Down Home Companion

posted in: Artist Features • Country

Years of listening to your parent’s Dolly Parton and Neil Young records can lead to either a loathing of country and flannel or a predilection for heartache and wanderlust. For Madison Violet, the outcome was the latter. The duo is comprised of Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac ” two lasses from Scottish towns in Canada. Their music has been described as tumbleweed pop, and the shoe certainly fits. With Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and Indigo Girls as their touch points, the women of Madison Violet sing tales of love, longing and small town ephemera backed by banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass and the occasional lap steel. Two voices ” one high and clear and the other a lower husk ” combine for gossamer harmonies that tug at the heartstrings while urging a slow dance with your sweetheart. Next time your landlord comes looking for the rent, or your girlfriend dumps you and takes the cat, look to Madison Violet for sweet commiseration.