In fourth grade, fiddler Hannah Melby began playing with a few other string students for events such as square dances and concerts around the area. As the years went by, the group evolved into Nash Street, who has now played in front of over 30,000 people for the Tim McGraw’s benefit concert, opened for Kellie Pickler and headlined one of Mississippi State University’s football halftime shows.
In 1995, Starkville Public School District string instructor Norman Mellin founded a strings group with Melby and several other string players. Throughout the years, members have left the band, but four other musicians besides Melby now make up Nash Street: bassist Daniel Hare, mandolin player Caroline Melby, guitarist Clay Lezon and rhythm guitarist and male vocalist Ben Mathis.
Mathis said in an e-mailed statement that being a part of Nash Street is important to him because he gets to be on the road with four of his best friends and share memorable experiences with them.
“Making music with people who have the same mindset and direction that you have is extremely fulfilling,” he said. “There is nothing more exciting than seeing a song go from an idea to a finished product that we get to perform and/or record.”
Hannah Melby said each member brought something new to the band.
“The personalities [of the different members] shine through the music,” she said. “The members of the band have formed a bond with each other because we’ve put our heart and soul into the music and connected with each other.”
Nash Street is known for its bluegrass sound. In an e-mail, Caroline Melby said the group’s instruction and nurturing from bluegrass greats influenced the band’s sound.
“Because of this influence, we have studied those who really excel in their instrumentation and creative arranging,” she said. “It is a much more challenging musical style than what currently exists in a lot of mainstream music today.”
The band has accomplished musical feats together over the years. In 2008, Nash Street won the Colgate Country Showdown, a year-long event featuring over 50,000 competing bands from the U.S. and Canada.
Nash Street also partnered with the Famous Maroon Band during fall 2009 to play for the first halftime show of the season and sang the national anthem at an MSU basketball game.
Hannah Melby said it was an honor to play for State.
“The MSU football game was definitely one of our greatest accomplishments,” she said. “We don’t get to play in Starkville that much but coming back and seeing all of our fans there and all of our friends and family and being able to be part of a tradition [we grew up with] was really incredible.”
She also said Nash Street enjoyed singing the national anthem at the basketball game.
“It was an honor to be asked to both of those things,” Melby said.
The band has recorded two CDs; its sophomore album Between Hope and Heartach e will be released on March 20 when Nash Street performs in Kosciusko, Miss., for the Sixth Annual Bluegrass, Country and Gospel Series. The Jason Boone Band will play before Nash Street and Mountain Heart will follow.
Hare said in an e-mail the band is looking forward to the Kosciusko concert because it will mark the new album’s release.
“We have so much music that we can’t wait to share with the audience,” he said.
Lezon, in an e-mail, said MSU students who enjoy live music should come to the show.
“There’s nothing but positive reasons to go,” he said. “The venue is close, the ticket price is cheap and the entertainment will be unbelievably charged. It would be the perfect end to a spring break.”
The sixth annual concert series will take place at Attala County Coliseum at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door or pre-ordered for $12; contact the Chamber of Commerce at 662-289-2981 or Judy Bell at 662-289-4761.