Alternative folk artist Madison McCreary recently launched her 9-track album "Time + Tide." The album was officially released on April 30th and is now available on all streaming platforms. The record touches upon themes of dating, friendships, restlessness, and the complicated emotions that arise while being home for the holidays. A misty, nostalgic tone fuses with story-driven lyrics and female-powered harmonies to create the dreamy release that is "Time + Tide." Each track on the album is either named after a month or has a month hidden in its meaning or lyrics, reiterating the theme of time.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Madison Mccreary. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I think my greatest strength is storytelling. Pretty much every aspect of my life revolves around storytelling, whether it be my music, my job as a high school English teacher, my relationships.
Who inspired you to make music?
Every song on this album – and every song I write, period – is written for someone. I am inspired by the joys, sorrows, and growing pains in my life and in the lives of those I love. I think of them as “letters” to friends, or to former / future versions of myself. Music has always been integral to how I communicate and process life, and each song on “Time + Tide” reflects that.
Your latest release is 'Time + Tide'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
This album literally spans Time and Tide – some of the songs are over 10 years old, and some were written during the pandemic right before we recorded. When the pandemic began, my childhood best friend’s older brother, who has a music production company, moved home to KY from NYC. He set up a makeshift recording studio in a family cabin in rural Ohio County, Kentucky. I flew back from Hawai’i to KY for the month of December to record while teaching my high school classes online, and it all blossomed from there. We basically were quarantined together during the entire process – we even weathered a tornado during one of our studio sessions in the cabin with Chris Joslin, our banjo player.
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the album?
The album traces the listener through the months of the year, with some tracks containing the name of a month in their title or lyrics, and some connections being more symbolic.
The opening track "January" considers the fear and risk associated with being vulnerable and diving into something new - whether it be a new year, a new relationship, or a new job.
From there, it moves into “Sweet Tea,” a front-porch type of tune that talks about how love can be like cold and warm fronts meeting in the springtime; you can have the right person at the wrong time, or maybe it’s the right time, but you just aren’t the you you were “March of last year.”
Track 3, “The Tangled Part,” uses intricate ukulele and mandolin work to tangle the listener up in gentle but complicated things, like “April light, beaming through her window” – this track was inspired by a French folktale about a young prince who is gifted his life in a ball of yarn; he is so eager to find a point in time where everything is all straightened out and “perfect” that he runs his entire life through his fingertips in one evening.
We move next into the lulling waves of “The Ocean Spoke to the Shore,” a summery, pared-down track that is just me and my ukulele, considering the push and pull / give and take of romantic relationships, art, and home.
“Cleopatra” is a poetic, upbeat, happysad tune about excavating fossils in your head and heart, about ancient things and new things, about how empires rise and fall but still “the june bugs shed their skeletons on the windowsill.”
Track 6, “Carolina”, is the oldest song on the album. Originally written for my childhood best friend, Emily Wills (who plays fiddle and harmonizes on this track) when she first went off to Appalachian State in North Carolina, this song is all about friendship and autumn nostalgia.
The song “Elle” was written for one of my closest friends (who actually designed my album art) for her 22nd birthday on “that late september day” of her first year living in Boston. This is the only song that is primarily piano-based.
The month of October is obviously represented in track 8, “Ghost”, which blends mellow ukulele and spooky harmonies to tell the story of a boyfriend I had who – well, I think you can figure it out. (;
Finally, the record concludes with track 9, "December," which warmly embraces the listener in the sentiment that, through all the gravity, through all the time and all the tide, home is not a place, it is the people we love.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
To be honest, I’m a bit of a grandma… I just recently resurrected my social media to promote the album, and try to spend as much time as possible living the life of a little hermit in a hut on the hillside. But I have been and continue to be inspired by The Staves, boygenius, Ingrid Michaelson, The Wailin’ Jennys – pretty much any music powered by female harmonies and vulnerable stories.
What makes you different from others?
I think the mixture of sounds in my music is a rare combination – bluegrass and bluewater, banjo and ukulele. Most of my songs begin as poems, then expand outward from there.
What’s an average day like for you?
For the past several years, my average day has been to wake up at around 6 am, drive in to school for morning tutoring, teach 10th graders English and Creative Writing all day, go for a jog or walk along the water after school until the sun sets, then come home for dinner. That is all about to change soon, though, as in a month I will be moving to Aotearoa New Zealand to begin my PhD in Education and Indigenous Language Revitalization!
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
For most of my life, my “fan base” has been the handful of folks I send voice memos of my songs to. I am so incredibly grateful and awed at the response Time + Tide has received (over 15K streams and 5k listeners last month on Spotify!) and hope to continue building authentic relationships with people who enjoy my music.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
I would say that if you looked at my footsteps from above, they would look like the aftermath of a concert or a dance party – a bunch of footprints moving in a bunch of different directions. And that’s okay. Even if your heart pulls you in all kinds of different seemingly unrelated directions (like recording an album, and teaching high school, and moving to New Zealand) follow it. Everything builds on everything to create your story.
What are your plans for the future?
In July I will be moving to Aotearoa New Zealand to begin my PhD in Education and Indigenous Revitalization. I plan to keep writing and recording music while I’m there!