Today we’d like to introduce you to Mel Oaks
Hi Mel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I wanted to be a lawyer when I was a kid. From a young age, I excelled in writing, public speaking, and arguing with adults. I made my disdain for unjust rules loud and clear every chance I got. Eventually, the school figured I should use my talents more productively so they put me on a debate team. I did very well. In fifth grade, my partner and I nearly won the state policy competition, but we were one point short of first place.
Come middle school I joined the band program where I fully fell in love with music. I taught myself how to play flute, then clarinet, guitar, and saxophone. I spent every minute of free time I had practicing music and any ambition I had to practice law fell by the wayside. Two years later, in eighth grade, I met Bill McGiniss. Bill is a folky who graciously donated his time to teach a bunch of teenagers about songwriting. I’d written one or two songs at this point — both terrible — and when I heard him play one of his originals I realized I found the thing I wanted to do the rest of my life. After that first encounter, we became friends and he mentored me through my first years as a songwriter. Since then, I’ve written hundreds of songs and published eight of them. six of them were published last year.
Very recently, I put together a band comprised of old friends from my time in my high school jazz band and new friends I made studying audio engineering at SLCC. Though we’re fresh on the scene we’ve already been noticed by SLUG magazine. They picked my song “Moonlight Lover” for the January 2025 issue of their Local Music Singles Roundup.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Too many. I come from an immigrant family so money has always been a huge obstacle. I learned to play guitar on a Fender Squire that sat in my older brother’s closet for years. It had rusty strings and played a 1/4-tone off-pitch. The first flute I got was around $400-$600 and we had to finance it. My school was very well funded so thankfully we didn’t have to purchase any of the other instruments I picked up. Until the school sax I played for the marching band fell apart during a show… Then we bought–and financed– a new saxophone.
Both of the band directors I had were awful to me. My middle school band director was kind, but only because he was grooming me. My high school band director didn’t like me and made it apparent. I think from his perspective, I had a lot of potential but I was wasting my talents and not applying myself. Between mental health issues, a tumultuous home life, and undiagnosed ADHD I could not adjust to a traditional school setting and my grades suffered. After COVID hit, I dropped out and wanted nothing to do with music.
And the cherry on top is all of the people who’ve told me music is a waste of time
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a singer/songwriter who recently started a band. We’re a folk-pop group called the Woodland Stray. We stand out for several reasons, we have saxophones instead of fiddles, we all have a background in either classical music or jazz or both, and we’re deeply invested in building community
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
My favorite thing about our city is the mountains looming over the horizon. They’re stunning year-round and make me feel at home. The only thing I don’t like about Salt Lake is that it lacks places to meet new people organically.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://woodlandstray.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/woodlandstray
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Woodlandstray
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NZHjju3YTuvl4To0w5mSU?si=RpXz6giuTOil0uYaKGAdGg
Image Credits
Sasha Martinez
