MELODIME

Everyone has a playlist you turn to after a long day of work or during life’s stressful moments. Well, the trio Melodime is certainly a necessary ingredient for that playlist. The song “Reasons” motivates you to pull yourself up from your boot straps and simply keep on fighting. The music inspires you to merely dim the lights, light the candles and listen to the meaningful and innovated lyrics of this soulful trio. The band has infused their small-town farm roots feel, with a brisk and modern sound that leaves you chasing for more. The stand-out tracks “Our Time” and “The Chase” off their newest full length album “3 Reasons for Fighting” will leave you humming the melody and tapping your foot for the rest of the day.

With a sound that resembles an infusion of the Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows and Matchbox Twenty, Melodime is on their way to possessing the equivocal first-class reputation of success. The trio consists of two brothers and a best friend that started practicing at a young age in their barn in a small farm town in Washington, DC.

The band is currently on tour through September along the East Coast. Check out their website for tour dates and more info. - Musicians at Heart

Melodime pump out piano based southern rock in the style of Hootie and the Blowfish. Beautiful bittersweet melodies interchange with soaring chorus lines, all powerfully sung by Bradley Rhodes who also handles guitars. The engine room is driven by Sammy Duis on keybooards and bass, with brother Tyler Duis on drums. The boys, all in their early twenties, churn out a big fat 3 dimensional sound, both modern and yet nostalgic just begging to scale the pop charts, where they well and truly belong.
Melodime is a touring trio made up of 2 brothers and a best friend that grew up playing music in a hayloft on their farm outside Washington DC. They simultaneously master up to 7 instruments at a time, creating that tasteful “big band” sound. Their genre is defined by melodic piano driven rock with a southern twist; delivering modern songs rooted in a deep musical history foundation.

A trio from a farm outside Washington D.C. , they were taught at a young age not to despise small beginnings. From a humble upbringing to lowly tavern shows they have fought an uphill battle to become one of the premier bands in the metropolitan area. Their cross-genre sound, a great catalogue of songs and a dynamic live show have garnered them the attention of the industry and music fans of all ages.

Before playing under the glamorous lights of respectable clubs like The 9:30 Club (DC) or The Bitter End (NYC), Melodime sharpened their skills in one of the least glamorous places imaginable: the hayloft of the family barn. In the sweltering heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter, the boys emulated the sounds of Tom Petty, Dave Matthews Band, and The Goo Goo Dolls for none other than a heard of horses in the surrounding fields. - JamSphere Magazine

Falls Church-based rock band Melodime is making a novel pitch to its fans: you fund our next album, we give all proceeds to charity.

The idea comes from the family history of band members Sammy and Tyler Duis. When their great-grandfather was a child, the family was poor and living in rural Missouri. One day there was a knock on the door, and the great-grandfather and his brothers found musical instruments on their front porch. Learning to play, the brothers were able to make extra money and support their family through a time of extreme economic hardship.

Now the current-day Duis brothers want to return the favor. Along with fellow band member Bradley Rhodes, they have started a campaign through Start Some Good, the website linking socially-aware donors with small charitable projects. Their campaign, “Make an Album, Change a Life,” says that in return for helping them raise $30,000 to fund recording costs, the band will donate 100% of its next album’s proceeds for instruments, music education, and lessons to under-privileged kids.

Sound crazy? Not in the age of Internet social funding sites. To date, Melodime has already received over $10,000 toward the $30,000 goal. You can follow their fundraising progress at their Start Some Good page. To further encourage contributors to pony up, they have established rewards ranging from including your photo in an album cover montage to signed instruments to taking a road trip with the band. And at the highest level, you can win a horse. A horse – for real.

“We are excited about the mission we have launched to partner with our fans and provide instruments for kids less fortunate. This will be our best album yet, and we are looking forward to using it to make a difference in our community and around the world,” said band member Bradley Rhodes.

The next album is already well planned and will pick up where their 2011 album, 3 Reasons for Fighting, left off. For the new endeavor, Melodime is teaming with producer Rick Beato (Needtobreathe, Shinedown, Trey Anastasio, Decyfer Down) at Black Dog Sound Recording studio in Atlanta. The new album, although not yet titled, includes themes of redemption, discovering purpose, and taking risks to make a positive difference. The band says the “Make an Album, Change a Life” campaign is one way it will live out these themes.

And what happens if the fund-raising effort falls short of the goal? Then the Start Some Good website will not complete the contribution transactions – so no money leaves the contributor’s pockets. That’s a safeguard that Start Some Good employs towards all of its campaigns.

But they don’t plan to fall short, according to manager David Jennings.

“The effort has already gained a lot of support,” said Jennings. “Our fans have shown they want to participate in the campaign, and we feel very good about it. It’s a way that we can multiply individual donations and make an album that will provide much greater funding to kids in need.”

Those wanting a taste of what they will be funding can view Melodime on Youtube videos like this one or see them live at The State Theatre on Saturday, January 4th 2013. - Falls Church Times

Falls Church-based rock band Melodime is making a novel pitch to its fans: you fund our next album, we give all proceeds to charity.

The idea comes from the family history of band members Sammy and Tyler Duis. When their great-grandfather was a child, the family was poor and living in rural Missouri. One day there was a knock on the door, and the great-grandfather and his brothers found musical instruments on their front porch. Learning to play, the brothers were able to make extra money and support their family through a time of extreme economic hardship.

Now the current-day Duis brothers want to return the favor. Along with fellow band member Bradley Rhodes, they have started a campaign through Start Some Good, the website linking socially-aware donors with small charitable projects. Their campaign, “Make an Album, Change a Life,” says that in return for helping them raise $30,000 to fund recording costs, the band will donate 100% of its next album’s proceeds for instruments, music education, and lessons to under-privileged kids.

Sound crazy? Not in the age of Internet social funding sites. To date, Melodime has already received over $10,000 toward the $30,000 goal. You can follow their fundraising progress at their Start Some Good page. To further encourage contributors to pony up, they have established rewards ranging from including your photo in an album cover montage to signed instruments to taking a road trip with the band. And at the highest level, you can win a horse. A horse – for real.

“We are excited about the mission we have launched to partner with our fans and provide instruments for kids less fortunate. This will be our best album yet, and we are looking forward to using it to make a difference in our community and around the world,” said band member Bradley Rhodes.

The next album is already well planned and will pick up where their 2011 album, 3 Reasons for Fighting, left off. For the new endeavor, Melodime is teaming with producer Rick Beato (Needtobreathe, Shinedown, Trey Anastasio, Decyfer Down) at Black Dog Sound Recording studio in Atlanta. The new album, although not yet titled, includes themes of redemption, discovering purpose, and taking risks to make a positive difference. The band says the “Make an Album, Change a Life” campaign is one way it will live out these themes.

And what happens if the fund-raising effort falls short of the goal? Then the Start Some Good website will not complete the contribution transactions – so no money leaves the contributor’s pockets. That’s a safeguard that Start Some Good employs towards all of its campaigns.

But they don’t plan to fall short, according to manager David Jennings.

“The effort has already gained a lot of support,” said Jennings. “Our fans have shown they want to participate in the campaign, and we feel very good about it. It’s a way that we can multiply individual donations and make an album that will provide much greater funding to kids in need.”

Those wanting a taste of what they will be funding can view Melodime on Youtube videos like this one or see them live at The State Theatre on Saturday, January 4th 2013. - Falls Church Times

On Friday, Rock by the Sea really kicks into full gear. For those who got in Thursday (or earlier) they tend to have plenty of time on Friday to hit up the pool, the beach, or find some other trouble since music doesn’t start up again until Friday evening. This is not only a great day for our attendees but also for the participating musicians who get to spend some time on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. While their job may be grueling traveling from place to place on a regular basis, this is a nice day for them to chill.

One of the bands, however, took a couple hours away from the beach to spend time with some of the beneficiaries of the festival. Just think – you drag a band to come all the way from Washington, D.C. to Panama City Beach, Florida. And then on a day with perfect beach weather, you ask them to get off the beach and go inside. But they were more than willing.

The band I’m referring to is Melodime. The place they went: the Anchorage Children’s Home, which is one of the charities for which Rock by the Sea raises funds. Anchorage provides a continuum of care for at-risk and abused and neglected children, youth and their families, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through screening, assessment, case management and counseling, basic shelter, and non-residential aftercare services.

Thanks to the support provided by Rock by the Sea, Anchorage created the “Rock & Role Model” program. Through this special project, artists have visited Anchorage Childrens Home to introduce them to guitars, how to string them and how to tune and play them. Guitars were provided by Music 4 More and new strings are being provided by Curt Mangan Strings. So, on the Friday of Rock by the Sea, Melodime took time out of their day to be with the kids at Anchorage, performing songs, telling them stories of why they were inspired to choose music as part of their life and career, and showed them how to play a few songs. During this trip to Florida, Melodime was also joined by singer/songwriter/guitarist Paul Pfau, who also joined his “temporary” band mates at Anchorage.

On Saturday, about a dozen of the kids from Anchorage also came over to the Rock by the Sea venue, Spinnaker Beach Club, during the day and listened to a few of the other bands, including The Hot Hearts, who also paused to sign some autographs and give away some music. Even though these kids have already gone through so much in their life, it was nice that Melodime and other artists at Rock by the Sea were able to allow them to enjoy some tunes and be inspired by what music and life have to offer. This is what this charity music festival is all about. Shoot, this is what life is about. Thanks again to all the musicians, volunteers, attendees, and sponsors for making this possible. - Francisco Gonzalez

MELODIME have released their new music video for "Hollywood" which you can watch in the replies. You can also stream the band's album 3 Reasons For Fighting in the replies. They incorporate elements of top 40 with bits of country tied together by dynamic vocals. Definitely give them a shot if you have a few spare minutes today. - AbsolutePunk.net

The Melodime legacy can be traced back to an act of kindness that changed the life of a poor rural family, and today the band is trying to pay it forward with a charitable campaign and support from its fans.

According to family lore, Sam and Tyler Duis’ great-grandfather discovered that someone had dropped off instruments on his family’s porch, an anonymous donation that made a difference. He and his brothers each learned an instrument and found a way to put food on the table.

“They kind of became the town band from that, and so they were able to make money for their family and provide food, and that was their way of living,” said Falls Church native Brad Rhodes, who with the brothers Duis forms the roots trio Melodime.

The donation of these instruments introduced music to the family and the impact of this single generous act can be seen not only in the formation of the band a few generations later, but in the band’s current endeavor to reproduce that good deed on a larger scale.

The band has promised to donate 100 percent of the proceeds of its next album to providing instruments and music education to those in need.

“We really just want to do something beyond just creating music,” Rhodes said. “We want to give people the opportunity to have music.”

The band launched its “Make an Album – Change a Life” campaign last month, asking fans to put up $30,000 toward recording the album. For their pledge, they earn perks like advance copies of the album and music lessons from the band members.

Rhodes stressed the role that music played in his own life. At only 10 years of age, he saved up his money to buy a guitar and then taught himself to play, an achievement which set his course for the future and gave him a way to express himself. He believes that for underprivileged families, the need for a positive avenue of expression is all the greater for their struggles.

“It’s such an outlet,” Rhodes said. “It’s such an amazing thing.”

Heading into the final days of the 30-day campaign, the band has raised a bit more than a third of its goal. If that goal isn’t met in this all-or-nothing drive, though, none of the donor pledges will be collected.

Rhodes said he hopes the band’s “hometown show” at The State Theatre Friday, which may be the band’s biggest concert at that venue to date, will drum up support, and that a possible last-week surge will take the band the rest of the way toward its goal.

“It’s been a stressful few days,” Rhodes said, “We have faith in the project, but it’s a little nerve-racking.”

The State Theatre show will be the band’s last big outing before taking to the studio to record the album. Regardless of the outcome of the fundraising campaign, Rhodes said, the band intends to leave for Atlanta next week and spend a month of intensive recording with producer Rick Beato, who has worked with such acts as Shinedown and Trey Anastasio.

Rhodes said the band hopes to release the album in April and promote it with spring touring so that this summer, Melodime’s charitable undertaking can come to fruition. But unlike the anonymous benefactor who inspired this project, the band members plan to hand deliver instruments to each community in need and tell them how the gift was made possible.

“We plan to go to each place and actually give [the instruments] to them and talk about the fact that our fans are the people who bought these instruments for them through their purchase of our album,” Rhodes said.

• For more information about Melodime, visit melodime.com. - Falls Church News Press

Ambitious folk-tinged rock from D.C. Rootsy, with a lot of interesting layers. This first full-length effort is impressive, with harmonies and harmonicas keeping a listener on his toes. Some tracks remind one of Blues Traveler, but this quartet is their own beast, and when all cylinders fire, it’s a fine result. A nice change of pace from typical recycled shoe-gazing tripe out there. - On Tap Magazine

THE CRUX of MELODIME's music is Bradley James Rhodes's baritone, accompanied by either acoustic guitar or piano. Plucked from the Northern Virginia quartet's new album, songs such as "Through the Miles" might suggest that Rhodes and fellow singer Rachel Beauregard front a jazz-folk combo, sleekly contemporary but suitable for easy-listening venues.

Yet "Memories in the Form of Sound" often expands on its gentler passages, from the hard rock of "The Orphan Song" to the gospel of "When I'm 63."

The latter is more characteristic of the band, which draws heavily from traditional African American styles. "I don't classify as a Southerner," cautions Rhodes in "Orange People," and the group offers two versions of "NoVa Love," a song that puts its origins right in the title. Still, Southern-rooted styles are integral to Melodime, which owes something to Charlottesville's Dave Matthews Band and more to Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans. With their New Agey lyrics and intricate production, tunes such as "Twisted Fairytale" are up-to-date. But there's a lot of musical history in them, too. - Mark Jenkins - The Washington Post

Local music fans who enjoy a hometown success story and who haven't checked out Northern Virginia's MELODIME might want to see the band tomorrow night at Royal Lake Park. Who knows how long it will be before the group's momentum carries its musicians to bigger things than playing free outdoor shows in their own back yard?

Not that critical praise, respectable record sales and an expanding fan base would be enough to lure MELODIME from home. After all, the group's debut album, "Memories in the Form of Sound," features a song called "NoVa Love" and another with lyrics extolling the musical inspiration the band members get from making "sweet Virginia" their base. But when a band this good starts attracting attention, it doesn't pay for those who want to say, "I saw them way back when," to procrastinate.

"There was a time when we were seriously considering moving," said MELODIME's main songwriter, singer and guitarist Bradley Rhodes, who grew up in Vienna and graduated from Oakton High School. Rhodes said the band had considered relocating to Nashville but scrapped that plan when things began to fall into place locally.

Staying close to home is fine with him, Rhodes said. "I feel like D.C is great place for bands to grow. I really like the area and the opportunities we could have here. Things are really starting to pick up at this point," he said, noting MELODIME's busy concert schedule. "We are seeing the fruits of our labors."

The group, made up of keyboardist Sam Duis, drummer Tyler Duis, bassist Nate Thomas, violinist Katie Shanta and part-time vocalist Rachel Beauregard, mixes a refreshing musical cocktail from rock, country, blues and folk influences. MELODIME got its start in 2005 and released its first CD last year. The band's song "Sweet Contentment" was featured on the Fox network's show "So You Think You Can Dance" last summer. - C. Woodrow Irvin - The Washington Post

MELODIME is often referred to as a Southern Rock band – they even describe themselves that way on Facebook. But while the guys are technically Southern, having grown up in Virginia, this well-crafted music doesn’t have the swagger or reckless musical abandon of contemporary Southern Rockers like Drive By Truckers or Blackberry Smoke. Instead, the talented trio cranks out earnest, anthemic tunes that will remind listeners of their self-professed heroes, Dave Matthews and the Goo Goo Dolls. Bradley Rhodes’ baritone is strong and sincere, as is his songwriting. Perhaps most impressive about this hard-working and ambitious band is their cohesive musical ability. Three guys play richly textured music, weaving guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards and organs into a symmetrical and ear-pleasing sound. Their new record, “3 Reasons For Fighting,” would sound right at home on contemporary adult radio. - Jon Kaplan - On Tap Magazine

MELODIME is at that potentially tragic point in their story: at the height of their sound, remaining true to their art, and on the precipice of being snapped up by a conglomerate that will produce them right into two-dimensional homogenization.

Their music runs the high gamut from high energy Hootie and the Blowfish ("Hollywood," "Sally Stein") to meditative and medicative Kurt Cobain ("Country Singer," "The Letter"). Often the verses have the machine-gun patter of street poetry, and occasionally ("Country Singer," "Paper Wings") you might wonder when Todd Agnew joined the group. All of which is quite a range for this alternative-country-rock-justdamncool band who are obviously on top of their game both lyrically and technically.

Not beholden (at least, not yet) to formula-addicted production houses or enslaved to the 3-minute radio-friendly menu, MELODIME uses their music to say what they want to say, to tell their stories the way they want to tell them. And often the most relevant songs are about the life of making music, being on the road, and dealing with both broken hearts and the dichotomy of their image and their reality. "Paper Wings" expresses it best to the "naive audience" when it asks "If I'm a rock star, where's the cocaine? / Where's the Grammys and the fake name?"

One thing you never question about a MELODIME song is whether they put their all into it. Each one is not just musically addictive, but is fit to bursting with the emotion and energy the artists have infused into it; it's not commercial, it's better: it's art. - R.J. Carter - The Trades