Melisa Belegrade will perform live at Portfolio Coffeehouse. Born in New York and raised in LA’s free-spirited Topanga Canyon, Belgrade was surrounded by the music of rock and folk musicians from an early age. Artists ranging from Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Simon & Garfunkel, and Janis Joplin shaped her early appreciation of music and a desire to follow a musical path.
As a young adult in LA, Belgrade‘s musical interests expanded to include the Pretenders, Patti Smith, David Bowie, and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Also influential were the soulful music of Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, and American country classics like Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. All of these would play a role in her late twenties when she moved back to New York where she began her songwriting career.
Belgrade is in the process of recording her first full-length album, and when not playing solo gigs, can be found playing rhythm/lead guitar with fellow musicians Lisa Smith and Jen Mount of The Pollyanna’z.
Source: Diane Gershuny