Canada has long been a breeding ground for alternative musicians. While Neil Young and Leonard Cohen are the maple leafed standard-bearers, there are plenty of other artists who have followed them – Toronto’s Madison Violet are certainly in that vanguard, writes Will Gore.
The female duo have recently released their third album, No Fool for Trying, and are heading to these shores for a short tour that includes a stop at TwickFolk this Sunday evening.
Brenley MacEachern, one half of Madison Violet, says the band are looking forward to playing their new set of songs that are designed to sound Canadian.
“I grew up loving the British folk scene and we recorded our first two albums in London but we thought it was time to a record in Canada with our band and a Canadian producer,” she adds..
“No Fool for Trying has a more Canadian feel than our other albums and it is my favourite record yet. It is our least produced record, so we can easily pull it off with our five-piece band.”
In fact, MacEachern and her bandmate Lisa MacIsaac will be performing by themselves at Twick Folk, an arrangement that should suit the stripped-down nature of their new tunes perfectly.
As well as the influence of their homeland, fans may also detect a number of key musical influences in the songs.
“I’ve gone back to my parents’ record collections for inspiration,” explains MacEachern. “Music that I didn’t necessarily love when I was growing up but has stuck in my head. People like Tammy Wynette, the Bee Gees and the Beach Boys.”
Madison Violet’s music has variously been described as folk, pop and Americana and MacEachern says that categorisation, often the bug bear of many a musician, is not something the band worries about.
“When we started we didn’t want to be categorised but it’s a bad business decision to think that way,” she says. “When someone can put you into a category it is better – when I go searching for music on iTunes I always search by genre.
“Although I classify folk, alt-country and Americana as all the same anyway. They can't really be differentiated.”
Madison, Violet, TwickFolk @ the Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, September 13, 8pm, £9/£8 twickfolk.co.uk
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