Mel Flannery Trucking Co.

A few years back, when Melanie Flannery graduated from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music as a jazz performance major, the classically trained singer could have taken the easy road and accepted various offers to record and perform as a standards singer. Opting instead to take the more challenging but creatively fulfilling route of forming her own band, Mel Flannery Trucking Co., the multi-talented singer/songwriter and her brilliant all-male trio forged ahead with an organic, eclectic sound that has shaken the foundation of New York’s independent music scene. Appealing coolly to everyone from punk rock lovers to jazz aficionados and fans of sultry, envelope pushing pop/rock, the band fashions a tasty new hybrid Flannery dubs “avant-soul” on their upcoming third album As It Turns Out. Driven by her tear-your-heart-in-two ballads and her insightful, clever songwriting, Mel Flannery Trucking Company—which includes keyboardist and Flannery’s frequent co-writer Lee Pardini, bassist Matt Aronoff and drummer Danny Sher—has been a mainstay on the NYC scene since forming in 2003, playing hip venues like Joe’s Pub, The Cutting Room, The Bitter End, Cornelia Street Café and Rockwood Music Hall. Beyond their home base, they’ve performed in Nashville at The Rutledge and B.B. King’s and last year, the group headed west to play at Genghis Cohen in L.A. and several venues in the Bay Area. Flannery and Company are planning a Northeast tour for mid-March and will hit the Coast again with more shows in the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe region. They are a Sonicbid’s “I Am Sonicbids” artist and were a nominee for Best Song at the Just Plain Folks Awards in 2009. Flannery named her group after a distant cousin’s trucking company back in her native Wisconsin not only to reflect her Midwestern roots but also the intense work ethic that defines who she is and where she comes from. Earning a degree in jazz gave her an appreciation for many different styles of music and throughout her career, she has drawn from many different influences to naturally develop a vibe that defies easy categorization. Terre Roche of the famed folk music sister trio The Roches perfectly captures what Flannery’s fans feel about her when she says, “I enjoyed listening to her set very much. She has a beautiful voice and a genuine gift for interpreting a song. Her own compositions feature direct and heartfelt lyrics, tinged with sadness, which she delivers with impeccable intonation. A pleasure to listen to!” While Mel Flannery Trucking Co.’s first two albums had a decidedly jazz influence and the original songwriting on White Flag covered, as the singer says, “a million aspects of relationships,” As It Turns Out runs deeper both musically and lyrically, with elements of every aspect of her musical life: classical, jazz, folk, Motown-spiced R&B. Flannery muses that it “kind of takes out all the confusing bits of these styles and keeps the good bits.” Writing primarily with Pardini (he co-wrote all but two of the ten tracks), she also moves beyond the personal romantic experience stuff (aka the “mushy gooey” love songs and the “eat s*** and die” break-up songs) and covers more diverse territory, from unabashed sexuality (the soul-drenched “You Know What To Do”) to powerful social commentary (the gay rights themed “We’re Still Here”). “Lee and my writing chemistry came about unexpectedly, but so organically” says Flannery. “It’s bizarre how fast and easy we can write some tunes, and others we’ll agonize about the same bar for days. It’s kind of a cool-scary connection that developed out of having a strong friendship and an otherwise uncomplicated relationship. I love Lee like a brother. He’s great with harmonies and my strength is melodies and lyrics, so it’s a good match. I never consciously set out to take new directions, but there is definitely a sense that we’ve turned the page with As It Turns Out. We’re always open to the unexpected happening, like we never thought we would have a psychedelic odd metered happy time song like ‘Gone’! I live and die for these boys, they constantly surprise me, it makes everything all the more fun!” Flannery and Pardini wrote the moody and soulful, gospel tinged empowerment tune “We’re Still Here” on their way to California as a way of addressing the issue of gay marriage in the wake of the passing of Prop. 8, which prohibits same sex marriage (for now). “We wanted to write a folk song to set California straight on legalizing gay, so to speak,” she says. Likewise, “Running” offsets its low key musical vibe with a hard hitting emotional lyric about escaping domestic violence. On the opposite end of the spectrum is “You Know What To Do,” as much of a booty shaker as a three piece band can create. The sensual, harmonically rich “I Need You Here With Me” draws on a unique blend of influences, from Burt Bacharach to early Weezer. “I’m equally at home recording in the studio and performing live, and enjoy both tremendously as long as I’m playing with this incredible band,” Flannery says. “Onstage, I am able to put on a very different kind of performance than I do on our recordings and it’s fun to stretch out. I’m more comfortable up there than when I’m talking on the phone or shopping. It’s fun to make go from an intimate ballad to a unabashed rocker and take the crowd with you. A lot of artists make the mistake of taking themselves too seriously, but it should be all about creating joy and connecting with people while creating intelligent accessible music.”