If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have spent some time with James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan or Joan Baez before they made it big, you might just get to relive that chance when you meet Melissa Alesi. She is the real deal, singer / songwriter to the core. There is something about her that makes one think that success is going to find this lady right where she is. Not necessarily geographically but, right where she is in her mind, spirit and musical delivery.
    I would always rather hear an artist perform before I write about them, but, August was such a busy month for me with my own gigs that I did not get out to one of Melissa’s gigs, which should be easy to do since she plays almost every single day. So I put an acoustic in my car and went to meet this week’s artist for coffee at a diner on Atlantic Ave. near Bethany Beach. After the interview, I asked Melissa if she could play a couple of songs for me. She flashes that big beautiful smile and her facial expression seemed to say, “I thought you’d never ask.” So, sitting outside the diner on a park bench, she begins finger picking, ever so softly, an original tune and I hear the sweetest voice I may ever have encountered, live. She followed right up with Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.” She hands the guitar back and says, “now you.” And, so I did.
RandyJamz: When did you first come to realize that you wanted to be a musician and who were your early influences?
Melissa Alesi: In second grade, in art class, I sang a line from a Spice Girls song and I thought, “hey, that sounded pretty good.” I remember sitting in the car with my dad and he put on an ELO cassette and we listened to 'Mr. Blue Sky.' I was hooked! I loved listening to Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, and  Neil Young. In seventh grade, my friend’s mom prepared us for the Delaware All State Choir. I fell in love with choir after that. I studied music and took vocal lessons all through high school, where I also played drums. Marching band and chorus were the highlights of my school experience.
RJ: Where did you attend school?
MA: My family moved to Fenwick Island from Penn, when I was 10. So, I went to Lord Baltimore Elementary, Selbyville Middle and Indian River High School. At 16, I said to my band director that I wanted to take piano lessons and he said, “you might consider the guitar because you can take it everywhere with you. That was the pivotal moment of my pursuing 6 strings and bringing me to where I am today. He taught me three chords and I sat in my room practicing all of the time. Then I went to Shenandoah Conservatory for Classical Voice. After one semester, I switched to nursing at Del Tech and then to Catawba College in Salisbury, NC, and I finally got a degree in Nutrition from the University of Delaware. After all of that, I said to myself, “Now, I can just play music full time.”
RJ: How many songs have you written?
MA: At 21, I finished my first fully recorded album. I’m not sure how many I actually have completely written but, my second album is complete, which is for sale on iTunes and my website www.melissaalesi.com.  Both albums were produced in a professional studio by Hit Music, Inc. which is owned by Jimm Mosher. We would go to work in the studio at around noon and stay at it until 9 pm, like 30 days in a row. With the right producer and or engineer, I am totally in love with the recording process. I’m currently in the process of working on my third album. I also have the Melissa Alesi station on Pandora.
RJ: Do you play your originals when you play out?
MA: It depends. Many venues want me to play covers and they say that I can play one or two originals per set and other venues say play your originals all night long, our patrons love it.
RJ: What do you write about?
MA: Life and love. What else is there? If I don’t have any fresh inspiration, I’ll write about things that my friends are going through. There’s always a story out there somewhere. Music creates a feeling. Writing it, singing it, listening to it all has to do with feeling it.
RJ: When did you start playing out?
MA: In high school, two of my friends and I put together a trio and we called ourselves High Maintenance. That extended beyond school and we would go to open mics. One time the owner came over and said, “I’d like to book you.” And we’re like, “well we are just messing around and we really don’t have enough material. So one night, about 3 in the morning, my friend comes in and she says that she booked us a gig two weeks out. We sat down and picked out 40 songs. We practiced those songs, and we were ready for the gig. We performed that act for a couple of years and then a solo gig came up and I did it. Totally nervous, I pushed through and it worked. That kind of led me to where I am today as a solo artist.
RJ: Where do you get your inspiration for so many songs?
MA: I believe there is this all knowing energy that connects us all with everything. As soon as I allowed my mind to be open to that power, my song writing entered into a new realm that I never knew existed before. I will ask, and cry out, to this  power, to help me with this song, or this line, etc., and it always seems to come to me in so many different ways. Sometimes, I get what I need right then and there and other times, it comes to me  when I am engaged in something completely different, and out of the blue, bam.
RJ: Where do you want to go from here?
MA: Fame has never really been a big draw for me. I’d just like to make a comfortable living as a song writer and perform bigger shows, festivals, open up for other artists, and eventually be the main act.  It’s more about being able to do the work I love, on maybe a little bigger level than playing local venues, which I also enjoy and am grateful for. I would like to travel with my music, should those opportunities arise. I’ve always believed that if I put my time in and pay my dues, it would all come along. So, I am always paying my dues. That philosophy seems to have worked out for me, so far.
RJ: Several things you’ve mentioned leads me to believe that you’ve had a lot of support over the years.
MA: I have. My parents have always been encouraging and positive about my career choice. I’m grateful for teachers and friends who have always been cheerleaders and mentors. I’ve never really had any of the hard luck stories and I can’t remember anyone ever telling me that I couldn’t do it. Occasionally, I encounter the well meaning person that wants to know when I’m going to get a real job.
RJ: What’s the craziest or funniest story, gig related?
MA: I was at a gig, a late night one. This Russian man was there with his bosses and he comes up to me and tells me how much he loves me and he starts to rub his fingers through my hair. Well, as you can see, my hair is very thick and gets a little matty when I’ve been performing for a few hours. I nicely asked him to take his hand out of my hair and as he starts to pull his hand back, my hair gets all stuck and tied to his hand. The more he pulled his hand back to himself the more my head went along with it. He finally gets free and he asks, “Can I kiss? Can I kiss?” And I try to be nice and just smile and tell him that I’m flattered. His friends helped him on his way and it all works out. People just laugh.
RJ: Folks, that concludes my interview with yet another great local artist. If you are in the mood to just relax and listen to a great singer / songwriter, Melissa Alesi should be on the top of your to-do list. Melissa Alesi is an endearing soul, and one can tell that she would like to become friends with every person that comes out to see her perform.
RandyJamz is the frontman for The RandyJamz Band and founding member of the duo, The Baltimore Boyz, featuring Jay (The Great) Vizzini on lead guitar and vocals.  Available for gigs of all types as a solo, duo, and full band act. If you would like to be interviewed for a Meet The Band article, contact him at:[email protected].