Melton B HarpA native Texan, Mel Harp spent his childhood and teenage years in Sweetwater, Texas and after earning a bachelor's degree in Music-Education returned to the town to teach choral music and drama at his alma mater. Mel later completed a Master of Arts n Music and Theater at West Texas A&M University (then West Texas State University, ) and a Doctor of Musical Arts in the Literature and Performance of Choral Music at the University of Colorado-Boulder. During his years of teaching in public schools, Mel also directed church choirs and performed as an actor/singer in outdoor drama productions or the Pioneer Amphitheater, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas. As a member of the faculty at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and later the Conservatory of Music and Dance, University of Missouri-Kansas City performed as an opera, oratorio, and chamber music soloist, sang as paid chorister for three seasons with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; conducted and directed European concert tours of the Missouri Youth Chorale/Mid-America Youth Chorale; and taught choral music-education, graduate choral literature, and conducting classes at UMKC. Upon his return to Texas, Mel found a new avenue of expression as a singer/songwriter and member of the Americana groups Song Writers of the Llano and Sweetwater Medicine Wagon. Mel honed his songwriting skills in dozens of workshops under such prominent professionals as Bill Staines, Tom Prasada-Rao, Tom Kimmel, John Ims, Steve Gillette, Jack Williams, Wil Maring, and others. As an adjunct instructor, Harp team-taught Introduction to Songwriting at Texas Tech University along with his friend and mentor, Andy Wilkinson, an award-winning singer/songwriter, poet, and playwright. Read More Read Less