Melinda Hamilton
(Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Mandolin, Keyboards)
Melinda fell in love with the guitar at age 10. The folk/rock music of the 60s was perfect for learning to sing and play guitar. She loved the sounds of Peter, Paul, and Mary; Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Carol King, James Taylor, and Joni Mitchell. In the 70s and 80s she was heavily influenced by the group vocals performed by bands like The Beatles, The Eagles, CSNY and Fleetwood Mac. It was a magical time for music and formed the basis for her musical style.
In 1981 Melinda met Mike Hamilton and fell in love with his music and style. Melinda and Mike formed the bands Desire (country) and No Doubt Crypto (Rock) and were quite successful performing in the mid-Atlantic region throughout the 80s and early 90s. She has performed on all of Mike's solo albums and live performances. She expanded her musical talents on the "2 Stupid To Lip Sink" Chronicles video project where she played piano, organ, synthasizer, mandolin and octave mandolin.
Melinda has a strong sense of harmony vocals, but has been branching out by performing lead vocals more often with The DON'T BLAME US Band. Her primary instrument with DBU is the mandolin and she has been developing her own, uniques style. Melinda continues to play all types of music with a variety of musicians and groups, and her experience and talents are reflected in her duets with Mike Hamilton and in her work with the The DON'T BLAME US Band and MikeHamiltonBand. This is an exciting musical season for Melinda.