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Information: Though she counts her influences as everyone from Van Halen and The Beatles to Stevie Nicks, 17-year-old singer/songwriter dynamo Madison Rose channels her inner Joan Jett when—in dishing on her explosive debut full length recording Aftershock—she boldly declares to the world “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll!” Madison’s not rocking and rumbling alone. On tracks like the blistering lead single “Kissin’ In Your Cadillac” and the heavy duty emotional “Teenage Runaway,” she’s vibing with renowned surf-rock guitarist Gary Hoey and her multi-talented brother and musical partner in crime Justyn, dubbed “Justyn the Stuntman” for the many hats he dons (songwriter, bassist, guitarist, mentor) as he helps his sister hone in on her powerful sound. With 16 solo albums and five Top 20 Billboard hits since the early ‘90s, Hoey has made numerous lists as one of the Those who remember a softer type rock of a different era might compare the creative dynamic of Madison and Justyn to that of the legendary Carpenters. In addition to playing bass on the album and lead guitar for her live shows, Justyn’s strengths as a songwriter complement Madison’s perfectly. “Joanna,” a track Madison calls an “epic ballad” for its 130 production layers (including a massive choir sound), represents the spirit of their collaboration. Unbeknownst to one another, he had written a beautiful melody and she had written lyrics—and they matched up perfectly. His strength is in the music and chording, while hers is in basic melodies and words. Despite the obvious connection of being musical siblings, it’s hard to imagine Richard Carpenter taking his sister Karen to hear a band like Def Leppard the way Justyn did when Madison was 13. “That was the first concert I ever attended, and it changed my life,” she says. “The first time I heard the song ‘Animal,’ I knew I wanted to sing rock ‘n’ roll. It was one of those epiphanies you hear about. After that concert, I went home and wrote my first song and I haven’t stoppedwriting since. ”The lone cover tune on Aftershock is an exhilarating re-imagining of “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” from the debut album of Van Halen—the second concert Madison ever went to. In the last year, she had the opportunity to perform at the Key Club in L.A. with Michael Anthony of Van Halen. “When I saw them for the first time,” she says, “it made me feel alive and I knew from that moment on that I wanted to sing, and perform music for the rest of my life. I don’t know, something in that moment just clicked, and I knew that’s where I needed to be, singing up on stage, rockin’ out in front of an entire arena. The way David Lee Roth commanded the stage, got the audience on their feet, rockin’ out, I thought, "I want to do that." On the softer side of rock, Madison calls Stevie Nicks “one of the greatest songwriters of all time. “When I saw Fleetwood Mac, she really inspired me. After that show I went home and wrote at least a dozen songs. She sparked my creativity. One of them is ‘Teenage Runaway,’ a poignant song about the pain I felt trying to help a self-destructive friend who was running away not only in a physical sense, but from also from the emotional support in her life. All of the lyrics on the album were written in 2009, when I was 15.”For Madison’s 16th birthday in early 2010, her family sent her and Justyn to L.A. to attend Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp—a dream come true that would allow Madison to mingle with some of her Rock Idols, Bret Michaels, Lita Ford and Michael Anthony. In September, the family packed up their four small dogs, volumes of lyrics Madison had written, guitars, clothes and four people in one SUV and drove up to New Hampshire to live for two months while the singer, Justyn and Hoey wrote all the songs for the project which became Aftershock. “The three of us spent every long 14-hour plus day writing, laughing, collaborating and recording every track on my album in Gary’s home studio in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere,” Madison says. “This was one of those moments in time that can never be duplicated—pure inspiration and creation and simply one of the best times of my life. Picture a cool fall day, leaves red and golden with the sound of wind blowing gently through them. Gary, Justyn and I are sitting in a circle on the carpeted floor, Gary with his guitar, Justyn with his bass, me with my lyrics. We jammed, the music just flowed and we had an amazing time. The first day in the studio, Gary looked at me and said, ‘We are going to write a hit song today.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, right, in one day.’ But by the end of the day, we wrote the music to the title track to the album,
Luciana: *Band Score 8.0/10* "Full of talent, youthful Singer which shows that the American Dream can be "Fresh"!! |