The evolution of tenderness

SIX-time Golden Guitar-winner Melinda Schneider has more than one string to her creative bow.

From her fashion designer beginnings to becoming a singer-songwriter, a 30+ year career, and a resurgence of visual artwork, the artist is revelling in the creative output as she finds the sweet spot of creating from a place of happiness.

Alongside the music, her new album, Tender, features visual art that complements the album’s themes, utilising a unique painting process reflecting the layered rhythms of songwriting and of life itself.

“I’ve always had a side hustle and I’m a fashion designer by trade, so I’ve always been very creative, and then the singing and songwriting took over,” she said.

“I’ve had three exhibitions in the last three years of my paintings, which has been really validating, but this is the first time that I’ve painted my songs, and it’s nice to be bringing my two art forms together.”

Her first original album in over a decade, Tender marks a deeply personal and empowering return to her country music roots, embracing vulnerability, love, and resilience. The title track duet features Australian music icon, Diesel.

“I was doing other projects and different things, diversifying, and I really enjoyed taking the focus off myself for a while,” she said.

“It was a break from looking at myself and just living my life instead of bloody writing about it all the time.

“As an empath, I feel everything deeply. My tenderness used to feel like a burden, but over time, it became a strength.

“The album is a celebration of that evolution, and now, I can be tender for my son, gentle with myself, and vulnerable with others.”

After a long relationship with husband Mark Gable from The Choirboys, Schneider said Tender was the most emotional and the most joyful album she’s made.

“I’ve written this album while in the happiest and most authentic time of my life. Many of my previous albums were written when I was in a real struggle,” she said.

“I was in some unhealthy relationships back then, and it was just a struggle to survive and forge my identity.

“This album came after I’d been in a healthy, happy relationship with Mark, we’ve been together for 17 years, and I became a mum with Sullivan when I was 41, which is the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.

After bouts of depression in 2018 and 2019 and a steep learning curve to let go of perfectionism, the artist is done with proving her worth.

“Even in the last five years, I’ve let go of so much of that stuff,” Schneider said.

“I’m a recovering perfectionist. I’ve let go of the workaholism, and there’s a lot of stuff that I’ve learned and changed in my life.

“It’s more about love, acceptance and real life. It’s a very positive album, without the struggle the previous albums always had.”

Schneider said that having intensely deep empathy was a double-edged sword, but it ultimately serves her well.

“It definitely makes you a better songwriter, and I think it gives me the capacity to make people cry when I’m singing because there’s an energy transfer between me and an audience, and that translates, and they’re not afraid to cry, to feel it,” she said.

“It’s a powerful thing and I always wanted to be that artist who was so authentic and so real that they could make people feel things, and I think I’ve finally become that artist.”

Fans might say she has always been so.

For tickets, visit ballinarsl.com.au/event/melinda-schneider