Masterful songstress to grace the stage at Johnny D’s
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Melanie will be playing and singing your favorites and throwing in a few surprises as she takes to the stage at Johnny D’s on September 29.

By Jim Clark

The butterfly effect. This is the scientific theory that a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the course of the universe forever. In the case of Melanie Safka-Schekeryk – known professionally simply as Melanie – a right zig here and a lucky zag there made all the difference in the way things turned out for this remarkably talented singer-songwriter.

Achieving huge success with hit records such as Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) and Brand New Key in the early 70s could have been missed if the hand of fate had not moved her in the right direction at just the right time.

“I didn’t go out to get a record contract,” she says of her early days as an unknown entity working small venues in Greenwich Village in the 60s. “I was going for an acting audition. They needed a girl who played a guitar and could play the part of Barbara Allen in a very esoteric kind of play called Dark of the Moon.”

As it turned out, they were looking for a girl who played guitar, which Melanie affirms was not all that common in those days.

Melanie’s son, Beau Jarred, will be accompanying her on guitar during her performance at Johnny D’s on September 29.

She turned up at the audition for the play at the famous Brill Building in New York City, but she realized that she did not have an office or suite number with which to find her way.

“I knew the name of the group that was running the audition, and I was just on time, but I didn’t know where to go.”

She ended up asking the doorman at the building where he thought the auditions might be, and he said, “Try room 511. They’re doing weird things there.”

So she ran to 511, which turned out to be the office of Hugo & Luigi music publishing company. The receptionist there said that she was in the wrong office, at which point Melanie began crying. The receptionist asked her to hold on while she tried to find out the room she should go to. In the meantime, Hugo and Luigi walked into the office and spotted Melanie, who was very distraught and sobbing.

They asked the receptionist, “What does she want, Joyce?” and they were told that she had come to the wrong place. Then they asked “What does she want, an audition? Set her up for Thursday!”

Melanie eventually got to her audition for the play but didn’t get the role she was after.

However, after Thursday came and went, Melanie Safka had been signed by Hugo & Luigi, and through them met her future husband and music producer Peter Schekeryk. From that point on, her professional career took flight.

She made two albums in those early years that achieved moderate success in the U.S., while enjoying better recognition in Europe. Melanie and her husband got word about a music festival that would be held in upstate New York and they secured her a spot as a performer about a year before the event took place. The event known as Woodstock.

When the time came to do the show, Melanie had been working on a project in England, but decided she should probably return to the States and honor her commitment to play the festival. This was yet another pivotal moment in her career.

Hanging out with The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival, 1970. — Photo ©Maddy Miller

When she got to the site of the festival it was rainy, and she spent a lot of time waiting by herself in a little tent, unsure of when she would be called onto the stage to give her performance.

At last she was called up and, in the dark of night, as the rain gently fell, thousands of candles – which had been passed out to the audience by the Wavy Gravy Hog Farm collective – were lit and held high as Melanie sang her songs of peace.

The moment was beautifully captured in her song Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) which came out the following year on her smash hit album Candles In the Rain.

The record brought her worldwide recognition, and the song that sprang from the Woodstock experience became an anthem for love and peace in the post-hippie era days of the early 70s. A number of other songs from the same album, such as What Have They Done To My Song and Ruby Tuesday also enjoyed great popularity.

Her own popularity reached another high point with the release of the single Brand New Key a couple of years later.

Melanie has remained active professionally throughout the ensuing years. She and her husband Peter, who sadly passed away five years ago, had three children together, all of which have musical talent and work professionally in the business.

Melanie’s son, Beau Jarred, is a classically trained guitarist and often joins her onstage as an accompanist. He will be performing with her at the show at Johnny D’s next week.
Melanie is also enthusiastically engaged in social activism, currently involved with the Youth For Human Rights group.

She says that she is still writing songs and hopes to have some new recordings to bring to her fans in the near future.

In the meantime, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to appreciate her artistry as she plays the intimate venue, Johnny D’s, on September 29.

As the butterfly effect dictates, what has gone before leads us to where we are at the moment, and we are certainly lucky to have the rare opportunity to take in this lovely woman’s beautiful music, live and in person.