In 1987 Melanie met a distinguished, white-haired songwriter revered the world over as the Dean of Nashville Songwriters, Harlan Howard.  They soon began to date.  Melanie had never been involved in the creative side of the music industry, and had no aspiration in that direction, but just a few months after that first meeting, the veteran songwriter announced that he thought she was going to be a great publisher.  "I am?" Melanie asked.  "How?"  "I'm gonna show you how," he fired back. "I want to teach you what I do.  I want to teach you to love songs and songwriters and take care of them.  I want to be sure my songs are protected and not end up in public domain before their time."  So basically Melanie went to school on Harlan Howard.  He taught her to respect songs and the creative process.  "What a great education!" she declares.  "Harlan was not only a great songwriter, but he was the best songplugger, too.  He was famous for running into the studio at the last minute when an artist was cutting and waving some songs around that he'd just demoed.  And he'd walk away with cuts because many artists like to cut things that are fresh and new.  There are few others who could get away with that."

So Melanie left her job, went to work for Harlan and he began to show her the ropes.  She gradually converted his vast catalog of 4,000 songs from reel-to-reel to DAT, and, at Harlan's insistence, began pitching those songs to artists, producers and record label A&R representatives.  Two years after meeting, Melanie and Harlan married their personal and professional lives, and together they set about building a publishing company.   Although Harlan had been a long-time staff writer at revered Nashville independent publishing company, Tree, when entertainment giant Sony bought the company in the early ‘90s, Harlan and Melanie successfully negotiated Harlan's release from the company so that he could write for the company that bore his name:  Harlan Howard Songs.  Soon afterwards, Harlan scored one of the biggest hits of his career when Patty Loveless cut "Blame It On Your Heart," giving him a hit in five decades.  Harlan died in 2002 with Melanie by his side, but his death only strengthened her resolve to help him reach another milestone.  "Harlan had hits in every decade since the ‘50s—half a century--so I'm trying to get him a hit in this decade.  That's my first priority," she confessed.  "Harlan wanted to do it while he was alive but unfortunately that didn't work out.  Martina just cut two of Harlan's songs on the Timeless CD; George Jones just cut ‘Busted' so maybe one of those will be a hit."

For Melanie, the rewards of life as a publisher and the wife of one of the greatest songwriters in history have been rich:  "It was always a thrill hearing a writer's song on the radio for the first time – especially one who had never had any hits, and you were able to land them their first hit and be able to share in their joy," she outlined. "Getting them their first #1.  Helping them get a record deal.  That's monumental, because it's a life-changing experience.  That's really the reason I do this.  I love the songs.  When a writer plays me a song, and I'm usually the second or third person to hear that song, so then I get to run up and down the Row and figure out who the best person is who's cutting that I can pitch that song to.  When you have something brand-new and you get to decide who gets to hear it.  Getting that song out there and feeling like I'm part of the creative process."

Her goal for the future is simple:  "I know this is a legacy and I intend to guard it, and protect it and enhance it.  I'm very fortunate, and I thank God every day that Harlan Howard came into my life!"