There’s a sense of urgency in Melanie DeMore’s voice when she speaks about music, like she’s found a cure to all the world’s problems. Music is more than just sounds: It’s power, connection and nourishment, the award-winning Oakland vocalist says in one breath.
It’s this belief that inspired DeMore’s latest 14-track album, How to Hold On: Songs of Comfort and Solace, which debuted last month. Performed a capella by DeMore and the Minnesota choral group VocalEssence, each song aims to instill a sense of peace in the listener. The original melodies are inspired by a mix of spirituals, lullabies and folk songs.
“We need songs of comfort and solace to hold us together when everything seems to be falling apart,” DeMore said.
DeMore, whose accomplishments include being a notable music educator, activist and founding member of a Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble, said the album arrives at a time of fear and uncertainty. Her original music weaves together elements of African-American folk music, soulful ballads and spirituals.
DeMore and VocalEssence recorded How to Hold On live earlier this year in Minnesota. Since its creation in 1969, the choral organization has debuted more than 300 commissions and world premieres. In the past, DeMore collaborated with VocalEssence to run local music workshops and community engagement activities.
The album is “truly exceptional,” VocalEssence founder and Artistic Director Philip Brunelle said. He added, “These are songs that capture our ensemble singers in rare form, singing with such a simple and powerful feeling of communion with one another.”
DeMore and VocalEssence recently hosted a listening party in Minnesota which celebrated music while prioritizing comfort. Guests settled in soft chairs as DeMore told stories related to each song and sang live with the ensemble. The goal was to create an atmosphere of relaxation that reflected the album’s vibe, DeMore said.
“These songs help us to continue to breathe,” DeMore said. “Many people don’t realize that we’re holding our breath, and we’re so balled up in anxiety.”
Born in New York, and raised in Alaska and Texas, DeMore’s love of music was a constant in her life thanks to her parents, who started in one of the first Black theater groups in Alaska in the early ’60s.
At Incarnate Word University in San Antonio, Demore majored in flute, piano and music history. Her music endeavors included working as a studio musician, becoming a member of a melodrama company and singing in the all-women’s Black a cappella group, Scintilla. She even dabbled in writing music for theater performances and singing in commercials.
For a while, DeMore lived in New Mexico before heading west in 1989. She settled on Oakland, encouraged by the city’s famous women-owned recording companies. She quickly embraced the city’s collaborative music scene and activism culture.
“[The city] is alive in a real, scrappy and raggedy way,” she said. “I love that.”
Prior to How to Hold On, DeMore released two solo albums, Share My Song in 1992 and In The Mother House in 2012.
In between producing solo work, DeMore hosts local music workshops for professional and community-based choral groups. Some of her programs include a crash course on Gullah Stick Pounding, which incorporates foot stomping and hand-clapping to create rhythms. She also offers “Sound Awareness” workshops in schools, prisons and youth organizations. Guided by DeMore, participants look at the influence of the media through the arts and how media shapes their minds and interactions with others.
Her list of community activities includes a decade-long stint as a California artist in residence with the Oakland Youth Chorus, and teaching a capella singing at St. Paul’s School in Oakland. She has been recognized by the Music Educators National Conference for her work with singers and artists.
She is also a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble, “Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir,” a group that tours extensively in the U.S and abroad.
No matter who she works with, DeMore said music keeps them together and connected.
“That’s the power, right there,” she said.
Great coverage of an Oakland treasure. thank you.