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Liz Melendez to perform at Longhouse June 30
Her guitar playing has been compared to everyone from Carlos Santana to Stevie Ray Vaughan and her voice has been compared to everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Janis Joplin. After arriving on the music scene as a solo artist a few years ago, Liz has established herself as one of the most exciting and promising new artists on the music horizon. Considered by many to be one of the top lead guitarists in the country, her live performances demonstrate her versatility, often paying homage to her influences as a highlight to her own clearly defined lead guitar and vocal style. Many believe Liz's guitar prowess alone puts her far ahead of her contemporaries but combined with the strength of her vocal ability and her skills as a songwriter she is a genuinely unique and powerful artist. While she prides herself on the strengths of her lead and rhythm guitar proficiency in almost any genre, she is most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan. As an independent recording and performing artist she has proven to be a passionate and driven individual; writing, arranging and producing her own releases. Known far and wide as an intensely dynamic performer, Melendez has garnered a sizable following touring the Southeast and beyond. She has headlined major festivals such as Riverbend Music Festival's Bessie Smith Strut in Chattanooga (the only female headliner in Riverbend history besides Koko Taylor), and co-headlined major festivals such as the Cape Fear Blues Festival in Wilmington, N.C. and the Blues 2003 Festival in New York and been invited to open for artists like the Nappy Roots. She has performed on stage with such notables as Bob Margolin, Henry Butler, Francine Reed, Hubert Sumlin, E.G. Kight, Chris Duarte and Candye Kane. Liz dedicates all of her musical pursuits to her dad who passed away shortly after the release of Liz's first CD "Mercy" in 2001. "Probably more important to me than the guitar methods themselves," she emphasizes, "my father taught me the fundamentals of what it meant to be a great musician. He was an exceedingly intellectual man and he drove home his philosophy that becoming a great rhythm guitarist was an essential part of being a great lead guitarist and that the importance of learning to be a good support player as part of an ensemble was paramount in my pursuit of becoming a great musician."
While she focuses much of her time on her musical pursuits, Liz has vastly varying talents and interests. She is an accomplished writer and graphic artist, designing her own web site, CD covers, logos and promotional materials as well as designing web sites and CD covers for only her closest musical friends such as Atlanta folk legend Caroline Aiken and blues diva Diane Durrett.
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