User:Mmelloan/sandbox

Mark Melloan (pronounced Malone, ), (born February 18, 1981), is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Music career
The 2002 album, "The Shadowlands," featured New Grass Revival founder Curtis Burch and three songs with banjoist Bela Fleck. The album was reviewed as "one of the best Americana bluesy collections", and Melloan was labeled "one of Kentucky's finest folk singer songwriters." Barren River Breakdown radio show host Erika Brady described him as "an artist with extreme potential... His voice as a writer is very distinctive, and he's a good performer."

In 2003, Melloan was commissioned by Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell to record "High on a Hilltop," an anthem written by Melloan celebrating the legacy of the popular basketball coach, Edgar Diddle. Several musicians and singers connected to the university appeared on the project (Greg Martin, Byron House, Beegie Adair, Athena Cage, and Larnelle Harris). The song and video were aired in E. A. Diddle Arena before home basketball games.

In 2007, the music publication "Country Weekly" described Melloan's songs, "Angel Choir" and "One Good Country Song," respectively as the best and worst songs on Stephen Cochran's self-titled album. Cochran, a retired Marine and champion for veterans issues, cowrote "Alone on Christmas" and "Hope" with Melloan. "Hope" was adopted by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as a theme song for its research and development program.

Other Works
In 2005, Melloan wrote "Baptism," a memoir describing his childhood experiences and spiritual journey.