At just eight years of age, Melissa Axel was writing songs about the bittersweet journey of life, love, struggle, and inspiration?and not much has changed since. Axel studied at Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music and went on to earn her master's degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from Nova Southeastern University. In 2008 & 2009, she was awarded scholarships to participate in songwriting and world music workshops hosted in the UK by the (World of Music Arts and Dance) created by Peter Gabriel in 1980. Often accompanied on tuba by frequent collaborator James E. Jacoby, Axel has performed everywhere from the South Florida heat to the cool of Iceland, the frenzy of New York to the peaceful Swedish seaside, and award-winning Denver venues like Dazzle and Swallow Hill in Colorado, where she now makes her home. Through WOMAD, they have shared the stage with Gabriel collaborators N'Faly Kouyat? (Dunyakan, Afro Celt Sound System), Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara (Robert Plant, Festival in the Desert), and Andy White (ALT, Big Blue Ball), co-writing "Every Place Is Home" with White in summer 2009. Described as "heartbreak, hope, and transformation distilled through gorgeous piano and a fearlessly intimate vocal," Axel's latest release is a pensive 5-song EP featuring special guests Kailin Yong on violin and Ryan Drickey on cello. Centered on themes of love, humanity, and metamorphosis, Melissa Axel's melodic wordplay transforms life experience into songs that express the fear, joy, pain, and love that connect us all.