Rod-Melancon-Issue-No27ROD MELANCON

HOMETOWN: Wright, La.
INFLUENCES: Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard
ALBUM: Mad Talkin’ Man EP, out now
WEBSITE: rodmelancon.com

As a boy in the bayou country of southern Louisiana, Rod Melancon was a faithful disciple of playwright Tennessee Williams. Committed to pursuing a career in acting, he moved to Hollywood in his early 20s. However, he changed course one Christmas when his parents gave him an acoustic guitar. “That was the moment in the movie of my life when I knew what I was called to do,” he says. His musical education would come from his grandfather, a lifelong Hank Williams fan, who taught him about the legends of traditional country and R&B. Following his new musical path, Melancon returned to the West Coast and began performing regularly. His songwriting weaves the disparate strands of American music into his own sound, with tunes about hard-bitten characters that have endured strings of demoralizing defeats. For his recent EP, Mad Talkin’ Man, Melancon enlisted producer Dave Cobb (Waylon Jennings, Jamey Johnson) and a number of prominent L.A. session musicians.

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