I caught up with Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley MacEachern, who
make up Canadian duo Madison Violet, just before they hit the
stage on the last show of their sell-out UK tour. Playing venues
as far apart as Bournemouth and Glasgow, taking in Dublin,
Belfast, Milton Keynes, Cardiff and Gateshead, “We’ve put many,
many miles on the van,” as Brenley put it, with a look that says
they are ready to put this tour to bed, but appreciative of the fact
that all the venues have sold out, making the hard work done on
previous visits worthwhile.
The pair have been working together now for 11 years. “It’s
the anniversary of our first show on Feb 4 this year…” and the
closeness that is a key part of their chemistry on stage is evident
here in interview. Answers to questions flow easily between the
two of them as they complete each other’s sentences and take
gentle digs at each other throughout. These are two people
comfortable in working together and spending a lot of time on
the road in that van.
A quick check of their website lists all their tour dates and
one can see how they have averaged nearly 100 gigs year-onyear
either in their own right, or supporting artists as diverse
as Ron Sexsmith, Sam Baker and Gordon Lightfoot. They have
been delivering their harmonies and incisive songwriting all over
Europe, Australia, United States and of course there isn’t many a
hall in Canada that they haven’t graced.
Nobody can say that Lisa and Brenley haven’t earned the
plaudits now coming their way. This is especially true in a media
climate that doesn’t have many outlets for the country/Americana
type of music that Madison Violet deliver. In fact, this can be a
source of frustration at times. As they put it: “…a band comes
out, they have never toured before and they have one song
that’s a hit on the radio and the next thing is they are selling out
Shepherd’s Bush…”
However recognition has justifiably come to the hard working
pair as the song The Ransom from their widely acclaimed album
NO FOOL FOR TRYING has won the prestigious John Lennon
Songwriting Contest as Song Of The Year. Lisa and Brenley view
this as something really special. “…we were up against literally
thousands and thousands of entrants… we initially won for the
Folk Category…which they then take and run up against all the
other finalists…so the worlds of rock, pop, gospel all go against
one another and the panel of judges, including Elton John, Mary
J Blige, Wyclef John etc decide on the winner. It’s nice to know
that such renowned artists have listened to and respected our
songwriting enough for our song to shine through.” Asked if they
had spent the £20,000 prize yet Lisa laughingly said: “Tenfold!!”.
Brenley wryly commenting that it had “…gone on flight tickets!”
Madison Violet are due to start recording their next album this
March and are intending to stay with the same producer (Les
Cooper in Toronto) that worked on NO FOOL FOR TRYING. “We
intend to go into the studio in March. Historically we have taken
a break and work on the songs or ideas before going into the
studio,” says Brenley, “but this time we don’t have the luxury of
doing that, so we have had to work on the songs on the road.
Hopefully we will have 20 or so songs to take into the studio
which we will whittle down to around 10 or 12 for the album.”
They tend to work together on songs to end up with something
that is uniquely Madison Violet. While they occasionally bring
their own songs to a session it more often than not is a genuine
combined effort that produces the finished article. As Lisa says:
“There is no real formula to a song, one of us may get something
three quarters done and then it needs a bridge and the other will
take it in a completely different direction…” Brenley adding: “..or
we write them from scratch together—from top to bottom.”
When recording they try and get as much live as they can as
far as vocals and harmonies are concerned, but find that it works
best to overdub certain instruments like the banjo or strings to
ensure a tighter overall sound. But they don’t spend the months
or years that some artists take to produce an album. “…usually,
when we record, we work fairly quickly. We will get it done within
10 days to two weeks…” As Lisa comments: “When we go in to
record a song, we don’t dilly dally! When we go in nothing has
changed [to the song].”
I wondered if the pair had ever thought about touring with a
band. I was aware that there is the odd video clip of them around
showing them with backing musicians. “We’re very comfortable
touring as a duo…we have been touring a lot with a bass player
that we take on the road when we can…it depends on the venue,
depends on the territory and depends on the pocketbook!”
Lisa added that: “Eighty percent of the last shows have been
with a trio,” but as Brenley observed: “We started as a duo
and sometimes it’s nice to just play like that.” There have been
occasions on tours around Europe and Canada where they have
used a full band but, “…you are on the road with five musicians
and you have two days off…it’s like wrangling kittens,” cracked
Lisa with a chuckle.
On that point I quizzed the girls about the way in which they coped with the strains of touring constantly
and how they dealt with the lack of time to call their own. Whilst
Brenley retreats to the gym, reads or goes for a run, Lisa admits
having: “The attention span of a gnat … so I am a bit like a
squirrel…more scattered.” So she utilises a big store of DVDs in
the van and admits to rediscovering the gamer inside her from
her youth and playing a mean game of hockey on Ron Sexsmith’s
Playstation on the last tour. Also the introduction of WiFi in
touring vans has been a massive boon to reducing the boredom
levels….but actually they claim to get on incredibly well on tour,
which having done it for eleven years is a testament to that bond
I mentioned earlier.
Influences play a large part in forging many a musician’s
career and with these two it is no different. Brenley’s parents
introduced her to Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride,
Freddy Fender and lots of Elvis, with some Gordon Lightfoot
and Beach Boys thrown in. As she says: “I grew up with a lot
of that old time country …” and she feels: “that kids today don’t
listen to country music much anymore…probably because it’s not
rebellious enough…but when I started buying records I got right
into Cat Stevens and Neil Young’s HARVEST …those early records
just got me, then I got into a lot of British pop like the Smiths,
the Cure and Depeche Mode until I then came back full circle to
Americana/country.”
Lisa however followed a different direction, with her parents
being well-known fiddle players. “I came from a traditional
Scottish fiddle background. I didn’t know there was any music
outside of fiddle until I was fifteen! Things like Buddy McMaster,
Jerry Hearn and Hallie McDonald …but my parents also had
some East Coast folk like John Alan Cameron, who I listened to
growing up and then actually later joined his band as a fiddle
player…which was pretty special.” Brenley then added that when
they compared their parents’ record collections it turned out that
they shared a lot in common.
I brought the interview to an end, so that they could get
ready to go on stage at another sell-out show in Gateshead, by
asking what they would have done if they hadn’t been making
a living as musicians. Lisa couldn’t see herself doing anything
else and then pondered before saying: “I’d be crying…and being
bored!!” while Brenley saw herself: “busking.” But they feel that
as musicians they are lucky that their job is also their hobby.
Like most musicians they get antsy when not on the road as Lisa
mentioned: “You panic after a couple of weeks vacation when the
calluses start to go from your fingers and you know it’s going to
hurt when you go back out again.”
Hopefully Madison Violet don’t decide to stop making music
and give us at least another eleven great years.
John Jobling
Originally published in www.maverick-country.com
