Mel Warstler and his band SILVERWING
Mel Warstler 10/21/1959 - 12/16/2020
Mel Warstler
Melvin Ray Warstler
10/21/1959 - 12/16/2020
Husband, Father, Stepfather,
Musician, Songwriter,
craftsman, plastering contractor, woodworker
and
my best friend.
Country boy at heart
Mel grew up in Oregon, near Drain, Myrtle Point, Crane and the wide open spaces of Christmas Valley (picture).
He enjoyed the ranching life and told the same story over and over of pretending to be sick,
so he could stay home from school
and then suddenly recuperating,
so he could help his father, Carl, round up the cattle.
It was a good life, riding horses through the
wide open spaces,
and dreaming about being a cowboy.
His first break
During high school Mel started his first band. They were so young, that the drummer's mom drove them to their first gig in the family station wagon.
There wasn't much to to do in Crane, Oregon so they played music for hours and hours, sometimes non-stop for a weekend. A band member would step away for a soda and slice of pizza and the rest of the band would keep playing, rocking out.
The little Crane high school allowed his rock band to play in the gymnasium during basketball games like a pep band and the band director encourage Mel to write his own guitar parts for all
the orchestra music.
. One day a handy man working on their house, overhead a guitar player ripping on some guitar leads in a side room.
He asked Mrs. Warstler if he could meet this guy.
Out of the room comes 16 year old Mel. The handyman asks the Warstler's if Mel could join his band and next thing you know Mel is the lead guitar player for a band of experienced road warriors who taught him all the guitar tricks of country music.
LA Rockstar
After graduating and leaving sleepy Crane Oregon, he spent some time trying to be an LA rockstar.
(Everyone loves this picture and we still have that Fender Stratocaster, the fret board is worn down from hours of devotion to his craft)
While living in LA, attempting to break into the music scene, Mel developed his blistering speed and the ability to hear any song, determine the key, and play the lead without instructions.
He was amazing, but being a country boy at heart, it wasn't long before he was yearning for the wide open spaces and headed back to Oregon and Nevada. He even wrote a song called "Why Does it Have to be LA", bemoaning the way of life necessary to become a star.
It just wasn't for our guy.
Famous on the loneliest road
So back to Crane, Oregon he went. He had a blast playing with Off the Wall. Mel bragged about their huge set list of rock, 50's and country songs.
But lack of work drove him to Nevada, where he and his brother Jack started the band, Stillwater Express, and played the bars of the Smokey Valley.
He eventually moved to Fallon where he was lucky to become a member of the very popular
Tailor Made band. (pictured here.)
He said one year, Tailor Made played for 52 weekends in a row, an entire year of gigs!
(that was before the internet and cable TV, when folk dressed up and went out on the town
to find fun and entertainment!)
The beginning of Silverwing
But he had a need to lead. A need to lead his own band, pick his favorite songs, learn the solos and, especially, do the singing. That resulted in the creation of Silverwing and it's many variations which you can read about on another page.
Talented craftsman
In addition to being a musician and songwriter, Mel was a skilled craftsman. He built homes, ran a custom cabinet shop, built Adirondack furniture, and owned a stucco contracting business that beautified the main streets of Fallon, NV.
December 16, 2020
Mel passed away on the afternoon of December 16, 2020 from a heart attack, brought on by complications from COVID.
He had been in ICU at Renown since November 30th and they did everything they could to bring him back. I was not allowed to visit, as it was a closed floor, but I called everyday and I brought a CD player and the Moonshine and County Line CD's for them to play for him.
When I arrived to see him at the end,
I Give You Everything was playing on the CD player. I asked the nurses to listen with me and then we turned it off.
So the last song we heard together was the song he wrote to me.