After a fight and victory over breast cancer, Melynda Amann, frontwoman of By Blood Alone, is back on stage for a summer full of gigs. I interviewed Melynda last September, when she was beginning her battle. I wanted to find out how her first post-cancer gig went, what the new material is like and what’s in store for the band. See By Blood Alone live at The Station in Portland on June 28, Pub 33 in Lewiston on July 12 and The Big Easy in Portland on Aug. 9. Check them out at www.bybloodalone.com.

How did you know you were ready to hit the stage again?
There really wasn’t an exact time that I knew I was ready. (I performed our CD release right in the middle of my chemotherapy treatments back in October). However, during the long winter months when I wasn’t practicing with the band, John Graveside along with Jenny, Jack and Runtt were very busy writing new songs. Once I got hold of the music, I immediately started scribing the lyrics and coming up with the vocal melodies. I began practicing with the band immediately after my completion of radiation treatments. We started forging out the five new tunes. Once we were ready to present them, we made sure that we had a good gig lined up to debut our new material. Geno’s was more than willing to let us get back on their stage. They have always been our biggest supporter. I was so very anxious to get back to it. I wanted everyone to see and hear that we hadn’t missed a beat.

Is performing different now that you’ve gone through cancer?
I don’t think that I perform differently outwardly now, but internally is a different story all together. My attitude toward the whole experience is a bit less fearful. Not that I was a scared, little bunny on stage pre-cancer. I just think that I am willing to put more of myself out there now. I am more willing to take risks, try new things and be more adventurous with my vocal stylings in general. It felt really wonderful to get back on stage.

Tell me about your new material.
Our new material will be our next album. I dare say they may be a little less dark in nature? They are all peppered with emotion and tend to be triumphant. Many of the lyrics are definitely inspired by my whole diagnosis of and victory over breast cancer. The compositions and arrangements that Graveside has written seem to fit so well with the emotion that I wanted desperately to convey in new material. I believe that the new songs may be much more progressive then the last album and will certainly surprise some of our old fans and win over new ones. We are definitely maturing. As much as the songs are about some of the victory that I have had personally, like in “I Bleed” and “Misfit,” I still try to tell stories as well. You will still hear the complex textural stylings of Graveside’s guitar, the symphonics of Jenny’s keyboards, the power, pattern and energy behind Runtt’s drums and the structure and pumping of Jack’s bass.

What’s in store for By Blood Alone?
We have a bunch of gigs scheduled throughout the summer, to help promote our last CD, “Seas of Blood,” and give listeners a taste of our next album. As far as our “career” goes, we will be plugging away at our DIY promotion and continue working with Two Side Moon/SLW Promotions to handle our PR in the UK (and possibly other areas). Our publicists have a great game plan in mind to expand our influence overseas and we are super juiced about that. I would have to say that the most important things for me (and I would imagine for the rest of the band) are to keep writing great material, enjoy our songs, play them for others and entertain the hell out of listeners continuously.