Album Notes

Meliki has forged an original sound that blends the familiarity of all that has come before with a fresh, contemporary perspective. Her training as a jazz and classical multi-instrumentalist, varied live experience, combined with rhythms collected from around the globe fused with popular music influences makes for a new musical blend, crossing many genres. It’s a bit of folk-rock, some funky afro-latin, lots of islander and roots rhythms mixed with country, blues and pop melodies.

The backbone to her songs is the Pana, meaning the beat or rhythm, gathered from traditional sources and embedded in her fingerstyle performances on guitar and further enhanced by percussion beats played on guitar when solo or with drums in a band. The goal is simply to feel it...

Meliki’s songs explore people’s perceptions, finding individual strength and purpose, and the feeling of carefree abandon. Born from a love of fantasy fiction and storywriting, the synergy of her long appreciation of literature and joy of playing music come together in live shows and through her recordings.

Much of Meliki’s influences came while growing up in Australia to a regular dose of western songs peppered with exotic music of popular indigenous artists sent from her family who lived and worked in Hawaii, Brazil, Cuba, Ethiopia and other countries rich in musical culture. When she took up playing instruments she leaned towards the nylon string guitar to study composers from these foreign shores while developing a strong foothold in contemporary jazz and popular music improvising on piano and bass. In her teens she travelled to many of these places and absorbed the unique feel that makes these rhythms resonate worldwide and earned awards as a instrumental guitarist.

In 2008 Meliki releases her first CD and begins touring within Australia. An initial USA tour is scheduled for early 2009.