Anyone who has ever seen Chicago singer and guitarist Melody Angel perform live knows the energy that she creates on stage.
I witnessed it for myself when I saw her perform last August at The Venue in Aurora. She most certainly will bring that same energy when she performs March 8 at SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave, Evanston.
Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at ticketweb.com.
I had the chance to talk to Angel about her upcoming show.
Q – It is great to talk to you. I saw you at The Venue in Aurora last August and you and your band put on an amazing show. You are such an energetic force on stage.
I posted a video of you covering the Albert Collins song "If Trouble Was Money” at that show and it has to date more than 41,000 views on my YouTube channel and it is the most popular video on my YouTube channel.
Oh, that's cool. That's cool.
Q – As far as doing that song, was there something in particular that you wanted to add to that song?
Well, it's just one of the first blues songs that I learned and listened to on YouTube, actually. I listened to Gary Clarke Jr.'s version and that led me back to Albert Collins.
I've been playing it for years in my live shows. It's one of my favorite songs to do live.
It just resonates with me, as an artist trying to make ends meet. So yeah, I just connected with the song and started playing it.
Q – The night also was a family affair as your mom was singing backup vocals and playing the tambourine. I understand that when your mom first heard you singing, that gave you the confidence to pursue a career in music.
Yes. My mom, she sang in church and she was involved in musical theatre and she did commercial jingles.
I was still in a walker when I was in the studio with her as she was doing Pepsi commercials. I was one or two years old.
When I finally sang in front of her, it was a big deal for me. And so her reaction was going to mean a lot for me.
And it was just a really positive reaction and it gave me a ton of confidence because she had done so much. So that kind of changed it for me.
Any time we have a show where she can, she does sing background vocals for me. And so we travel the world together and it's great, because she's my best friend.
Q – But is she your manager as well?
Yes. You got to go with people who believe in you.
I just needed somebody who was going to stick with me, no matter how things were looking.
Q – In the 2017 documentary on you, “Black Girl Rock,” you talk about the importance of being true to yourself. Eight years later, hopefully the journey has become a little easier for you.
Not really. The industry hasn't changed, so what you have to do is just navigate it.
I still struggle to get gigs. It is what it is because the industry hasn't changed.
The way the industry looks at a black woman who plays guitar and leads her band is very different from how men are looked at and how white women are looked at for doing the same thing.
That's the industry. And they will tell you to your face that they can make more money with other people than they could with you.
And that's just the reality. And in eight years, that hasn't changed.
So that's why I'm kind of always on the outskirts just trying to make ends meet and get as many gigs as I can to keep going. It's very unfortunate, but that's how the industry is set up.
Q – That's depressing.
Yeah. But I'm no longer trying to pretend like everything's all good.
People ask me all the time, "Why aren't you on this tour?" or "Why aren't you at this festival?"
Because they say no. It's not because I don't ask.
And I think more people, especially fans of mine, need to know that. I do everything that I can possibly do.
But at the end of the day, if they don't value me as an artist, I'm not going to be hired. That's just the way it is.
Q – Well, I guess that kind of answers my next question. I was going to ask if performing at the Byron Bay Blues Festival in Australia was a turning point in your career?
It was fun, but no. I got great reviews and I always get a great reception from the crowd, but that's a pretty constant thing that happens when I perform.
I still have to struggle to get the next gig. It's the mentality of the industry.
And that's what you have to fight against and find some way through. And I haven't figured how to get around the gatekeepers yet.
Whenever I can figure that out, then maybe I can have a full career.
Q – You will be at the festival for the third time in April. It looks like a pretty impressive lineup, with Chaka Khan and Gary Clark Jr. among the other artists that will play there.
Yeah, it's always a good time. I always enjoy myself there.
Peter Noble, who is the promoter of it, he believes in me 100%. He's always been extremely supportive of me and my career.
It's just an honor to be invited back and to be able to, at least for a few days, pretend like I made it. I get to be on big stages, so I can run around and have fun with my band.
I'm going to enjoy every day of it.
Q – Of course, one of your influences is Prince. In a video about the history of Chicago blues, you talk about how you watched the movie “Purple Rain" when you were 7 years old. How has he influenced your music?
Well, he's the reason why I wanted a guitar. The movie was on because my uncle brought it over.
I just sat down and started watching it. I probably wasn't even supposed to, but they didn't notice I was there.
But I saw the guitar and saw how it sounded. It was just the most beautiful sounds I ever heard.
And I just wanted to make those sounds. That's what I remember.
So I asked for a guitar back then. But I wouldn't get it until I was 15, just due to money issues and having that extra expense.
Once I got it though, I was obsessed with it and I taught myself how to play. And I was doing shows at age 16 with my band.
And I never stopped after that.
Q – You grew up on the south side of Chicago. Coincidentally enough, I recently interviewed another person who grew up on Chicago’s south side, Meagan McNeal. She performed at The Venue in Aurora a few weeks ago.
Your cousin on your mom’s side is Otis Rush. Do you feel in a way that you were born to play the blues?
I think when I was younger, when they would talk about Otis, I don't think I really put two and two together. I was listening to R&B and hip-hop and rock and everything but the blues.
When I really started to pay attention to the blues was when I got my guitar. It's just a natural process.
But by the time that happened, he was really sick. So it was really hard to see him and talk to him.
When I finally was performing, he never got to see me play because of his health issues. So that's a sad part of it.
But I do believe if he could see me now, that he's proud of me. I'm really close to his sons and they tell me about him all the time.
Q – During that same video about the history of Chicago blues, you talk about the importance of teaching about the history of black history as it pertains to music. It does seems like the general population doesn’t realize the history of black female guitarists. Sister Rosetta Tharpe influenced musicians like Little Richard and Johnny Cash. And then there’s Elizabeth Cotten and Memphis Minnie.
And I understand Peggy Jones co-wrote many of Bo Diddley’s early songs.
Maybe that's part of the reason the industry is the way it is.
Of course that's a huge part of it. Sister Rosetta Tharpe created rock 'n roll. Chuck Berry even said it.
And so did Bo Diddley and Little Richard. The rhythm, the guitar rhythm that she created is the skeleton key for rock 'n roll music.
They all admitted that, but it still got lost in history because the men were put forth as the creators of it. Instead of being looked at as pioneers, we're looked at as the odd one out and that is insane.
I just want to make music. I really didn't want to have to fight for every little scrap to get the opportunity to get a gig and most of the time, you're paid less than everyone else any way.
We just have to keep navigating. I've survived this long, so I'll just keep doing what I do.
I also act and I also do voice-over work. I do whatever I can do to keep going.
