Album Notes

"...the stuff of South Ontario Gothic literature from the likes of the late Timothy Findlay. All played by a band of mudhounds that would make Blue Rodeo green...Mellor sets his own gold and silver standard for anyone who hangs words on a string." - Will McGuirk, Oshawa This Week

"This promising debut from a Montreal based singer-songwriter includes in-your-face country-rockers and twangy, detail-rich story-telling songs." - Mike Regenstreif, The Montreal Gazette

"masterful...Mellor sparkles pure poetry...in a few years this boy will be standing among the very greatest" - Rootstime

"…a first class story teller who writes words that immediately come to life. Even if you just read them, they sound like music. … Mellor writes golden verses" – John Gjaltema,
Alt Country Netherlands

"...how does a 25-year-old kid craft the finest alt-country album of the year?" - Bob Klanac, Scene Magazine

"That (Mellor's "Gravedigger Blues") was a great song!" - Russell deCarle, Juno award winning lead singer/bassist of Prairie Oyster.

"a staple in Montreal's bluegrass scene...Mellor has strived to redefine the genre by employing themes and images from the past and relating them to issues of the present." - Greg Hoekstra, Soulshine Magazine

"You are going far!" - Jacquie Czernin on CBC radio Breakaway

"Lee Mellor and The Mudhounds and the United Steel Workers of Montreal, two of the most recognizable bands in the city's bluegrass scene..." Julia Gerke, The Suburban

"...a great concoction..." Lorraine Carpenter, Montreal Mirror

"I love it!" Gerry Goodfriend, CKUT

"A tremendously talented young songwriter" - Mitch Melnick, Team 990 Radio.

"...a really great, well-written album!" Steve Meyers, Radio Free Montreal

"...honest, truthful and cleverly written...Mellor is a hard core troubadour with a heart of country-rock-gold." - www.hanx.net

A Native American girl flees dejection and alcoholism on the rez only to disappear along the highways of rural Manitoba. Desperate for cash, a war orphan turns to bank robbery and finds himself mercilessly holed up in prison. These tales could easily be found in the pages of literary fiction, or captured on the celluloid of indie cinema. In reality, they are songs.

Introducing Lee Mellor…
twenty-five years old and slowly garnering attention as one of Canada's most underrated songwriters. His words have been compared to the celebrated Canadian author Timothy Findlay, his songwriting and delivery to such greats as Steve Earle, Dylan and Stan Rogers. He has been praised by Canadian country legends Prairie Oyster while his debut album Ghost Town Heart (2007) has been called "brilliant", "detail-rich" and "in your face."
Born in England's industrial north-west, Mellor's first impressions of the world were smoke-stacks, rain and the stench from the local animal incinerator. By the late eighties the Mellor family left the smoggy Merseyside to settle half an hour east of Toronto in the subdivisions and farmland of Bowmanville, Ontario. Discovering rock music at the age of thirteen Mellor immediately began to write songs, and by graduation began to delve into poetry, folk and country music. Encouraged by the reaction to his music, he moved to Montreal were he spent the next two years cutting his teeth. Seeing the potential to catapult onto the global stage, Mellor swore to expend as much money and effort as necessary to craft the perfect debut album.

In August of 2007 his task was complete. Released independently, Ghost Town Heart met with warm critical and popular reception particularly among students, blue-collar workers and folkies. No stranger to live performance, Mellor has played numerous music festivals including Canadian Music Week and Summerfolk, and has been spotlighted on CBC Radio, Radio Free Montreal and various newspaper publications in Montreal and south-western Ontario. He is also garnering press attention and radio play in England, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands and Texas. In the words of CBC radio's Jacquie Czernin, Lee Mellor is one Canadian artist who is "going far!"