Earlier this November, Orange County local Americana artist Madison Cunningham released her EP, Wednesday.
Starting guitar at age 7, Madison has had a passion for music performance and released her first project, Authenticity in 2014, following with her debut LP Who Are You Now in 2019. Sometime in 2019, she began to record song covers as a way to “stay sharp as a performer”, recording a variety of covers and posting them every Wednesday on her Instagram. She mentions that this is how the title of her recent EP came to be. After her LP release Who Are You Now combined with a variety of overwhelming events in the world, Madison explains how she was having a hard time writing, as there were “so many things going on”. Amongst this period of time, Madison remembered the covers she had done consistently on Instagram, and decided to pick it up again to light a creative spark. With this, Wednesday became a selection of covers she really resonated with, as she felt that “the tracks felt relevant to the time”.
Through Madison’s music, she wants to invoke a sense of nostalgia, but adding something new to the mix as well. With her personal style, she’s found huge inspiration from artists such as Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple, emphasizing, “I always go back to Joni Mitchell…she’s a triple threat”. With her inspirations she takes aspects of music from artists she loves, but finds a different way to achieve it and put her own personal flare. Specifically, Madison brings up how she really likes Joni Mitchell’s open-tuning, and while Joni uses an acoustic guitar, Madison puts her own twist to Joni’s open-tuning with the use of an electric guitar.
Madison Cunningham’s Wednesday EP is a release perfect for the colder weather. Her distinct Americana sound paints elaborate pictures in the mind, and allows you to immerse yourself into the aesthetics of comforting, cozy folk music. If you’re looking for music to put on while bundled up next to a warm fire, I highly recommend checking out this release.
Listen to Wednesday on Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud. Keep up with Madison Cunningham on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
Written By: Alexa Terry
Photography By: Marie Vogel