MADISON CUNNINGHAM
PRODUCTION DESIGNER & SCENIC PAINTER
THE REVEALER ALBUM
“Always introspective and often experimental, Madison Cunningham’s music doesn’t fit neatly into any one specific genre. The Recording Academy, for example, nominated 2019’s “Who Are You Now” for best Americana album, but recently bestowed her “Revealer” with the Grammy for best folk album. This, in itself, is a little mystifying for a project that leans heavily into alt-soundscapes and seemingly owes more of a debt to Fiona Apple than Joan Baez.”
To me, the word “REVEALER” is neither positive nor negative; it means unveiling truth. It was really hard making this record. There was a deadline, but there were also things happening in me that I was having trouble expressing. It needed to reach a fever pitch. These songs are me going, “Alright, fuck it. I’m not going to hide the truth, no matter how ugly.” A lot of it deals with depression and anxiety. I do struggle with depression. The more I talk to people, I see that it’s not a novel thing, that everyone struggles with it to different degrees. And the more I talk about it, the more liberated from it I feel. - Madison Cunningham
“ I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMETHING GOOD
TO REALLY HAPPEN “
What a joy of a project this was to work on. When a producer in LA came to me with the concept, I had never met Madison Cunningham or photographer Claire Vogel, but we immediately jived as a creative trio. Claire and Madi had already come up with the idea of visually expressing “Manic Elegance” through wavy patterns and a muted palette, but it was my job to come up with the art itself. I got to sketching and we landed on this wacky-wavy, taupe and black design that weaves and breathes naturally in the elegantly manic way we wanted.
Once the design was approved, I worked with my crew to build a three-walled, ceilinged room that we painted entirely with our manic stripes. We spent 12 hours painting, covering every inch of our 8x10’ room. We even painted a dead birch tree and a set of stairs that added an element of surrealism to the space. When everything was covered in black & white stripes that seemed to breathe on their own, my team broke it all down to transport to set, where we rebuilt it all . Claire Vogel took it from there with her incredible photography, which has now become the defining visual element of the Grammy-winning album that “Revealer” became.
“ YOU MIGHT HAVE TO LOSE YOUR MIND
TO WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND IT ”
CUSTOM FENDER GUITAR PAINTING
Several months after Revealer was released, Madi’s team came to me to paint two Fender guitars in the same black and white pattern. The idea was for Madi to keep one and to give one away in an Instagram challenge for her fans. The winner had to record the best guitar riff to a specific part of the song “Hospital”. After some deliberation the winner was chosen and they got to keep one of these hand-painted guitars. Each one is slightly different and I feel special to have been part of this connection Madi made with her fans!
