Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melissa Endean. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I took a huge risk when I decided to re-enter the music industry in 2022. A little backstory: I grew up in a family of professional country musicians, so in many ways, I was born into the “trade”, so to speak. I pursued it professionally throughout my early 20s, but after becoming a single mom, music took a backseat. I pursued a career in mental health for several years, but something was missing from my life, and I realized that music was calling me back in a not so subtle way. I decided that, for better or worse, I would try and rebuild my career as a country music artist. I knew it would be a huge undertaking. It had been hard enough balancing a full-time job and two young kids under the age of five without throwing into the mix a professional music career. The music industry is notoriously unpredictable, at best, and chaotic at it’s absolute worst. However, being able to show my children what it means to seriously pursue a passion has been reward enough. Showing them, and myself, that it’s never too late to do that thing that inspires you and to relentlessly chase a dream, is a life lesson that, I think, is priceless.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As I mentioned, I grew up in a family of professional country musicians. My grandfather was a professional touring guitar player for a number of popular country music bands in the 1950s and into the 60s. He toured around with a lot of the big names at the time- including Hank Snow and Johnny Cash. He ended up letting his career take a backseat due to the demands of being a father of two young kids himself at the time, and back then, as a touring musician, you didn’t have a cell phone- you had limited means of keeping in touch with the family, so I think those limitations convinced him to pursue music more casually. By the time I came along however, he still was playing around town regularly, and my sisters and I were raised in the family business. I started performing with my sisters when I was eight years old. We had a bluegrass/country music trio called “The Endean Sisters”. We played at festivals, bars, weddings- all over. As we got older, my sisters enthusiasm for performance began to wane, but mine grew stronger, so I branched out as a solo artist. I dabbled in many genres in my late teens and early twenties- I grew up in country music, and I wanted to challenge myself by experimenting with other genres, particularly rock and pop. I had some success in British Columbia during those times (what I call my “wannabe pop star” era), but a frequent refrain from producers and booking agents was “you have a really good voice for country!”- I have an undeniable twang that developed after years of singing with the family band I guess!

Since returning to the country music industry in 2022, I’ve just been trying to write as much and as honestly as I can. I have done a lot of cool things over the course of my career- notably getting to record remakes of Johnny Cash hits at Cash Cabin studios in Nashville, where I got to play Johnny’s guitar on the tracks, and was given the additional honour of signing the mantle above the fireplace- alongside many of country music’s biggest names.

In the past two years I’ve been working with CCMA award winning producer, Jeff Dalziel, who has become my most important mentor and one of my closest friends. He has helped me improve my songwriting, and I’m really excited to finally be releasing the songs we’ve worked on together.

I think what sets my “brand” apart from other country musicians is that I like to explore topics that might not always be touched on in country music – such as alcoholism, LGTBQ+ issues, social injustice- things like that. I try to write about things in an honest way, and I guess I am at a point where I don’t really try to line my writing up with things I think the “industry” is going to like- I want to write and play for real people, especially those who might not have the money to buy tickets to some big show at an arena, and I know that a lot of the issues those people face on a day to day have nothing to do with album sales or fun-loving drinking at pubs. My work in the field of mental health constantly inspires my writing- I have heard a lot of stories in my work, and I know at the end of the day, people crave something real in country music- there are enough songs out there about whiskey and big trucks. Not that those aren’t fun to write and awesome to listen to- I just feel more at home writing about issues I know people really struggle to talk about, because I think if people can hear something in a song that makes them go, “hey, I relate to that”, can make a huge difference for people, it makes them feel less alone. I also like to incorporate a lot of traditional elements in my music (and my “brand”), while keeping it somewhat modern- hence the chaps and ridiculously oversized hat!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

To not try and sound like anyone else. This industry is pretty cutthroat- and at the end of the day, it is very much a business. There’s always a “sound” that dominates the airwaves, and for better or worse, all artists are influenced by that to some extent. I played that game in my early twenties, and rather than being influenced and inspired by other artists, I incorporated other music into my journey as a way to further my own self-criticism of not being good enough because I didn’t “sound” like this person or that person. Just because someone is popular in the industry today does not guarantee that they will have a lifetime career. I think especially in today’s digital world, we are seeing hits pop up from artists who released music back in the 80s, and they’re now appreciating this revival, or even previously unheard of success- so there’s no time limit, and there’s no rhyme or reason to what is going to be the next big thing. So rather than chase those trends, I just try to embrace the unique qualities of my own art- without judgment. A little judgement is a good thing, if it keeps you on your toes, and helps you to critically reflect on your art- but the only standards I hold my art to now is not: does this sound like it could be on the radio? – it’s: Does this sound like me? Is this authentic? Is what I’m trying to say clear? If not, and I can tell right away if not, then I scrap that, and it’s time to go back to the drawing board. If I could share one thing with artists just starting out it would be, and I mean this so sincerely- to hell with what is charting- write something real, figure out where you exist within that, and then honour it above everything else.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I love Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being. I think every artist- hell every person, should read this book. I also listen religiously to Eckhart Tolle and Maya Angelou, and I will read pretty much any philosophy or religious text I come across. I think in order to create, as an artist, you have to be willing to ask the deep questions, to be vulnerable, and to above all else, recognize how little it all means in the grand scheme of things. It’s the here and now that matters.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melissaendean.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaendean
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissaendeanmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/melissaendeanmusic

Image Credits

Photographer of live shots: Tom Paille
Photographer of portrait: Richard Leon Gauthier