Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar,

12-string acoustic guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion instruments.

Early life and education

Meloy was born in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

. He attended the University of Oregon in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

for two years, studying English and theatre. He then returned to Montana and studied creative writing at the University of Montana in Missoula, graduating in 1998.Schweber, Nate
"The Making of Meloy"
, ''The Montanan'', Winter, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2011.

Musical career

While in high school, Meloy was in the band

Happy Cactus Happy Cactus was a band formed by Colin Meloy Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In ...

, and when in college, in Missoula, he was the lead singer and songwriter for Tarkio. Both were indie/ folk/

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

bands. Soon after graduation, he left Tarkio and moved to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

with the hope of establishing himself among the city's music scene. There, Meloy worked in a pizza parlor to pay rent while starting his musicianship anew by performing at various open mics, sometimes with no one listening except for the bartender. He later reflected in an interview with ''The Montanan'' that this experience helped to develop his musical style in the long run: "'When I was in that position, with nobody to appeal to or scare away, I thought, 'I might as well do whatever I want to do'...And that created a new thing.'" The Decemberists formed in 2000 after Meloy met Nate Query, who introduced him to keyboardist Jenny Conlee, and the three scored a silent film together. Meloy had met multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk, who was a fan of Tarkio, at a solo show prior to meeting Conlee and Query. Since its formation, Meloy has served as the band's singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. His work with The Decemberists thus far entails eight studio albums, ten EPs, twenty-two singles, two compilations, and two live albums. In 2003 Meloy contributed vocals to the track "The Lady From Reims" on Reclinerland's ''The Ideal Home Music Library''. Meloy also contributed vocals on the tracks "Cemetery Row" and "Twilight Distillery" on The Minus 5's 2006

Yep Roc Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Nick Lowe, Pau ...

release. Meloy covered the

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

song "Clementine" for a compilation of Portland, Oregon artists to support a children's charity, and in mid-2006, he contributed the track "Lazy Little Ada" on the Kill Rock Stars compilation, '' The Sound the Hare Heard''. In 2007, Meloy lent his voice to an episode of '' Lil' Bush''. He appeared with Charlie Salas-Humara in the music video for "A Pillar of Salt" by The Thermals. In 2005, Meloy went on his first solo tour to support the self-released six-song EP, ''

Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey ''Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey'' was the first solo project released by Portland musician Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. The album was released in January, 2005 and was available exclusively on Meloy's first solo tour. Copies of it were later ma ...

'', consisting of six

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

covers. Only 1000 copies of the album were made and they were sold only on this tour. Meloy did a second solo tour in January 2006, playing with Laura Veirs and Amy Annelle. On this tour, he sold an EP featuring covers of British folk artist Shirley Collins. 2006 tour performances were recorded for a live release. Meloy contributed an online bonus track for Lavender Diamond on their '' Imagine Our Love'' album, performing a solo version of "Oh No". Meloy began another solo tour in April 2008. This coincided with the release of his debut solo album, ''

Colin Meloy Sings Live! ''Colin Meloy Sings Live!'' is the first live album released by Portland musician Colin Meloy, frontman for the Decemberists. The album was released in April 2008, and is a collection of live recordings from various nights on the artist's solo to ...

'', on the Kill Rock Stars label. Singer-songwriter Laura Gibson was the supporting act for the full tour. As with previous EPs, Meloy sold an EP only available on this run: ''

Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, independent music, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he perfo ...

'', a collection of five

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

songs, arranged and performed by Meloy, with Gibson singing harmonies. Meloy appeared in the 2013 documentary film ''Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of "Inside Llewyn Davis"'', which detailed a one-off concert in New York City honoring traditional American folk music in preparation for the release of the Coen brothers' film ''

Inside Llewyn Davis ''Inside Llewyn Davis'' () is a 2013 period black comedy musical drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1961, the film follows one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac in his breakthr ...

''. The concert, organized by T Bone Burnett, featured several notable musicians representing multiple generations; Meloy performed a cover of

Jackson C. Frank Jackson Carey Frank (March 2, 1943 – March 3, 1999) was an American folk musician. He released his first and only album in 1965, produced by Paul Simon. After the release of the record, Frank was plagued by a series of personal issues, ...

's " Blues Run the Game" as well as a version of " Joe Hill" alongside Joan Baez and Gillian Welch.

Television

In the 2014 two-part episode of Parks and Recreation entitled "Moving Up: Part 1" and "Moving Up: Part 2", Meloy made a cameo appearance as himself with the rest of The Decemberists at The Unity Concert along with other notable artists such as Jeff Tweedy, Ginuwine, and Yo La Tengo.

Personal life

On February 24, 2006, Carson Ellis, Meloy's wife, gave birth to a son, Henry "Hank" Meloy. Ellis shares her birthday with Meloy, and produces much of the Decemberists' album and promotional artwork. In 2010, Meloy revealed that Hank has

high functioning autism High-functioning autism (HFA) is an autism classification where a person exhibits no intellectual disability, but may exhibit deficits in communication, emotion recognition and expression, and social interaction. HFA is not included in eithe ...

. On March 14, 2013, Ellis gave birth to another child, Milo Cannonball Meloy. Meloy's sister is Maile Meloy, a fiction writer often published in '' The New Yorker'' and '' The New York Times'', and his aunt is the late Ellen Meloy, who was also a writer.

Work with The Decemberists

''See: The Decemberists discography''

Solo discography

* ''

'' (2005) * ''

Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins ''Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins'' is the tour-only EP by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists. Similar to his EP from 2005, where he covered six songs by Morrissey of The Smiths, Meloy covers six traditional arrangements from folk ...

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2008) * ''Colin Meloy Sings The Kinks'' (2013)

Work as an author

In 2004, Meloy wrote a 100-page book on The Replacements' third album, '' Let It Be'', released as part of the ''

33⅓ (Thirty-Three and a Third) is a series of books, each about a single music album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP, RPM. History Originally published by Continuum, the series was founded by editor David Barker in ...

'' series. In 2010, Meloy wrote a short story, ''The Grievous Demise of Mr. Whitley Rackham'', illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis. Meloy made his debut as a children's writer with '' Wildwood'', also illustrated by his wife, Ellis. He kicked off the book tour as the keynote of the AJC Decatur Book Festival on September 2, 2011. Meloy released a sequel, '' Under Wildwood'', in 2012, and the third book in the series, ''

Wildwood Imperium ''Wildwood Imperium: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book Three'' is a 2014 Children's literature, children's fantasy novel by The Decemberists' singer-songwriter Colin Meloy, illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis. The novel, the second sequel to ''Wildw ...

'', was released in 2014. In October 2017, Meloy released his fourth children's book ''The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid''. In September 2022, Meloy released his fifth children's book ''The Stars Did The Wander Darkling''. Meloy has also released two picture books, ''The Golden Thread: A Song for Pete Seeger'' (2018) and ''Everyone's Awake'' (2020).

References

External links

Colin Meloy's Official WebsiteThe Decemberists Official WebsiteColin Meloy on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meloy, Colin American male singer-songwriters American singer-songwriters Living people American folk singers American rock singers Kill Rock Stars artists People from Helena, Montana Singers from Montana 1974 births Musicians from Missoula, Montana Musicians from Portland, Oregon Lewis and Clark County, Montana The Decemberists members The Minus 5 members Guitarists from Oregon American male guitarists 21st-century American singers