In 2004 Mel Hague celebrated his 38th year as a professional entertainer, which in Mel's case, means he hasn't spent half his career on the dole, he hasn't spent various periods, here and there, as a bricklayer and he hasn't sung rock'n'roll, pop or folk to supplement his income.

Mel had done nothing else in his working life but sing country music - he's "The Real Thing". He attributes his genuine affinity for country music to his upbringing in Canada from 1952 to 1961 where country radio was available almost 24 hours a day at the spin of a dial.

In 1998 he set out to realise a life-long ambition to become a novelist and has since written three westerns, "To Hell with the Badge", "Death on a Rope" and "Twisted River", and a horror novel, "The Grey Man". He intends to write a series of 12 to 15 westerns using the same lead characters. He is also researching material for a science fiction novel called "The Gathering". In 2004 he retired from performing to concentrate on his writing.

In his recording career Mel made 17 albums and a video. There are precious few with that sort of pedigree on the UK side of the big pond. He's been a broadcaster too, spending ten years with BBC Radio Sheffield, presenting a weekly one-hour show, and a year with Great Yorkshire Radio, presenting a weekly three hour show. On both stations he was well known for promoting British country music.

He has also done a stint as a journalist: doing pieces for Country Music Round Up, a weekly column for the South Yorkshire Times which ran for two years and he's currently writing CD and book reviews for The New Entertainer in Doncaster as well as a fortnightly column for the Doncaster Free Press. The Goole Courier also take his book reviews, and the monthly magazines Traditional Music Maker and Country Music & Dance in Scotland along with X Country have also been taking his CD reviews.

Mel has won numerous awards at both club and national level as recently as 2001. His finest hour was probably as Country Music Entertainer of the Year in the 1981 Aria/Daily Mirror Golden Guitar Awards.

Putting all the above to one side, the thing that Mel Hague cherishes most is the genuine respect he has from most of his peers. Having a severe disability (Congenital Cerebral Palsy), it's been a hard slog for him to make it in a tough, uncompromising business. Without the support and respect of performers and promoters and his "rock" (his wife Ivy) he wouldn't have gone the distance.

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