CHRISTOPHER MELAS
Bluegrass guitar lessons and music

Christopher Melas is one of Austin’s up-and-coming bluegrass musicians, regularly performing traditional and original music alike. “He is rising among the ranks of local flatpickers,” as noted by the Central Texas Bluegrass Association. At first glance, you wouldn’t expect his route into bluegrass to have been so unusual. As a child, his older brother taught him classical guitar, and in college he studied with renowned classical guitarist Costas Cotsiolis. After winning his first classical guitar competition in 2016, he noticed his right hand wasn’t feeling normal. He was soon diagnosed with focal dystonia, a rare movement disorder that ended his classical career. Realizing he could still hold a guitar pick, he immediately dedicated himself to bluegrass, the music he loved most. After a quick transition, he found his home in the genre and is now a fixture in Austin’s bluegrass scene, where he performs regularly.