Music
Melissa DuPuy is a multi-instrumentalist living in Nashville, TN. With a background in arranging and production, she has produced and played on a variety of projects for BMG, Curb Records, RCA Nashville, Arista Records, Asylum Records, MCA Records, Capitol Records, Rounder Records, Mercury Nashville, Sony/ATV Music, Sparrow Records, DreamWorks Nashville, The Nashville Network, and CMT. As an independent recording engineer, she produces various artist projects, jingles, and custom music for video productions.
In addition to recording and teaching, Melissa researches and performs traditional music, including Irish, old-time, Bluegrass, and music of the Civil War. She has performed onstage with many renowned folk legends including Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, and John Hartford and was commissioned in 2007 to arrange and perform two Celtic arrangements with the Nashville Symphony. Melissa has also arranged music for publishing companies including Lifeway and Thomas Nelson Publishing and arranges sacred music for ensembles throughout the Nashville area.
As a performer and lecturer, Melissa plays and demonstrates a variety of instrumental styles from the Appalachian regionʼs distinct musical tradition. She demonstrates guitar, banjo (clawhammer and three-finger style), mandolin, mountain dulcimer, Irish bouzouki, and bowed psaltery. She serves as a consultant for the performance and study of traditional American music and currently lectures on the banjo and its development throughout American folk music for the National Museum of African American Music.
Melissa holds a Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Furman University. She has taught music at four colleges and universities and recently developed the curriculum for a two-year college Bluegrass program outside of Nashville where she teaches American Folk Music and seminars in Bluegrass music.