Take a little Jazz, a little Rock-Boogie, add some Gospel Soul and a lot of Inspiration and you have "Lighten Up" with Melody Bartone.

11 MP3 Songs
POP: Today's Top 40, GOSPEL: Contemporary Gospel



Details:
Melody learned to sing and love music almost before she learned to talk. Born the eighth of nine children in a family that loved music, she was the only one given a musical name. Although it caused much humor since her name is Melody, she quickly learned to hear and sing harmony. At the age of 19, Melody grabbed the family guitar and went to work at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the summer. There she sat out on the rim of the canyon, taught herself how to play and started writing her first songs.
Marriage and raising her two children became her heartâs joy and center of attention. Music was put on the back burner, but the passion she holds for Music kept bubbling within. It wasnât long before Melody got back into her delight by joining the Radiant Faces Gospel Choir in which she quickly became one of the lead singers. She met Leon C., a former Platter, and asked if she could fulfill a dream and be his back-up for just one night. That one night lasted for about four years until she met Isa January and they formed the duo PowerHeart. Under the direction of Isa, she quickly moved into the front singer spotlight. PowerHeart performed at many stand-up clubs in Las Vegas such as Larryâs Hideaway, Rum Runner, Office 2 and Club Diamond to name a few. They also performed for private parties at major casinos such as Flamingo Hilton, Mirage, and Arizona Charlies.
Melody enjoyed these venues and fine tuned her performance and professional skills. She was invited to sing at Spiritual Retreats and Churches and discovered a sense of personal fulfillment. At one such retreat, she met Marilyn Harper who gave her a very important message: âYou have music within you, why donât you get it out? Do you think itâs not good enough?â Melody acknowledged her fear of not being good enough. âYou are a child of God and the music comes from God, so how can it not be good?â Something within Melody recognized this as Truth. Within ten minutes she wrote her first Inspirational Song âSecond Time Aroundâ. This song always reminds her that itâs never to late to start again.
Melody quickly began to appreciate her gift of inspiring others with her voice, her songs, and her passion for the Music within each person. The path her life would follow became as clear to her as the music that poured forth in her writings and performances. A Dream was born. Opening her eyes and ears to her own intuition, to her Spiritual Guidance, she began to comprehend how many Mentors had brought her to this point.
Living in the moment of each day, she acknowledges the gifts of those who present their talents, skills and assistance to her evolution in the symphony and harmony of her lifeâs passion for Music as a heartfelt communication of love, encouragement, joy, laughter and sense of wellbeing. The Dream expanded into sharing her gift of Inspiration with the world and she began to study what it takes to make a CD.
When she felt she was ready, she said âGod, if I am meant to make a CD, You need to provide the musicians, the support people, and the money I need to make it happen.â
Within a few months her church hired a three piece band. A young, inexperienced, but charming and enthusiastic Drummer; an astute Bass player willing to add his wonderful personal groove; and a Keyboard player with his vast tool box of gifts to share. He charted her songs for a song; put many long hours into manipulating the musical components into the reality of a CD performance. A professional back-up singer for all the greats, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville and Michael Jackson, (just to name a few), believed in the CD project and joined the team. Then a wonderful photographer, a graphic artist, the studio, and an awesome promoter appeared as if by magic. And wonderful Sponsors offered seed money to get the project rolling. The prayers were answered by the grace of God. Try telling Melody that God didnât have a hand in this project.
Melody is very thankful to all who made this CD a success. A special and heartfelt sense of appreciation goes to her husband who supports her passion and believes in her Dream. But mostly, she Thanks God, for using her talents to share the Gift of these songs with you!