ICYMI: #WomanCrushWednesday IG Live featuring Melanie Meriney

BY LAURA HARPER/WWR Staff Writer

From writing her own music to owning her own music publishing company, few can say they have immersed themselves in the music industry quite as much as Pittsburgh native Melanie Meriney.

Meriney found her passion for music at a very young age when she attended a Shania Twain concert at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Meriney was mesmerized by the performance and carried that experience with her throughout her life.

“I remember thinking that she had a good job and I knew that was what I wanted to do,” Meriney said of the concert.

Shortly after, Meriney signed up to take choir lessons through her church, thus laying the initial foundations for her future career as a singer-songwriter. She would later go on to pick up a guitar left in her home by her uncle and take a guitar class in middle school that taught her the basic chords she needed to begin writing her own songs.

Meriney then went on to attend college at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She decided to make that city her home; Meriney said that while Pittsburgh has a good music scene for genres such as hip-hop and heavy metal, Nashville is better suited for her pop-country style.

“With Nashville, you’re either inspired by it or intimidated by it,” Meriney said. “The ones who are inspired by it stick around.”

Despite the lifechanging move, Meriney said she still misses her hometown of Pittsburgh and that it will always have a special place in her heart. However, Nashville has given her a chance to learn very valuable information about the music industry and grow as an artist.

For example, after working as a staff writer for a music publishing company, Meriney eventually learned enough about the business to branch out and create her own publishing company, Steel Fox Entertainment, with “steel” being a nod to her roots in the Steel City.

Using her gained knowledge and established network, Meriney now invests in her own music, working closely with her fiancé, a producer with his own studio, and a plugger to create and release her original content.

In addition to her music publishing company, Meriney has also helped to create a platform dedicated to uplifting other female musicians who often lack needed representation in the music industry.

“Female artists have some perspective that is missing from the general melee of music,” Meriney said.

For other young female artists who may be looking to make a breakthrough in the music industry, Meriney offered the advice to talk to everybody and collaborate with everybody in order to learn more about the ever-changing world of music.

“Accept that you’re a sponge, and don’t forget why you became an artist,” Meriney said.

For more on Melanie Meriney, you can check out the entire interview on Instagram @OfficialWomenWhoRock.