Raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia near Vancouver, Madeline Merlo spent her childhood riding horses with a natural playground of the ocean, woods, mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers as a backdrop. The setting contributed to her musical influence of Motown, Soul, Rhythm & Blues as well as Country music’s strong female voices, listening to artists like Etta James and Aretha Franklin as well as Shania Twain, Dolly, Martina McBride and Faith Hill.
A lyric-driven artist, Merlo zeroed in on building her own immediately recognizable sound. Blending fresh and cool melodies with catchy, relatable lyrics that’s balanced out with traditional instruments like the steel, dobro, and banjo, her “sound” pays homage to where she grew up, while delicately layering iridescent beats with her classic roots.
You recently signed to Sony Music Nashville Publishing congratulations! How has your experience been so far?
It’s a huge building right on Music Row, it’s very exciting showing up to that building to work and getting to write with a bunch of new people and a lot of people I respect a lot. It’s very cool and I am very grateful for that opportunity. It’s like the big leagues a little bit. I am very excited to be there for sure.
Is there a centralized theme to the Slide EP released this past September?
I think that it was important to me to have a lot of energy in the EP. I wanted it to be powerful, my character to be confident and positive, I am just really passionate about the female kind of character and really it to just represent my whole brand which really is high energy, positive stuff. That was the overlying theme, obviously “Girl He Grew Up” has a little bit of more edge to it but I think it’s nice to play on all the different sides of you.
You mentioned you like to portray strong female characters in your songs, who are the strong women that inspired you in your life?
Yeah! I love that. My mom she’s very strong, she was an incredibly great mother who did everything for us by herself, I am really really inspired by her, my sister, I loved artists like Dolly Parton, Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette, people that kind of went outside the box as well too. Even when I’m writing this kind of character, it’s like oh I don’t want her to do that, I don’t want her to go back to that guy, he’s not a good person, no she’s going to leave him, I just feel empowered to write that character too. I want to represent women in a stronger way.
Have you met Dolly Parton?
No I haven’t but I think I would be star struck, she’s like a cartoon I feel like, she’s not even a real character but I would love to meet her. I heard she is really amazing. She’s an incredible businesswoman and philanthropist, she has done so much for other people and charity wise, she is a big inspo for sure.
As a Canadian living in Nashville for the past 5 years, what are the must see hot spots to go to in Nashville?
There are so many great places to go in Nashville. They have their own different pockets like every kind of city has their different areas and stuff. When it comes to Broadway, which everyone should go once it’s kind of like Vegas, country Vegas. It’s a lot. I never go down there because it’s crazy. There is one bar called Robert’s that’s very honky tonk traditional, every classic country honky tonk music person has been there and has played there. That’s a great spot to go to. There’s great Mexican food as well too, I got my 5 top restaurants. There’s a lot of great rooftop bars, they’re building a ton of hotels as well too. It’s really booming, there is a lot of great things to do and see here.
With a passion for promoting new designers, who are your favorite designers right now?
I’m always looking for things that are a little bit different, I love supporting small kind of businesses as well too there’s a few in Nashville that I like. There’s one called Posh that brings in all kinds of things. Honestly, I love Free People, I love stuff like Dillard’s. I’m always hunting for a great deal and a new designer and like I said I think supporting the little shops is where it’s at for sure.
You listen to music from a lot of different genres, what are you currently listening to right now?
I listen to a lot of country I would say primarily but I love pop music, I love the new Taylor Swift record obviously, I love rock music as well too. I love 1975, there’s a band I just went to their show called Mt. Joy that I really like. I love Christian music as well too, I love all types. I’m on a straight Christmas playlist right now getting into the spirit, my Spotify Wrapped is very confused for sure. (Laughs)
What is your favourite Christmas song?
Probably “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway.
You have toured Canada extensively, what are your favorite places to perform in Canada?
I’ve been really lucky to kind of hit almost every spot of the country, I love playing on the East Coast, the people there are so nice, there’s some great festivals. I am playing Cavendish next summer which is exciting to go back to that one. Anytime I get to go to Halifax is really great. Montreal is one of my favorite places, I love when they sing along in their French accents, very cute.
And then going to the West Coast, any time I get to play a show or festival, I played Rockin’ River and SunFest this year that’s where I am from, it feels like a hometown show. That was the first community I think that really embraced and lifted me up, I feel like I got a solid group of people out there showing up to support me.
With a soft spot for the East Coast, you’re performing in Moncton, New Brunswick on New Year’s Eve?
Yes! I’m so excited, they’re amazing, they really represent Canada in a great way. They’re just the most warm welcoming people. Anytime I get to be anywhere near the ocean I’m a very happy girl. I am excited to play that it’s going to be great!
What was it like touring with Jimmie Allen?
It was so great, it was so cool it was amazing to just play different places, we got to play a show in Vegas, San Diego and LA and got to play the Troubadour which is an iconic venue like The Rolling Stones all these really crazy cool rock and roll people had played there. Jimmie is a great guy, he puts on an amazing show, there was a lot to learn from him, the set design and his crew, everybody was so kind as well, it was great.
Are there any artists that you would like to collaborate with or tour with?
There’s so many! I got to play a show many years ago with Keith Urban one time, I had no business opening for him, I think someone had been sick and I got their spot or something, he was so sweet, he put on a such great show, I would love to tour with Keith, I think it would be a really cool full circle moment. I would love to tour with Dan + Shay I feel like they would be a great fit for what I do.
With a successful career spanning over the last 10 years, discovered on YouTube and signed to record label at 18, what advice would you give to a young musician starting out in the industry today?
So many things! Definitely trust your gut and trust yourself. You know best, you know what your fans are going to want to hear. It’s so hard when you’re really young, you got everybody telling you what you should do, it’s important to be sure of who you are and pay attention.
There are a lot of contracts that go by you, deals and businesses it’s so easy to just be like I don’t know I’m young I’m making music like whatever! Make sure you get good lawyers, you get people to read through that fine print you never know, years later you’re going to be like dang I wish I had done that differently, definitely pay attention. Know where your money is going, all the technical stuff.
More importantly be true to yourself, this is your career, no cares about it more than you do, you really got to fight for what you want.
