Melanie Torres

MySpace BELIVE.WSThe move from her hometown in New Mexico to Music City two years ago was the first big step for the classically trained vocalist toward the realization of her dream. The road to success was paved long before she moved to Nashville. Reared in a musical family, Melanie comes from a long line of musicians and singers going back four generations. Melanie̢۪s great-grandfather was a pioneer in traditional Nortena and Ranchera music. He was chosen to be highlighted in a special sponsored by the University of New Mexico to perform as well and discuss the historical traditional music of New Mexico. Her grandfather had a band, Los Paisanos Nortenos, in which her father also played. Together they toured and played in clubs throughout Southwest New Mexico in the 60̢۪s as well. They were featured on television and also recorded music. Melanie̢۪s father later branched out with his own band titled The Midnight Special playing a wide range of music (including more traditional Rancheras music) during the 70̢۪s. Her maternal grandfather also loved music and played the organ. Family reunions were always an occasion to play and sing both in English and Spanish.From a very young age, Melanie loved being in the spotlight. Whether it was taking ballet at age 4 or competing in horse shows across the state at age 9, the drive to compete and succeed was instilled at an early age by her parents. She performed regularly in school musicals and state fairs and sang in the All State Choir, District Honor Choir and Swing Choir. She participated in talent and beauty pageants winning Miss West Mesa and second runner-up in the Miss New Mexico pageant. Early musical influences ranged from Dolly Parton, The Judds, and George Strait to pop singers Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.
After being awarded a full scholarship, Melanie majored in vocal performance in opera at the University of New Mexico and graduated with a Bachelor̢۪s Degree in music. During her college years, she gained experience on stage performing in multiple Broadway theatre productions with parts and lead roles in such favorites as West Side Story, Pirates of Penzance, The King and I, The Secret Garden, and Oklahoma!.
Once in Nashville, Melanie landed a job singing two nights a week at the World Famous Tootsie̢۪s Orchid Lounge where the legends of country music once sang. She quickly caughtthe eye of music industry executives and landed an artist management deal with Dreamcatcher Artist Management̢۪s Howard Fields. Dreamcatcher also manages country superstars Kenny Rogers, Jo Dee Messina, and Rebecca Lynn Howard.
While pursuing her career as a singer, Melanie has kept busy singing demos and going out on the road. She has also taken the stage opening for Gretchen Wilson.
In March 2006, Melanie was selected as a top 10 finalist out of 20,000 hopefuls for USA Network's reality show "Nashville Star" Season 4. Melanie was the fourth performer to leave the competition finishing at 7th place out of over 20,000 people who auditioned in 13 markets nationwide in addition to the thousands that submitted videos of themselves for consideration.
Melanie is now working with some of Nashville's top songwriters, writing and recording. She will soon have new music for you to listen to and download.
Making it in Nashville takes a lot more than just talent. For Melanie, the many experiences and challenges shes encountered throughout her life are the very things lending her more accomplishments than the average Nashville artist. The road leading to her success has just begun.
You can reach Melanie and her team at [email protected]!..