Halifax native Melanie Doane is hitting the road to continue promotion on her latest record, A Thousand Nights, with an amazing 10 shows scattered throughout the Maritimes over the next couple of weeks. Included among those dates are two New Brunswick shows: Doane is playing the Capitol Theatre in Moncton on Wednesday June 24 while she visits The Blue Olive in Saint John on Friday June 26.
Multi-instrumentalist Doane has had a fruitful career to date, releasing five studio records as well as one live record. Doane has been fortunate enough to experience life as both a major label artist as well as that of an independent artist. Her first album Harvest Train was self-released where for her next two records, she was on board with Sony Music Canada. Those records (Shakespearean Fish & Adam’s Rib) help provide exposure to Doane on a national level, with the latter record achieving Gold sales status in Canada for over 50,000 units sold.
“I enjoyed my years with Sony very much,” Doane says. “I got the benefit of a big company getting behind my music and it was all very exciting. For now though, I love being in control of every aspect of my music and using the various resources I have available to have a really fun time with it.”
Aside from her own career, Doane keeps busy writing and performing with others. She counts herself as a member of actor Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band and has toured Canada both on her own as well as with Barney Bentall and the Bluebird North concert series. Doane has also had her songs featured on hit TV shows like “Flashpoint” and “Brothers and Sisters”. Keeping Doane’s calendar full doesn’t seem to be an issue.
Among the many shows she is slated to play here in Atlantic Canada are a couple of dates at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Canso, Nova Scotia. Doane’s upcoming appearances at the festival are fitting, as she shares familial ties with the late folk singer:
“Stan was my cousin. It was really great to grow up with a ‘famous cousin’ and know that it was possible to be a songwriter in this world. I recall him being at our house a few different times when I was a young kid. His Mom and Dad are who I know best and I mostly remember my big sister and parents coming home elated after his concerts.”
With a seemingly constant full plate of activity and a rich musical heritage running in her blood, Melanie Doane could very well be destined for the same infamy which her cousin has found as time goes on. If you’re interested in checking out Melanie’s concert in either Moncton or Saint John, details are available online at Melanie’s site at www.melaniedoane.com.