As a professional critic and a lifelong music fiend, it’s pretty easy for me to explain why I love me some Mint Condition. They compose their own music, pen their own lyrics and have levels of diversity that incorporates multiple style influences. The band, simply put, consistently displays synergy and showmanship that remains unmatched and extraordinary.  From the moment I heard and witnessed this hitmaking collective, I became an instant and devoted fan. When I met them all for the first time over a decade ago, Rick Kinchen, O’Dell, Lawrence El, Jeff Allen, Keri Lewis and Stokley Williams were as humble and authentic as I hoped they would be.

As I solidified my journalism career and starting covering entertainment for publications and websites, I made it a priority to showcase MC as often as possible via concert and CD reviews and interviews. The guys openly appreciated my efforts and I felt honored to have earned the trust and access that they still bestow upon me.

But nothing compares to the way that Mint Condition validated my skill set while promoting eLife.

On an early spring afternoon in 2008, I got a call from their manager that completely threw me for a loop: apparently, on the verge of releasing their 6th studio CD, they were unhappy with the bio that had been written for their press kit. According to him, the guys withdrew it and put the entire packet on hold to see if I would write a better one to circulate instead. I remember how awestruck I sounded. “Seriously?”

“Yes Lorrie. They specifically asked me to call you.”

I. was. FLOORED. They had to have been surrounded by Minneapolis, MN fans who knew and followed them from Day 1, but I was the one they thought of when it came to writing a bio? Me, a freelancing journalist based in TX? WOW.

Maybe I sounded too disbelieving and he felt that I wasn’t taking him seriously enough, because later on, another call came directly from their frontman Stokley Williams. He repeated what ‘Big Jeff’  had told me, stressing that he and the guys felt I would do a much better presentation of their history and sound. According to Stokley, the present bio was just barely ‘a’ight’ (he was being REALLY diplomatic IMO, the thing was hot garbage and was less compelling than a 4th grader’s book report. But I digress.) and they decided to ask me to redo it: “You know us, you’re familiar with our sound and you make us sound better than what we actually do. We also really love your spirit and just thought, ‘why don’t we ask Lorrie? The worst she can do is say ‘no.'”

Despite my apprehensions—the possible pro-level ‘conflict of interest’, falling short of such lofty expectations—it was humbling to hear that my favorite band trusted me and felt so strongly about my abilities. So with that in mind, I invented my pen name ‘Melody Charles’ and agreed to do the job.

Less than 2 weeks (and a couple of corrections) later, after speaking to each member and culling the final draft, I submitted the bio and thankfully, they were pleased. It went out with e-Life’s press kit, hit the internet and eventually led to me writing more bios for other R&B artists. Later, when I asked Stokley about his personal opinion of the bio, he said this verbatim: “It was everything we knew it would be, coming from you.”

This honor remains humbling  and one of my proudest moments as a professional writer: that request was not only an awe-inspiring  endorsement of my skills, it demonstrated to me that Mint Condition, one of my favorite bands ever, also respected me as a pro.

Meeting them was one thing, but remaining on their radar and maintaining that level of rapport  after so many years is a priceless privilege.

So, despite my quest for objectivity when music’s concerned, some artists will always earn high expectations and unwavering support from me. Obviously, Mint Condition is one of them. World-famous or not, unsung or not, I’m a FOOM* for life.  As men and musicians, they are outstanding and well-worth the love.

*In MC terms, FOOM stands for ‘Fans Of Our Music.’ Get familiar. 🙂