Alaina Stacey w/ Madeleine Kelson

Alaina Stacey w/ Madeleine Kelson Live at Cafe Wha? | Saturday, May 3rd | 6:00PM Show, 5:00PM Doors

Over the course of three EPs, Chicago-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Alaina Stacey sets out to musically interpret the aesthetics of DAWN, DAY, and DUSK. It is an untraditional approach for a recording project, but one that she hopes reflects the scope of life that these songs cover.  “These are songs that I’ve written over the last decade,” she explains.  “They don’t all make sense on the same album.  Instead I like to imagine them reflecting different sonic and emotional moments in my life.” 

On her latest EP, “DAY,” which is the second in the three-part series EP series, Alaina hones in on active energy, the feeling of walking into broad daylight with a determination to right all of one’s wrongs.

Alaina grew up in a musical family in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago, and moved to Nashville at 18 where she toured and recorded with country trio Maybe April. With Maybe April, Alaina appeared onstage at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles, alongside Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and The Goo Goo Doll’s Johnny Reznick as part of a GRAMMY week performance called A Song Is Born. Their Audiotree video went viral, and they remain one of Audiotree’s top twenty most popular videos. With Maybe April, she opened for Brandy Clark and Sarah Jarosz, and performed at Pilgrimage Music Festival, Merlefest, SXSW, CMA Fest, and other festivals, and released an EP and record, The Other Side, which was produced by her brother Julian. The band won “Americana Group of the Year” two years in a row at the Arkansas Country Music Awards. 

Now working under her own name, Stacey’s solo work fuses her love of 90’s and early 2000’s country with other musical influences, both old and new.  Recorded and produced by Evan Redwine in Nashville and Brian Deck in Chicago, Stacey’s EP “DAY” features a bright and sunny sonic outlook, despite many of the songs being drenched in heartbreak and lyrical melancholy.  From “Break Your Heart” to “Liar,” Stacey works with an upbeat and shiny pallet to bring hard truths into the harsh light of day.

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Madeleine Kelson is a Nashville based Americana artist. She pulls from a rich tradition of Folk, Country, and Americana, challenging its boundaries as a queer artist to represent the modern world. Madeleine spent her high school years in Chicago band, The Kelson Twins, playing venues including House of Blues and Thalia Hall, and landing a top Daytrotter Session with Paste Magazine. She later moved to Music City to pursue a solo career. Inspired by artists like Patty Griffin, Jason Isbell, andBrandi Carlile, her dynamic and down-to-earth storytelling and rich vocals are part of why NPR named her one 10 Nashville artists on the rise.

Once in Nashville, Madeleine won the 2017 International Bluegrass MusicAssociation’s (IBMA) Songwriter Showcase, and in 2018 released her acclaimed solo debut Siren, an introspective five-song EP with clean, melodic vocals backed by elegant countermelodies on violin. Praised by press for its genre-defying, sparse style and emotional richness, Siren earned Kelson comparisons to both Amos Lee and Gillian Welch.

In 2022, Madeleine released her debut, self-produced album, While I Was Away, on Olivia Records. Since its release she has gained praise from No Depression, been featured multiple times in NPR, and was a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk songwriting competition. Her queer country anthem, The Way I Do, became a viral TikTok hit with over 1.7 million views. Madeleine has been featured on Spotify editorial playlists including Queer as Folk, Emerging Americana, and Fresh Finds Folk. Her new EP, Where the Spirit Meets the Muscle, was released in February 2024.

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