Making waves

Waseca-based musician Melissa Schulz is making waves in southern Minnesota through her ongoing string of performances at local festivals, fairs, breweries, and more. Some of Schulz’s recent bookings include Waseca’s Lakefest and the Waseca and Rice County fairs. A classically trained pianist and singer, Schulz performs songs from an array of genres including pop, country, jazz, rock, and anywhere in between. In addition to a constant stream of gigs as a live musician, she is a voice and piano teacher with nine students under her wing.

Schulz is a native of Dubuque, Iowa and earned a bachelor degree in music performance and education at Decorah’s Luther College. “I wasn’t sure which way I wanted to go, so I chose both,” said Schulz. She said she had opera and broadway dreams, but worked as a music teacher at a few public schools in her 20s when she didn’t feel ready “to go gung-ho into the performing route.” During a period of reflection, Schulz took on a variety of jobs like working at a call center and clinic, leading ZUMBA dance classes, and substitute teaching at Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Schools. Around that time, Schulz began teaching lessons at her music studio independently. Starting in 2011, for four years, she was also a dance teacher for Waseca Community Education. 

After leaving her Community Ed position, Schulz began growing her presence as a live musician by working as a church pianist and serving as an accompanist at Waseca High School choir concerts. Schulz’s solo act started properly in 2019, when she started booking shows to entertain residents at nursing facilities, senior centers, and memory care homes. Schulz “realized there was a market to make income” through those performances, so by the following summer, she decided to expand to public venues as well. Three years later, Schulz reports that her “schedule is quite full,” as she usually has 4-6 days a week, all throughout southern Minnesota. While booking live gigs was often a “waiting game,” in the beginning, Schulz said that it has become significantly easier to land a show these past six or so months. “When they see that you’re busy it makes you more desirable to hire,” said Schulz.

To promote her live entertainment business, Schulz has become increasingly active on social media apps like Facebook and Instagram under the “Melissa Schulz Music'' brand. Her main forms of marketing include flyers and social media posts designed using Canva. Schulz has also created her own website, melissaschulzmusic.com, with a list of upcoming shows, booking information, reviews from her fans, and more. 

One challenge that Schulz has faced while making her way as a live entertainer is not being seen as more than her profession. “Although being a musician is a very large part of my life, it’s not my entire being,” said Schulz, adding that she enjoys activities like water aerobics, leading dance and fitness classes, and listening to other musicians just as much as she enjoys taking to the stage.