EBENSBURG, Pa. (WJAC) — Tony Melendez has played the guitar in 45 countries, in front of three different popes and two saints.
Tuesday morning, he performed in Cambia County in hopes of inspiring people through his music and message.
Students from four Cambria County schools packed the pews at Holy Name Catholic Church in Ebensburg to hear Melendez sing and play his guitar in an unlikely way -- with his feet.
“The guitar was just 'cause my dad had one. I was curious; I wanted to mess around with it. Being that little kid, I bugged him a lot and he finally put it on the floor for me. He had me wash my feet before I could touch the guitar. It was a toy back then but at the age of 16 I had someone tune it to an open tuning and that allowed me to make music,” Melendez said.
Melendez was born without arms. He says at a young age, he chose to accept himself.
“I’m not going to grow these arms. They are never going to be there. Either deal with it now and not be embarrassed to use my mouth or my feet. Because it can be awkward when people look you or stare at you. I had to face it head on and I made that decision. I would say very early on I made that decision that I’m just going to be me. Tony Melendez has to do it this way,” he said.
Tony’s brother, Jose Melendez, accompanies him while performing around the world for the past 30 years.
“It’s been a roller coaster. Sometimes, we are in the middle of Pennsylvania in a small church and others we are in a huge stadium platform with thousands of people. So we’ve learned to adapt to both. But I think the message is still the same,. It’s about hope. It’s about overcoming. It’s about God when you get down to the roots of it because that’s what it’s about for us,” Jose said.
Tony shares what he hopes audiences will take away from his story.
“I hope they get inspired and get rid of the words ‘I can’t,’ or ‘I will, I can, I’ll change, I’ll practice’ -- just get rid of the words ‘I can’t.’ And I would say that would give hope to others and maybe surprise yourself. And it will give you hope, too,” Tony said.
Melendez will be performing again at Holy Name Catholic Church in Ebensburg at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The performance is free and open to the public.
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