Tony Melendeze - Guitar picker and singer
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A "thalidomide
baby," Tony was born without arms because his mother was prescribed
thalidomide a drug used to help calm morning sickness during her
pregnancy. He was brought to the Los Angeles area from Nicaragua to be
fitted with artificial arms. He wore them until he was ten, when he
disposed of them. "I didn't feel comfortable," he explains, "I could use
my feet so much more." His proficiency with his feet extended to more areas than just day-to-day care. He remembers that "at first, I started playing push-button organ. Then in high school I began playing around with the guitar and harmonica." He also began writing his own songs. Whether it was "playing around" with music or merely adjusting to a normal high school routine, Tony never let his handicap get in his way. "I was pretty secure in what I could do," he says. It was also in high school that he became deeply involved in the Catholic Church. "I went when I was a kid because my parents took me. I drifted away as I got a little older. When I was in high school, my brother kept saying 'come on, you've gotta go. It's great!' So I went again and made a lot of friends, and wound up changing my life in the process. |
| TONY MELENDEZ & STEVE
ANGRISANO INVITE YOU
TO JOIN THEM TO GO TO WORLD YOUTH DAY 2008 IN AUSTRALIA INFO AT: http://www.tonymelendez.com/ |
The full article - DISCOGRAPHY: at: http://www.tonymelendez.com/biography2.htm |