Melanie Brulee

Born in Cornwall Ontario to bilingual parents, Toronto-based Melanie Brulée interweaves her native language into her art like she crisscrosses musical genres: with ease. From the first listen, you can hear how her years living in Australia and France have influenced her style and sound. The first offering rich surf-style guitar tones and catchy hooks and the latter blurring the lines between audience and performer, like a speakeasy cabaret. What most might call Americana, folk-rock or country music, Melanie colours with her own distinctive essence, bringing a vintage respect to a modern sound. Seeing her ease onstage, it’s clear that’s where she feels most at home, quickly winning over audiences with her charisma.

Melanie’s striking stage presence, unique vocal stylings and expressive confidence have opened several doors for her since the release of her French album Débridée (2015), giving her the chance to build a solid team including management, booking, distribution and publishing. Critically acclaimed by media in Québec as well as across Canada, the album earned Melanie a Stingray Music Rising Star Award as well as three Trille Or nominations at Canada’s largest recognition of excellence in the arts outside of Québec. Melanie was featured on the official Ontario 150 anthem ‘A Place to Stand’ which was highly distributed across the province during 2017.

Her singles have been on regular rotation on CBC, Radio-Canada as well as Sirius XM satellite in Canada and the USA, allowing her to build a following and tour the continent playing 100's of shows per year. Most recent highlights include opening for Kathleen Edwards, Whitehorse and Amanda Marshall as well as performances at renowned festivals such as Mariposa Folk Fest, Luminato, Francofolies, Montreal Folk on the Canal and multiple performances at Yonge-Dundas Square. Most recently, Melanie has been spending significant time honing her craft as a songwriter in Nashville with some of Music City’s finest in preparation for her upcoming 2018 release.

The success of Débridée opened another unexpected door, allowing her to begin a conversation about mental health with her audience. She began running workshops on self-confidence with students across North America, encouraging young people to talk about their fears and anxieties, offering tips and tricks on dealing with depression, and sharing her story as a suicide loss survivor. “After my father’s passing, I remember being so angry. The truth is that without being able to express myself through songwriting, I’d be an absolute mess. Sharing my story with others has helped me get through the pain and loss and I hope that I can offer the same refuge to others through music and open conversation.” Melanie’s third full-length album Fires, Floods & Things We Leave Behind further explores themes of family, loss and addiction.