At the age of three, Melinda first appeared on stage with her mother, internationally renowned country music singer, Mary Schneider. While she dabbled in fashion design for a few years, the ‘music thing within me was too strong to ignore’ and she succumbed to the inexplicable pull that had coursed through her family’s veins for generations. Years later, Melinda is now a hugely successful Australian country music singer and popular live performer, with six Golden Guitar awards (Austaliasian Country Music Awards), as well as two Gold Records to her name. However, what has genuinely set her apart from the pack is her profound and inspiring lyrics.
      Her first single Be Yourself from her fifth studio album of the same name scored Melinda coverage on Rove and Enough Rope with Andrew Denton and the album earned her another coveted Golden Guitar award and an ARIA nomination. Although it was truly her Courageous track that earned her repute and notoriety within the community. While it was written in under an hour and originally a late addition to the album, co-writers Melinda Schneider and Nashville collaborator Ben Cooper knew the piece was exceptional. The passionate anthem captured the hearts of the nation with the inspiring message of overcoming adversity and finding the strength to go on. Last year she recorded the song as a duet with internationally acclaimed singer Olivia Newton-John for her Great Walk to Beijing album and has just recently teamed up with producer Les Gock and the Australian Girls Choir to re-record the track.
      Melinda was thrilled when the National Breast Cancer Foundation chose this new version as their theme song for Pink Ribbon Day, held nationally on 26 October. ‘The choir has done a beautiful job with it. I am so proud of the way it has turned out,’ Melinda says. She also showcased the new version of Courageous with the choir at the Gympie Country Music Muster on 29 August. ‘They had never been to Gympie before. Actually, I don’t think they had ever been to a country music festival before, and I don’t think Gympie had ever had a choir - a first for everybody!’ she says.
      Her unbridled passion and honesty are palpable in her songs, reaching a niche of people who relentlessly yearn for human empowerment and strength of character. You can be sure her life experiences have all contributed significantly to her compositions – and she is not afraid to share them. Her aunt Rita (also a country singer) recently passed away and Melinda says her and her family will never really get over it. ‘We are still reeling from the shock of it because it happened so quickly. She was an amazing lady and an incredible songwriter and wonderful comedian. She brought people a lot of joy with her comedy songs and we miss her terribly,’ she says.
      She has just been nominated for another Golden Guitar award to potentially add to her already-large collection for her incredible vocal collaboration with the Australian Girls Choir for Courageous. Never one to stray too far from her own guidance, the one piece of advice Melinda adamantly sticks to is to simply ‘be yourself’, because in her words: ‘everyone else is taken’. H