ON BEAT: Madison Cunningham
- Louise Geri
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
Madison Cunningham’s fourth studio album, “Ace,” signals many changes in Cunningham’s musical style.
Cunningham is known for her work with Lucy Dacus, Jacob Collier, Remi Wolf, and even opening for Harry Styles and John Mayer. Mayer even called her a “monster guitar player” in a “standalone appreciation post of @madicunningham” following the end of their shows together.
Her second studio album, “Revealer,” won her the Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2023.
She shifts into the piano realm after years of focusing on her guitar work, and has the ultimate processing experience following a massive period of suffering intense loss and self-discovery.
Prior to the opening night of the second US leg of her Ace Tour, she offered advice to anyone healing.
“The only way to stay malleable and to continue to grow into a person that you like, is to not be like, ‘I'm never gonna feel heartbreak again. I refuse to.’ It's to continually be willing to open yourself up as a wound.”
As she sings in the “Ace” track “Skeletree,” “The mind intuits every line you will one day cross”, she said she knew in her gut that such a realization would come from writing this record.
While she says she’s uncertain whether the highs of the perspective shifts she felt while making the album could ever occur again, she’s yet to completely come off the high of the creation process.
She marvels at playing Hague, Zurich and Scotland on tour, calling the experiences magical and life-affirming.
“More revelations have started to happen.”
Cunningham feels a sense of freedom, even if it can be hard to maintain emotional energy when so closely surrounded by people.
“You can't fully relax, even in your relaxed moments, because… you're getting ready to be in front of a lot of people every night.”
Going on runs and walks helps her escape the pressure she feels, she said.
Despite this, she describes her team positively. She says that they found good rituals, read a lot, and listened to podcasts together.
“The high, I think, is just the moments where you're able to see the whole thing from an aerial view, when you feel like you're even watching yourself from, you know, an out-of-body experience,” she says.
She describes the life of a showgirl, “It's normal life, just in the sky…you don't escape anything.”
Anticipating her upcoming shows in Music City, she describes her appreciation for Nashville.
“The first time I was there, I got to play at the Ryman, which was crazy.”
Cunningham also loves the groundedness of the artist community.
“It seems like everybody is kind of in each other's corner.”
Cunningham is known for her work with Lucy Dacus, Jacob Collier, Remi Wolf, and even opening for Harry Styles and John Mayer. Mayer even called her a “monster guitar player” in a “standalone appreciation post of @madicunningham” following the end of their shows together.
Her second studio album, “Revealer,” won her the Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2023.
All of the work she’s done has revolved around her guitar-playing skills, but for “Ace,” she wanted to explore something different.
“I love piano. It's always been a part of the story for me, just not [something] that I've really recorded a whole lot on.”
Cunningham plans to expand upon this further in the future. However, she says she worries people will be bummed to see her play the piano instead of the guitar.
“But I also don't care,” she added.
She describes her lyrical style as more spiritual than literal. She cites inspirations as Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, and Ruth Parker’s “Otherwise Occupied” album, among many others.
“I don't feel good with words in real life. That’s always my fear, or maybe my extra obsession with lyrics when I'm in private, because I love them so much, and I'm always trying to glean something new about how to communicate.”
Her lyricism has developed alongside her instrumental occupation.
“My lyricism had to work a little bit harder and go a little deeper when I was playing and writing from piano.”
Cunningham would “road-test” songs by playing them on both guitar and piano to figure out where they were emotionally, a process involving experimentation on all fronts.
Tickets to the US leg of the Ace Tour are available here, and you can listen to “Ace” on all streaming platforms now.
Written by Louise Geri