely was the terror error of the sound person. There are some basic things about sound that I feel most people especially musicians should know. There are a few simple mindful techniques when working with or as a sound person. I’m excited for the opportunity to share more and teach a class focused on how to run live sound. Thank you Hana Arts, Her Many Voices Foundation and our sponsors for this amazing workshop on October 29th in Hana, Hawaii. We will video this class and will make it available through the Her Many Voices Foundation and this website.
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Step into the fears that you run from. Lean into the fire that burns your broken heart. Allow the gods and goddesses to enter dream space of mirrors and sacred space. Like minded humans living off paint and canvases, doing cumbia’s with red and meringue twirls in yellow. Un-tame the fire which resides, has always resided, and continues to burn every lesson of ego back to the earth from which we all much cycle back to.
On a more serious note, I want to talk about something that is especially near and dear to my heart: Haiti. As you may know, Hurricane Matthew tore through Haiti earlier this month, leaving many of the Haitian citizens devastated and killing 1,000 people. Those who have known me for a while know that I've always had a heart for Haiti. Since 2010, my non-profit Her Many Voices (HMV), has worked in Trou ChouChou to help build homes and a school. Unfortunately, the region where HMV did much of our work was pretty much washed away with Hurricane Matthew.
Her Many Voices is currently working to raise much-needed funds to assist with the relief effort in Haiti. It is our passion to reach out to our Haitian brothers and sisters to help them rebuild. In my view, it is our social responsibility to help where we can. The money that HMV is set out to raise will go toward providing much-needed supplies, food, water, and assist in rebuilding the community. Please consider getting involved. Even $10 will make all the difference. If you are called to donate, please do so here. With that, I am currently seeking to collaborate in the local music community on a Haiti benefit show to assist HMV in the mission to raise money for the Haitian relief effort. If you are a musician, band, or venue who is interested in collaborating on such a project, please get in touch with my management team right away. Thank you all. Together we can all make a difference! You know that you’re working with some pretty extraordinary musicians and artists when you can call them at the last minute to come play with you for your birthday show and they show up with bells on and ready to rock. This is exactly the case when it comes to my band Color Me Blessed, which consists of powerhouse vocalist Yazmin Hernandez, percussionist extraordinaire Joshua Randy Abeyta, and master of all things bass, Lauren Gale. What really sets the pros apart from the rest is the fact that these amazing people showed up to play without knowing a single note or chord at the last minute and made my birthday set at The Soiled Dove Underground one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever had the joy of playing. We had one rehearsal in the green room before hitting the stage and I must admit that I was quite impressed at how quickly these beautiful humans took to the music. So with the first official Melissa Ivey and Color Me Blessed show under our belt without even having a proper band practice first, we set out to gather together and practice as a unit this past Monday and it was nothing short of magical. We happily engaged in creative space together and rehearsed some of my favorite songs to share at an upcoming show. It’s interesting how the Universe moves when it conspires on your behalf. The mere fact that I was able to co-create the perfect backing band for my music practically overnight is something special. This is a team of amazing artists creating this local super group and we are ready to take on the world with our sass and our fire.
We are currently booking dates for the Fireside Concert Series. Let me, Melissa Ivey, and my band Color Me Blessed play your special event. From birthdays, to weddings, to special holiday events, we are geared up and ready to rock your event. Collectively, we have over 30 years of music experience in this band, so there really isn’t much that we can’t do. Please check here for information on how you can book us for your event during the holidays and beyond. You can also call 720. 388. 8465 right now to speak with my manager Charlotte about securing the date for your show today! My life has been a sincere blessing of many twists and turns. In the blink of an eye, everything can change course and I've got to completely change directions. Such is this journey: oftentimes what I originally thought was a sure thing can surely slip through my fingers like honey dissolving in a cup of fragrant hot herbal tea. But that is the beauty of life. What these experiences have taught me is the power of my own resiliency and flexibility as a human and an artist. Another important lesson that I've learned is my own power to co-create with the Divine to manifest at the speed of light. So when my original plan for my birthday show on October 1st got switched up at the last moment, I didn't really sweat it too much. I put out the word regarding my desire to put together a band across the wire and within in hours I had a solid line-up which consisted of Joshua Randy Abeyta, Lauren Gale, and Yasmine Hernandez. We are officially known now as Melissa Ivey and Color Me Blessed. But the story that I wrote for myself gets even better than that. Not only did I harness that power of the Gypsy Light Magic to manifest the band of my dreams, I also received a call from a very dear friend and overall bad ass musician Elizabeth Rose regarding my birthday show. As it turns out, her band Sympathy F was playing a CD release concert at one of the most amazing rooms in our fair city of Denver. She graciously asked me (and my new band) to play at The Soiled Dove Underground as an opening act. And when Elizabeth Rose invites you to do anything, you pretty much say, "Yes!" So this past Saturday night, surrounded by the love and support of my friends, family, and community, I took to the stage with Color Me Blessed to melt some faces. And melt faces we did. It was a magical evening of music and friends and love.
I know that I've said it before, but I am so grateful for this community that rallies behind its artists and shows so much love and support for the art that we create. I want to thank everyone who made my birthday so special. YOU all are the reason why I do what I do. YOU all are part of this Divine unfoldment that I'm currently experiencing. Every single one of you that shows me love and support are the reason why I seek to manifest beautiful, creative experiences where I can share my art and my heart. All of it is part of this Gypsy Light Magic that keeps me humble and in awe everyday. October holds promise of big, amazing things to come and I can't wait to share it all with you. Thank you for how you color me blessed and for co-creating with me.
As I approach my next year of rotation around the sun, I reflect on my life and everything that I've been blessed to experience over the course of my existence. Throughout my time here, I most certainly have blazed many trails and created some indelible memories. But at the end of the day, it's all about the art. With all the collaborations I've experienced in my life, I have many reasons to be grateful.
Some of these collaborations ended as lessons learned. All of these collaborations were absolute blessings in their own way. Every experience that we choose brings with it the possibility to expand further. So, details for my birthday celebration are still somewhat up in the air, but trust when I say that they're coming soon. If you want to be updated, please follow the Melissa Ivey Music FB page or subscribe to my email campaign. Also worth mentioning: I have a few dates left in October for playing house concerts. Let's collaborate to create some magic together! Contact me here regarding booking your event. 
I've been thinking a lot about life and love lately. Through my own observation, I've witnessed the interesting stories that we tell ourselves about what love actually is. Likewise, I've found myself contemplating my motives when it comes to love and life.
My own views of life and love can transform radically from day to day. Some days I feel completely inspired by them both and other days I can feel completely drained of both of them. The thing is, I have a lot of love to give and I seek Life through the heart of pure, unconditional love. I can really see no other way than this for me to operate in this life. My experiences and my life and the love that I share are what I draw upon when I create music and all of that is where I personally find inspiration. When you're pouring your heart into a song, pouring all your pain and suffering into the prose; that's what makes great music. It is what heals me and through my sharing with the world, heals others too. It's a most humble service that I have been sent to this planet to provide. Creating music and healing through music makes my life so full and alive and amazing! Nothing brings us together quite like a good song. You know that moment: when you look around and everyone is dancing and jiving to the same rhythm and the same beat.
Music is the heartbeat of my life. It is the language of my heart. Which is why I've been in the studio creating new music. We haven't quite nailed down a release date for the new stuff just yet, but I can tell you a new track is coming very, very soon.
In the meantime, I have a few shows coming up and it would honor me greatly if you would bless me with your time and presence at one of the upcoming shows. If you can make it, October 1st, some friends are throwing me a birthday party and it sure would be great to see ya! Thanks for your continued support of the Melissa Ivey Music Experience. I could not do this without YOU!
My schedule is steadily getting full and I have to say that I've been so blessed to play some very special gigs. I'm really excited for what the future holds and many surprises are in store, some I can talk about and others that are still in the first stages of planning…
This past weekend, I played two shows. One was a backyard concert hosted by my good friend Lisa Bell. I do have to say that Lisa's backyard stage provided the perfect setup for an acoustic set but I also had to pull out the electric guitar and rock it just a little. Lisa and her guests were so gracious and accommodating. I am so blessed to have been able to play this venue and I look forward to collaborating again in the future! On Sunday, I also got to play a set at Colorado Connected 3. Some performers who shared the same stage include: DJ Cavem, DJ Skip Rip, Mike Wird, Babah Fly, Kayla Marquee, American Dread, and Zanib, to name a few. This very special event was hosted by 180 Street Outreach and held for the purpose of raising awareness regarding homeless youth.
Since working with the youth and uplifting and edifying them has always been a major passion of mine, playing this event was a no-brainer. I'm so thankful that I got to be part of this line-up and so grateful for the opportunity to lend the Melissa Ivey brand to 180 Street Outreach.
If you haven't come out to see me yet, there's plenty of opportunity coming up! My next shows are September 24th and October 1st. The upcoming October 1st show is a really special one as I celebrate my birthday amongst friends and family at Maze Haus in Denver, CO. Many surprises are in store, so please join us! It would be my utmost pleasure to embrace you with music, hugs, and Gypsy love. Won't you join me at an upcoming show?  As the time of the celebration of my birthday approaches, I pause to reflect...
I moved back to Colorado only a few short months ago and what has transpired since has been nothing short of magical. Using the power of my intention, I was able to manifest the exact circumstances that I require to support my life and my creative vision. My entire being is humbled by the love of this community and I find myself constantly in awe regarding the opportunities showing up. Throughout the remainder of the year, I have many shows coming up. You can check out the details regarding those shows here. My utmost desire is to heal and restore hearts and community through movement, meditation, and sound. Currently, I can achieve these one of three ways: by playing music, by teaching yoga, and by facilitating Neurosculpting® meditation. The benefits of each of these are incredible and I feel blessed that I am the conduit through which these healing modalities are expressed in this world. True to form, life is ever evolving and major developments are in the works. By the Grace of the Goddess, I've aligned myself with the perfect venue to showcase all these works that I've been using in my own life to heal and manifest. Additionally, the time has come for me to begin the process of finding my band of Melissa Ivey MzFits so that I can continue to grow and expand. More news on that coming soon… For now, it is my foremost desire to open my heart and arms to the beautiful community that has embraced me and always supported me. It is my hope that through conscious intention, I can create a ripple of Gypsy magic throughout the local community and beyond. My reach is far and wide yet my heart remains humble. More to come...  Music holds such power to uplift and encourage others. We feel the lyrics in our heart and the beat inside our souls. We fall in love to music. We get married to music. We share the most special times in our lives with music as an accompaniment. And then when our souls make their final transition, music sends us on our way over that bridge to heaven. One of the best things about a movie is it's musical score. I mean, after all, can you imagine the original Batman movie without the Prince soundtrack and Danny Elfman's musical score? It wouldn't be nearly as magical.
I've been making music for 17 years. True, over the years my style may morph and jump genres, but the music is truly what drives me to create. I have discovered the power that music has to heal others. My songwriting has become very focused and the stories that I tell so potent. I feel what attracts people to what I do is that I often draw off my own life experience--my joys, my pains, my loves, and my loses--when creating a song. Every syllable is genuine, every note a page from my own story. These are the songs that I share when I play live. My music truly is the language of my heart. And I intensely enjoy surrendering to the moment and baring my heart with my community. I am so blessed to be part of a local music scene which so unequivocally shows me support. My heart explodes every time I see someone singing along with me. In my upcoming house concert series, I get to share a bit more intimately. It would humble my heart and touch my soul if you would choose to join us for an upcoming show. Come feel the electric vibration of the Melissa Ivey Gypsy Rocker experience. Get immersed in the music love and embrace community with me. See you soon! |
About Melissa IveyMelissa Ivey is an award-winning Singer/Songwriter and Youth Educator from Denver, CO. She does public speaking engagements at schools, churches and spiritual centers, and leads guided music meditations. Archives
October 2018
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