Melanie MacLaren

Melanie MacLaren’s natural aptitude for nuanced delivery, wistful guitar playing, and her ability to write about life as if life were simply writing itself is everything you could want from a modern folk musician.

Melanie’s lyrics have been described as “haunting yet humorous” and possessing a “sentimental cynicism” that “oozes with Gen-Z relatability.” This duality shines through in all aspects of her music— classic finger-style guitar rests on beds of ethereal, ambient synthesizers, while distorted trad instruments like banjo, bouzouki and fiddle punctuate the compositions, demonstrating a keen artistic ability to combine a unique tongue-in-cheek sensibility with timeless folk style.

She released her stunning debut EP “Kill My Time” this year independently to enthusiastic critical reception before gaining the attention of Tone Tree Distribution in Nashville. Within a few months of the release, she had signed with Tone Tree, landed several coveted playlist spots on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, recorded and released a second EP of duets and toured in the UK and Ireland.

This momentum combined with the quality of her song-craft has conjured the sentiment “We’re certain that it’s only a matter of time until Melanie is recognized as one of the most exciting artists to be writing and releasing music right now.” – Pillar Artist

In October of 2022 Melanie released a collaborative folk EP of duets “Tadpole Emporium” with songwriter Lorkin O’Reilly. In November, Melanie and Lorkin toured their project in the UK and Ireland.

Fresh off of her first tour Melanie is released her second solo EP entitled “Tourist” through Tone Tree in April 2023. With tracks featured on multiple playlist placements across platforms (most notably Spotify Fresh Finds and Spotify’s Best of 2022 Fresh Folk Finds), the highly anticipated EP expanded on the sound she established with her first project— one that reaches beyond convention and effortlessly weaves the threads of past and present.