At the age of 26, Huntsville, Alabama-born Melanie Faye has a social media following in the hundreds of thousands and a signature guitar, D’Angelico’s Deluxe Melanie Faye, which is one hell of a jazz box.
“The guitar has completely become an extension of myself,” the neo-soul virtuoso says. “So I may not have conscious thoughts about a guitar when I’m picking one up. The guitar has always been at the forefront of my intersectional identity – I never did quite fit in growing up.”
She continues: “It gave me a sense of identity and confidence; a focal point. I’m not sure the relationship has changed over the years; I think it’s what it has always been since the very start.”
While jamming with heroes including Vernon Reid has helped her grow as an artist, Faye says she came into her own “after a trip of sorts,” explaining: “I can now perceive the infinite and limitless creative ideas there are. I can just pull ideas and concepts out of thin air.
“I could write a million songs per day if there were enough hours. I could remix one single song many times over, because there are infinite ways to arrange and produce a song.”
Contemplating the infinite means Faye never loses interest. “I don't get bored with guitar per se, but I do go through phases where I just passively practice,” she admits. “I sit and vamp the same riff over and over again while watching YouTube or Netflix. Eventually, whatever it is I’m practicing will improve, morph into different versions or inspire more concepts.”
It’s an approach that works for her: “Every time I think I’m stuck or stagnant, it turns out I’m actually growing at an exponential rate.”
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During a break in the action, Faye listed the 13 guitarists who shaped her sound.
1. Slash
“Slash is my biggest and earliest influence. I started playing guitar in the sixth grade after getting a video game called Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on Xbox 360. Slash was basically the face of that game. But I already had an interest in the guitar because of Michael Jackson’s music.
“He was a staple in my household, and the majority of his songs were heavily driven by a catchy guitar riff or a bassline. That ties into Slash, because he performed with Michael on multiple occasions, and even has a song with him that I really love called Give In To Me.”
2. Eric Johnson
“Eric Johnson had a song on Guitar Hero III called Cliffs of Dover. That is the exact song that made me go, ‘Okay, yeah, I’m gonna be a guitar player.’”
3. David T. Walker
“David T. Walker originated a technique called the ‘pinky harp’ that I implement a lot. He’s also played guitar on countless Jackson 5 records I grew up listening to, such as I Want You Back.”
4. Eddie Van Halen
“I don’t know a ton of Van Halen songs – but I have to include Eddie on my list because he’s the one that played the guitar solo on a Michael Jackson song that I grew up listening to called Beat It.
“I once read that Eddie had never heard of Michael Jackson and didn’t like the song. So he just did one or two takes of the solo before submitting it. That’s a real testament to his talent, because, to my ear, the solo is one of the most well-executed, nuanced, and expressive masterpieces I’ve ever heard.”
5. Vernon Reid
“Not only is he the guitarist for Living Colour – a band whose music was featured on Guitar Hero III – but Vernon Reid also played the guitar on Mariah Carey’s debut album. I’m a Mariah fanatic, so Vernon is inadvertently a huge influence on me, not only as a musician but as a person as well.
“I actually had the opportunity to meet him earlier this year when we both performed at a tribute concert for Ernie Isley, the guitarist of The Isley Brothers. The concert was coordinated by Greg Phillinganes, who was musical director with Michael Jackson and Mariah at different points in time.”
6. Jimi Hendrix
“Not sure that this one needs an explanation.” [If you do want some explanation, Faye waxes lyrical about Hendrix in our feature on Why Jimi Hendrix is still inspiring the latest generation of guitarists – Ed]
7. Marty Schwartz
“I used to spend hours watching YouTube tutorials to learn how to play Guitar Hero songs on a real guitar. At the time, Marty Schwartz of the Guitar Jamz website was one of the first and biggest instructors on the platform. He recently got his own signature guitar, which I was pretty excited about.”
8. Dr. James Satterwhite
“Dr. James Satterwhite was the guitar instructor at the performance arts high school I graduated from. He focused heavily on jazz theory – specifically Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, and Charlie Christian’s approaches. That’s why I use so many drop 2 jazz chord voicings in my guitar playing.”
9. Kelley Janae
“I had the privilege of sitting next to Kelley Janae in guitar class. She was a major catalyst in my growth, development and success as a guitarist and artist. She’d been playing guitar for four years longer than I had, so she was miles ahead of me in terms of skill.
“I had never and still have never heard someone play a guitar like her. She incorporated young hip-hop and R&B into her playing, which, at the time, I didn’t know you could do. I thought the guitar was limited to only blues, rock and country styles.
“It turns out that hip-hop and R&B have always sampled guitar – I just hadn’t realized. Kelley also made me more willing to post and market myself online, which I’m very grateful for.”
10. Eric Gales
“To my ears, Eric Gales’ rendition of Hendrix’s Little Wing sounds like the gates of heaven opening up – especially when he hits that inverted B7#5#9 before resolving to the E minor chord. I’ve been studying and raving about his rendition for like 10 years now.”
11. Mario Camarena and Erick Hansel
“I studied quite a bit of Mario Camarena and Erick Hansel, the guitarists of the band Chon, during my senior year of high school and freshman year of college. I’d study their music to better understand the fretboard, music theory and songwriting.
“Their band name stands for the elements on the periodic table. I actually first went viral off a cover of their song Can’t Wait. The hook of my song Super Sad Always is derived from one of the B parts of their song Fluffy.”
13. Vernon ‘Ice’ Black
“He’s another guitarist who played for Mariah Carey on basically every album she released for the first decade of her career. There’s a really catchy part on her song Fantasy that Ice played, which is a sample of the song Genius of Love by the Tom Tom Club.
“He also played on Always Be My Baby, which I absolutely adore. That was my jam in middle school – like, I wore that song out. But the part Ice played that influenced me the most is on My All. I love it so much that I covered it for a YouTube video.”
