Alaina Stacey & Madeleine Kelson

Alaina Stacey grew up with three brothers in a musical family in Chicago. Kicked out of the house for making too much noise while her older brothers and dad were recording in their home studio, three year old Alaina went outside in a tutu to throw a sophisticated tea party in the middle of nearby construction rubble with her best friend Rory. Dusty and dirty from head to toe, Alaina ambled back in the house singing a song she had just made up for her tea party co-host. The family quickly recorded it, documenting her first song, So Sad. She was then given a bath and sent off to bed. From that moment on, the toddler was hooked. When she was just 16, Christian Century magazine stated that Alaina sounded like the long-lost little sister of Emmylou Harris, with high lonesome ʻwoosʼ that conveyed “a whirlwind full of autumn shivers.” Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times unexpectedly found Alaina on stage performing original songs. Weiss wrote in the Sun-Times: “I was impressed by her lush voice, her captivating melodies and lyrics, and her wholly easeful stage presence.” After high school, Alaina headed to Nashville to launch a music career. One year after founding the Nashville based Americana group, Maybe April, Stacey appeared onstage with her group at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles, alongside Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and The Goo Goo Dollʼs Johnny Reznick as part of a GRAMMY week performance called A Song Is Born. Their Audiotree video went viral, and they remain one of Audiotreeʼs 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. In her debut single, “Tomorrow,” this whimsical young woman offers a peek into the old soul within her, where heartbreak, worldliness and a romantic spirit reside. Alainaʼs brothers are excited about this release and have forgiven her for interrupting their recording session.

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 Nashville to pursue a solo career. 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 Kerrville New Folk competition. Her queer country anthem, The Way I Do, became a viral TikTok hit with over 1.6 Million views. Her new EP, Where The Spirit Meets The Muscle, is set to come out in February 2024.