OurStage

"A songwriter of quality, the possessor of a fine voice and an excellent pianist, Maddie Southorn is one of the up-and-coming stars of the Bristol music scene."Venue Magazine "A voice that projects both her humanity and her warmth." Living Tradition "An excellent command of melody which she uses as a means of communicating and furthering a narrative." Net Rhythms "An excellent contemporary slant on the folk tradition." Maverick Maddie Southorn is a West Country born and bred singer/songwriter and pianist. Although a relative newcomer to the folk scene Maddie has been playing and writing for many years answering a childhood call to perform. Raised on an eclectic diet of traditional folk, pop, show tunes and heavy metal, Maddie learned early on to appreciate melody, a good story and that grown men shouldn't wear spandex. Her debut album, the independently produced and released Unlikely Prom Queen, was extrememly well received, gaining plaudits and airplay both here and in the USA and inviting comparisons to Suzanne Vega and Kate Bush. "Maddie Southorn's delightful album 'Unlikely Prom Queen' has depth and heart. This is a beautiful, wonderful album...I am indebted to her for sharing her thoughts, her words and her wisdom." Green Man Review. "The kind of stuff that if it fell on the right ears, could find itself resting proudly on a million coffee tables worldwide." Decode Her second release, the EP Hollow, saw her edging in a more traditional direction including a version of the classic Fairport Convention song 'Crazy Man Michael' alongside her own material. "The fact that Maddie makes such a nice job of this when so many female singers have fallen by the wayside trying to tackle Sandy Denny songs says a lot for her talent." Venue. This song has become a firm favourite of audiences in Maddie's sensitive and charismatic live performances. Maddie's current release, 'The Pilgrim Soul', sees her well and truly back to her folk roots while still retaining her own unique and contemporary twist. On hearing the album Radio 2's Mike Harding was prompted to declare it "one of the best albums of 2005. A real gem." Maddie is equally convincing as an interpreter of traditional material as she is weaving her own absorbing and sometimes darkly humorous ballads. The arrangements, enhanced by the beautiful and haunting cello of long-time musical collaborator and touring partner Janet Martin, display at times an almost classical purity. "The words work very well as poems read aloud...there are many well-turned and finely wrought phrases with a nice exactness. This is a CD of great musical integrity, of substance and control." Stirrings. "She kicks off with a heck of a true story from late 16th century North Carolina (Roanoke); and later on (in Misery Point) comes up with a tragic character who is as poignantly real as any character that the late Dennis Potter ever invented." Living Tradition. The album is released by the prestigious Fellside Recordings and also features contributions from such highly respected musicians as Nancy Kerr (fiddle), Karen Tweed (accordion) and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Lawrence. "This is an absorbing and compelling release which surely gives us proof positive that Maddie is a creative force to be reckoned with; and hopefully she'll be here to stay." Net Rhythms. We rest our case.