Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link.

Who? Melissa Lonchambon Ryan is one of the main arteries that the blood of Houston music flows through. Currently she's the bassist for Omotai, who released the spine-throttling EP Fresh Hell back in February on Treaty Oak Collective, but that's just a fraction of who she's been in the scene.

The child of musical parents, Ryan started early. Her dad was in the Little Singers of Paris (similar to the Vienna Boys' Choir) when he was a kid, performing all around the world. Piano lessons, saxophone in the school band, but it was in summer vacations during middle school that her true path was laid out when she watched MTV's 120 Minutes and Headbanger's Ball. Her envy of an older brother who played guitar in a band sealed the deal, and Ryan forged ahead in groups like Pop Deflation, Lucky Motors, Panic in Detroit, Sharks and Sailors and Peloton.

Omotai has just returned from a jaunt out West, including Total Fest in Missoula, Mt. Now busy writing material for their fourth release, the band welcomed Jamie Ross aboard a year ago and has been drawing on Shiner, Russian Circles, and Breather Resist in their newer songs, says Ryan. We'll be looking forward to it.

Home Base: Omotai practices downtown at Sterrett Street Studios, which Ryan declares to be the least smelly of the last four places they've called home. When it comes time to play, her preference is Rudyard's or Walters because of the intimate environment and warm crowds.

Good War Story: "On the first Omotai tour, after playing in Hollywood, we drove around for ages completely exhausted looking for a hotel, and we ended up an hour or so north of town where the only vacancy was at America's Best Value Inn," Ryan recounts. "So we stayed there and everyone slept like a rock.

The next morning we got up and Sam [guitarist Waters] noticed he had a tick lodged on his chest. Being the avid outdoorsmen we were at the time, we each took turns Googling 'how to remove a tick', trying to 'burn' it off with a lighter in various ways, or tweeze it off like a bunch of clowns. Pretty much doing exactly what you are NOT supposed to do to remove a tick.

We didn't worry too much about it until over the next couple of days, a telltale red, target-shaped rash started appearing on his skin around the tick bite. Two weeks later, when we got home, he went to the doctor, who was delighted to get to diagnose his first case of Lyme Disease. Not to worry, Sam was treated for it quickly and he's free and clear.

So, No. 1, I never stay at America's Best Value Inn, and No. 2, I picked up a proper tick remover from REI and I always take it on tour (along with my other tour-friendly camping gear that my bandmates like to rib me for). It should be noted that I also fell halfway down a dark flight of stairs while carrying drums the day after the tick incident and nearly broke my ankle. Music is a dangerous business.

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