Singer: song writer: musician: choir leader and voice therapist
Melanie wrote her first song on the family piano when she was thirteen; she picked up the guitar a few years later and having learned the Joan Baez song book began writing her own songs. She joined the local folk club called The Boggery that was run by Jasper Carrott and Les Ward and very soon became a resident singer going on to joined Jasper’s Fingimgig Agency that was co run by John Starkey who went on to become her manager. She toured extensively around Great Britain under the name of Joanna Carlin. In the mid seventies she went down to London to join The Natural Acoustic Band and when that folded became part of a street theatre group called Methalated Spirits. This led on to a part in Prospect Theatre’s production of Pilgrim with music written by Carl Davies and starring Paul Jones, Peter Straker and Paul Nicholas.
Jasper Carrott had just had a hit record with Funky Moped with DJM records and through this connection she got her first recording contract. Working under her pseudonym of Joanna Carlin, she released Fancy That in 1977. For many interesting reasons that you will find on her double cd newly re-released by Acrobat Records her next album through DJM was under her real name Melanie Harrold called Blue Angel.
Most of the musicians who worked on Blue Angel were part of Gerry Rafferty’s City to City and while still working under the name of Joanna Carlin she sings on the beautiful song What Ever’s Written in Your Heart.
In the beginning of the 80’s she joined The Hank Wangford Band consisting of B.J. Cole, Andy Roberts, Gary Taylor and Howard Tibble. In this band she featured as Irma Cetas from Nogales Mexico, The Vera Lyn of the North Sea Oil Fields, joining the rest of the band in characterisations of the country music scene, ahead of its time Hank Wangford brought humour and pastiche to country music wrapped up in a whole lot of love to ‘take home with you’.
Late in the 80’s she returned to her acoustic roots and went on the road with her then partner Olly Blanchflower. They toured throughout Great Britain, Ireland and Europe recording three cds together: Live in the City, From the Heart and Instinctive Behaviour.
By the early nineties she burned out ‘a rolling stone that wasn’t gathering anything at all really’.
She embarked on a decade of courses and trainings in Voice Movement Therapy, Group Work and Body Psychotherapy developing an expressive therapeutic model of embodied voice work called The Singing Body.
In 2003, she took over two evening singing sessions called Raise the Roof from Barb Jungr at the Horniman Museum in South East London. These sessions have now evolved into an 80 strong
Raise The Roof Singers performances plus two further choirs: Raise the Roof Choir and Trade Winds.
She is currently working on re-arranging and rehearsing the material she has recorded over the last three decades in preparation for a series of concerts planned for April 2012.
