OXFORD – Six On The Square (6OTS) is proud to present Melanie, folk-pop singer-songwriter and the legendary, “First Lady of Woodstock,” to their stage on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Melanie, with over thirty albums, has been performing for more than 40 years; and she’s still enlightening new generations with her music.

Known by the single name “Melanie,” she’s associated with the number one (roller skate) song, “Brand New Key.” What many don’t know is that she released almost one album every year since 1969 and almost all were produced by her late husband-manager, Peter Schekeryk. She’s raised three children - Leilah, Jeordie and Beau-Jarred who are also musicians. She’s won an Emmy, opened a restaurant, and written two musicals. Melanie wrote Ace of Diamonds - about Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and most recently Melanie And The Record Man – A Musical Memoir, about her life with Peter in which she stars. Melanie is not slowing down; she’s still writing and singing with passion and eloquence today!

Melanie Ann Safka was born in Astoria. She did most of her growing up in New Jersey, and began playing in the folk clubs in Greenwich Village in the mid-1960’s. Before becoming an international sensation at Woodstock, at just twenty-two years-old, Melanie first found chart success, reaching number one in France, with her 1969 song “Bobo’s Party.” Later that year, she had a hit in the Netherlands with “Beautiful People.” It was when she performed at the Woodstock Festival with the likes of Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix that her fame skyrocketed! It was this performance that generated one of her greatest hits, “Lay Down, Lay Down (Candles In The Rain),” which was inspired by the candles that were raised by the audience during her set. Melanie scored an international hit with “Brand New Key,” in 1972, selling over three million copies world wide and was awarded Billboard’s #1Top Female Vocalist. She’s had her songs covered by singers as diverse as Cher, Dolly Parton, and Macy Gray, and has gone on to sell more than 80 million records!

Melanie has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, the New Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and in the General Assembly of the United Nations. The top television hosts: Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, and Dick Cavett all battled to book her. When she appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, Ed remarked that he “…hadn’t seen a more dedicated and responsive audience since Elvis Presley!”