Call it a chance meeting, but it ended up launching a successful partnership.
About three years ago, Don Joy and Melanie Lynn were each entrants in a singing competition at the Lake of the Ozarks.
“We were actually competing against each other,” Joy said. “When she walked off the stage, I went up to her and said ‘if anybody deserves to win this contest, you do.’ I gave her a card and really didn’t think about it any more at that point.”
But the seed was planted.
“She called me several months later and asked if I would consider singing with her,” Joy said.
Joy’s specialty was (and still is) “traditional” style country.
“I didn’t know what would happen,” Lynn said. “I went down and kind of auditioned, and he was amazed that I knew what I knew.”
“These days it’s hard to find people who know a lot of those old songs,” Joy said, “unless you’re dealing with old-timers.”
Cover art of Don Joy and Melanie Lynn’s award-winning album, “Take My Heart Along.”
A scant two years later, the duo has been named recipient of the “Vintage Classic Country Music CD of the Year” award presented annually by the Rural Roots Music Commission (RRMC), an Iowa-based organization dedicated to recognizing outstanding music recordings that “not only prevail, but succeed, in the Upper Midwest.” The pair will be honored for their album, “Take My Heart Along,” during the 40th annual National Old Time Music Festival, Aug. 31 to Sept. 6 in LeMars, Iowa.
“We’ve come a long way in a short time,” Joy said.
Retired from the insurance field, Joy – a Lynchburg resident – began singing when he was 10 years old and writing songs at 17. Over time, he has a compiled sizable portfolio of traditional country music, having recorded seven albums and played at venues across the U.S. (including various Opry shows and even the MGM Grand in Las Vegas).
“I’ve been messing around with this for years,” Joy said. “But things seem to really be coming together now.”
Lynn was born in St. Martins, Mo., and works for a finance company in Jefferson City. She also started at a very young age, and has been singing in church for a long time and began performing at various venues a few years before teaming up with Joy.
The award-winning pair’s work features a mix of original songs and classics done duet-style. They take turns singing lead while often singing together.
“Our voices really compliment each other,” Joy said. “We hear that from people often, and it really is amazing the way they go together.”
The instrumental side features Joy on guitar, along with studio musicians on several instruments, including pedal steel guitar, fiddle, mandolin and dobro. The pair is working on multiple CDs, including a gospel album and a tribute to Joy’s friend, Wade Jackson, who wrote the country classic “Don’t Be Angry.”
The RRMC is particularly focused on in CDs that are self-produced and on an independent label. Joy and Lynn’s award-winning album was manufactured and distributed by Tate Publishing and Enterprises in Mustang, Okla.
Lynn said her favorite country artists are Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, while Joy favors Conway Twitty and Marty Robbins. Joy said he feels that artists like he and Lynn are staying true to the roots of a musical genre.
“Today’s country music is not country music,” he said. “In my estimation, it’s closer to rock and roll. A lot of the big music moguls are promoting that, and by doing that you’re not only changing the music, you’re changing the culture as well.
“I won’t buy into that.”
“I think that’s why they call what we do ‘vintage,’” Lynn said. “It’s what people remember.”
Whether upbeat or slow, all of Joy and Lynn’s songs have a danceable structure. Lynn said her parents are big fans of traditional country, and they love what their daughter is doing.
“They like dancing to our music,” she said. “When they hear it, they say things like, ‘that’s a two-step’ or ‘that’s a waltz.’ I’m so glad to be making music my own parents enjoy.”
Joy and Lynn performed on most weekends last year and this year, appearing at venues in several states (including Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota and Tennessee). They’ll do two shows a day every day at the upcoming festival in Iowa (that will boast 10 stages and dozens of performers), and perform soon in Nashville and on an upcoming program on RFD-TV.
“We’re busy,” Joy said. “But we’re enjoying every minute.”
“This is what we’ve both always wanted to do,” Lynn said.
Online links for more information about D.J. and Mel:
http://ntcma.net/national-old-time-music-festival.php
http://donandmelsmusic.tmgartist.com/
http://donandmel.homestead.com/Don-And-Mel-Traditional-Country-Duo.html
CDs by Don Joy and Melanie Lynn are available online at donandmelsmusic.tmgartist.com and most other familiar music sources. Their videos are posted on YouTube.
“Today’s country music is not country music. In my estimation, it’s closer to rock and roll.
– DON JOY