Melanie Radford
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Melanie Radford | |
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| File:Built to Spill Pittsburgh 2023.jpg Radford (left) performing with Built to Spill in 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Melanie Diane Radford |
| Origin | Nampa, Idaho, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2010s–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | melanieradford |
Melanie Radford is an American bassist, singer and songwriter from Nampa, Idaho. She has played bass in the Boise indie rock band Built to Spill since 2019, and is a co-founder, bassist and co-lead vocalist of the Boise alternative rock trio Blood Lemon. Her debut solo album, For the Sake of Stillness, was released by Jealous Butcher Records in 2026.[1][2]
Early life and education
Radford grew up in Nampa, a farming town just outside of Boise.[1] Her parents did not play instruments but were committed rock fans, and her mother quizzed her on the bands and songs playing on the radio.[1] She took up the bass guitar in seventh grade, leaving choir to play in her middle school's jazz ensemble.[3] She played both upright and electric bass as a student at Columbia High School in Nampa.[4][1]
She studied at Boise State University on a scholarship to play upright bass in the university's jazz ensemble and symphony orchestra.[3] She also performed with the Symphonic Winds and graduated in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in music business.[4]
Career
Marshall Poole
At 16, Radford joined Marshall Poole, a blues-rock band from Nampa that played long sets made up mostly of cover songs and later moved toward a more psychedelic sound.[1] She continued to perform with the band around the Northwest while at Boise State, including at Treefort Music Fest.[4]
Blood Lemon
After several years in Marshall Poole, Radford wanted to play a different style of music and to work with other women musicians. She met guitarist and singer Lisa Simpson (of Finn Riggins) and drummer Lindsey Lloyd through Mostly Muff, an all-woman covers group that staged annual benefit concerts in Boise. The three formed Blood Lemon in the final weeks of 2018.[1] The band named Pixies, Hole and the Breeders as the basis of its sound.[5]
Blood Lemon's self-titled debut album was recorded with producer Z.V. House at Rabbitbrush Audio in Boise, completed in early 2020 and released on April 23, 2021.[5][6]
The band's second release, the five-song EP Petite Deaths, was recorded with producer Dave Catching at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, and released on January 17, 2025, by the Boise label Moon Ruins.[7][8] It included a cover of Jessica Pratt's "Mountain'r Lower".[7] Blood Lemon opened for Built to Spill on its 2022 tour and played the main stage at Treefort Music Fest in 2024.[9][1]
Built to Spill
Radford met Built to Spill founder Doug Martsch through the Boise music scene, and Martsch saw her perform with Marshall Poole. He later invited her to join the band, without an audition.[1][4] She began playing with Built to Spill in 2019, alongside drummer Teresa Esguerra of Prism Bitch.[9][2] The Rutland Herald described her as the band's first female member.[9] Martsch said in 2022 that bringing women into the band had been a conscious decision.[10]
A 2020 tour with the new lineup was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Built to Spill's 2022 album When the Wind Forgets Your Name was recorded with Lê Almeida and João Casaes of the Brazilian band Oruã, and Radford and Esguerra formed the rhythm section for the tour that followed.[9] As of 2026, she and Esguerra had not yet recorded a studio album with Martsch.[11]
In a 2024 profile for Bass Magazine, Jon D'Auria wrote that she had fit into the band immediately, won over its longtime fans, and become known for her command of its difficult and changing material.[3] Reviewing a 2022 concert, Glide Magazine ranked Radford and Esguerra among the best rhythm sections in the band's history.[9]
Solo work
Radford began writing solo material in 2023 while touring with Built to Spill, and finished recording at the end of 2025.[12] The songs are built around bass, voice and field recordings she made on long walks during tours, and were recorded in several places, including Almeida's home studio, a studio in Rio de Janeiro, and guitarist Jim Roth's studio in Seattle.[2][1][13] Contributors included Almeida on drums and guitar, Roth on synthesizer and pedal steel, Lori Goldston on cello, and Cacá Amaral on additional drums.[14]
For the Sake of Stillness was released by Jealous Butcher Records on June 26, 2026.[14][15] In the fall of 2026, Radford opened for Built to Spill and Quasi as a duo with Roth before playing bass in Built to Spill's set.[2]
Personal life
By 2025, Radford had moved from Boise to Seattle.[1]
Discography
Solo
- For the Sake of Stillness (2026, Jealous Butcher)
With Blood Lemon
- Blood Lemon (LP, 2021, self-released)
- Petite Deaths (EP, 2025, Moon Ruins)
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Douglas, Martin (August 14, 2025). "Throwaway Style: Blood Lemon, from Boise to the World". KEXP. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 D'Auria, Jon (June 25, 2026). "Melanie Radford: Movement Through Stillness". Bass Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 D'Auria, Jon (September 25, 2024). "Melanie Radford: Built For Bass". Bass Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Tindle-Hardy, Lily (November 14, 2024). "Melanie Radford: Boise State alum rises to rock stardom". Boise State News. Boise State University. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Blood Lemon approaches songs with confidence and grit". Boise Weekly. 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Blood Lemon channel '90s grunge-pop and sci-fi with new song and video (watch)". BrooklynVegan. April 22, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 LeSuer, Mike (December 17, 2024). "Blood Lemon Tap Into Romance Novels and Found Footage for New "High Tide" Video". Flood. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ "EP Review: Blood Lemon – Petite Deaths". Joyzine. January 20, 2025. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Huntington, Thomas (2022). "Built to Spill back in a big way on new album". Rutland Herald. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ "Quick Q&A with Doug Martsch". Boise Weekly. 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ "Built To Spill + Lily Seabird – Higher Ground (Burlington, VT) – May 2, 2026". The Big Takeover. May 7, 2026. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ "Melanie Radford Interview: "I hope people can find comfort in it"". Sun 13. October 2, 2026. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ "Melanie Radford's 'For The Sake Of Stillness' Is Ambient Folk Built Around Field Recordings". Wildfire Music. June 6, 2026. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Melanie Radford of Built to Spill Announces Debut Solo Album". Bass Magazine. May 2026. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
- ↑ Zivkovic, Ljubinko (June 24, 2026). "Melanie Radford – For the Sake of Stillness". Echoes and Dust. Retrieved October 11, 2026.
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Category:Living people Category:American rock bass guitarists Category:American women bass guitarists Category:American women singer-songwriters Category:Built to Spill members Category:Musicians from Idaho Category:People from Nampa, Idaho Category:Boise State University alumni Category:Jealous Butcher Records artists
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