The burly, bearded man you see hugging his Gibson J45 guitar in the video is Niklas (Nick) Meltio, who comes from Finland but is smitten by americana music. His debut album, “Desert Bound,” reflects the allure of Nashville, a city thousands of miles from his native land but one he embraces from afar. “I live in Helsinki, Finland, where I was born and raised,” Meltio said. “I’ve been playing music most of my life, but in the past decade it has been more focused on writing and studio work with some producing on the side.”
One such project, besides his own album, recorded at his Electric Mistress studio (also the name of his label), is a single produced for his teenage son, Tibet Meltio, who also added mandolin and backing vocals to his father’s album. “It’s a small, very simple studio,” Meltio mentioned, “but an inspiring environment to be creative. In these days we mainly spend time there with my son working on his album. A hell of a writer, that kid. I used to play in bands when I was younger, but for the past decade and a half, I’ve been solo.”
His album wanders somewhere on the borderlines of rock, delta blues and folk. Throughout, the songs are strongly driven by the lyrics, carried by stripped-off acoustics that grow into bold arrangements. “I wrote “Desert Bound” mainly on the J45. But I like to go between the acoustic, different electrics and the resonator when writing. They all have different stories to tell.”
Meltio can often be found sitting on the porch with his National resonator guitar, telling stories to the empty landscape. Happily, he will be sharing a couple of those stories with the Americana UK audience in his exclusive mini-gig performance. As a preview, below you’ll read what he had to say about the three songs in the set, all of them from his solo album. And you can read more about “Desert Bound” in the review in Americana UK from last year.
- Harder to Stay: I’ve been travelling a lot over the years. Said way too many goodbyes to my wife and did a lot of leaving. As hard as it is to leave your family behind and hit the road, you still have something new and exciting ahead of you. It’s much harder to be the one staying behind in the emptiness and silence you just created.
- When the Dark Comes Around: Life leaves its marks on you. This song is about all those nights when everyone else has gone to sleep. You are left with no one but yourself, just trying to find a way to pass out before all the hardship you’ve witnessed over the years catches up with you.
- This Is Not Your War: ‘This Is Not Your War’ is a reflection of the times when my son first realized I was traveling to some of the rough corners of the world. Making promises that were never mine to keep. This is one of those songs where I had to get brutally honest with myself. There were moments when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to release it. But I’m glad I did, because at the end of the day, striving for that brutal honesty is what defines americana for me.
