Nashville-based artist Madeleine Kelson has been writing and performing music since childhood, developing a unique, country-leaning style of Americana laced with elements of rock and blues. She spent her early career performing with her twin sister as The Kelson Twins in Chicago before branching off to launch her solo career in Music City. Inspired by artists like Patty Griffin, Jason Isbell, and Noah Gunderson, she’s a dynamic and down-to-earth storyteller, using her own life experiences as fodder for poetic, yet accessible, lyrics. With the April 2022 launch of her debut solo album, While I Was Away, Kelson blends haunting melodies and driving percussion with a particularly human warmth. Born and raised in Chicago, Kelson started studying violin at four years old, adding vocal training and later picking up bass, guitar, and piano. Surrounded by the city’s vibrant rock and blues music scenes, her earliest influences were rock and blues legends Mavis Staples and Bonnie Raitt, as well as her mother’s favorite country and bluegrass artists Dolly Parton and Lucinda Williams. Kelson wrote and produced her first album in eighth grade, raising thousands of dollars via Kickstarter for pressing vinyl records. The Americana/Country compilation featured other Chicago area musicians as part of an independent study program at her school. In 2012, Kelson formed a band with her twin sister Juliet, writing and releasing Country and Americana as The Kelson Twins and performing live with drummer Spencer Tweedy at iconic venues across Chicago, including the House of Blues, the Hideout, and the Athenaeum Theater. “We did School of Rock camps and workshops growing up, started playing around town when we were nine, then transitioned into doing our own thing. Chicago is a fantastic place to grow up if you want to be a musician,” she says. In 2015, The Kelson Twins crowdfunded over ten thousand dollars to record and produce their debut EP, Best of (So Far), which led to their 2016 Top Daytrotter Session performance for Paste Magazine. They released a string of soulful, well-received follow-up singles before branching out to pursue solo careers in separate states. In 2016 Kelson moved to Nashville to study music business at Belmont College and launch her solo career as an Americana artist. She won the 2017 International Bluegrass Music Association’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. Now poised to release her debut full-length solo album, While I Was Away, in April 2022, Kelson expands her lyrical focus to the world around her: “Lately I’ve been reflecting more on the people in my life, how their lives intertwine and change. This album looks back at my past few years in Nashville-- all the people and experiences that have shaped me since leaving Chicago.” There’s an alluring depth to Kelson’s vocals—a balance of sophistication and compelling vulnerability: Her voice is perfectly pure, yet deeply human. Written and produced by Kelson as her college thesis, While I Was Away showcases her ability to transform natural melodic lines and simple, narrative lyrics into moving and well-rounded anthems. The songs, led by acoustic guitar, piano, and drums, are laced with tight vocal harmonies reminiscent of early Grand Ole' Opry performances, creating an inviting mix of lively Americana spirit and candid, classic country heart.
During her Junior year of high school, Madeleine's band The Kelson Twins raised over $10,000 on Indiegogo to produce their debut EP, Best of (So Far), which was released in the summer of 2015. In the fall of 2015, they recorded a Daytrotter session that included three previously unreleased songs. The session was released in January, 2016.