Melissa grew up outside of Boston MA and always had a proclivity for entertaining and gathering new friends. Although never fully majoring in the arts, dance and music both shaped her early life, leading to a love of everything from musical theater to Frank Zappa and obscure folk music. She always thought that she had to choose between her love of movement, adventure, and music, but found a perfect blend of the two with bluegrass and old time. Most of her early twenties were spent working on farms across the country and slowly learning the banjo. The love of playing tunes that sang like the mountains grabbed her heart and eventually grabbed her life in 2021 when she started playing music full time. She now teaches clawhammer and 3-finger banjo, works sparingly at Acoustic Music, Directs the Trash Moon Collective, is in the local roots band Pompe n Honey, Honky Tonk band Josie-O and the Big Six, Old Time band Elderblossoms, and has cut her third solo record of original songs to be released this May 2024. To her, growing community and building her music career is akin to the slow growing of a farm; it takes patience, great love and awareness, and eventually builds much beauty.