After 25 Years, Madison Violet’s MacEachern and MacIsaac To Embark On Separate Paths – Music Life Journal

By Jim Barber

A break-up of any form of relationship is heart-rending, aggravating and full of emotional tumult. When that relationship was at one time romantic in addition to inventive, one which lasted for actually 1 / 4 of a century – nicely, saying ‘it’s difficult,’ shouldn’t be solely trite, however an underwhelming understatement.

The critically acclaimed and fan beloved musical group Madison Violet was a inventive partnership for that extraordinary size of time, however enmeshed inside that relationship was the truth that two people – singer/songwriters Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley MacEachern -were additionally a pair, and so it’s little shock that there’s nonetheless a slight frisson of stress throughout our three-way Zoom dialog.

As for the explanations for the ending of Madison Violet, it’s finest to permit the 2 events to speak about it in their very own phrases with none pointless editorializing.

“That is the top of an period, the top of a chapter. It’s been coming for fairly some time. Lisa and I had been romantic companions for 10 years. That had a tough ending. On the time we had been touring a lot, we had been booked two years prematurely and had been continually on the highway. And so we couldn’t actually afford to again out on any of these reveals. So, we simply stored barrelling by means of, and it’s been 15 years of, , ups and downs since then. We get alongside nice on the market, however we even have this form of want, I believe, to essentially recalibrate and determine what the longer term holds for Madison Violet. And proper now, meaning coming to a full cease to see what can occur down the highway. Do I really feel it’s full cease without end? No. I’ve by no means felt prefer it wanted to be over without end. I don’t assume Lisa did ever both. However I believe we each have come to appreciate that we have to do some form of rising and self-reflection on our personal, after which come again and hopefully make some magic sooner or later. However that may very well be 10 years from now. It may very well be 5 years from now. It may very well be … nicely, I don’t know. And naturally, whenever you let one thing go, you don’t know the place every of us may go. Lisa could discover that she’s discovered one thing greater, higher, excellent for her coronary heart, and I’d too. I believe, proper now, I don’t wish to have any main attachments to something,” stated MacEachern, from the Airstream trailer inventive house on her property north of Toronto. She talked about the way it’s additionally logistically higher for the ‘enterprise’ facet of the music enterprise for Madison Violet to make a clear break.

“In the event you don’t say no, and it doesn’t come to a whole finish, it leaves issues hanging. We now have so many alternative brokers everywhere in the world. We’ve at all times labored with boutique brokers as a result of that’s what’s at all times labored for us. We wish to domesticate actually sturdy relationships, shut relationships with our brokers. So, they’re at all times writing and pitching us gigs and that might proceed except we had been capable of simply shut the door. And we’ve at all times had such a tough time saying no. Once I look again on our profession and I take into consideration what number of weddings I missed, and funerals and events and going to the cottage. A minimum of for the previous 5 years if there’s a marriage, we’d e book it off. It’s necessary for me to have extra management over the flexibility to say no and tackle simply what makes your coronary heart thump, ?

“And in addition, we’ve nonetheless received some pent-up stuff right here and there. Like, we all know one another higher than anyone. We all know precisely what it takes to set off each other. And I’ve really been doing a whole lot of analysis into this complete query of why I’m so hypervigilant about issues and why I get so affected by a small factor. And it’s not due to what’s occurring now. It’s due to all of the historical past hooked up to it. So, it’s rather a lot. Typically we’re on the market and it’s like, I wish to be connecting. It’s onerous to disconnect. We’re related. We stroll on stage and we may have simply walked out of a combat, and it might take us a short time the place we’re like, ‘I’m not going to have a look at her,’ or no matter. After which inside I’m saying, ‘Bren, simply f***ing let it go. Proper now. You gotta let it go!’ However you then’re in survival mode and I don’t wish to be related in survival mode, as a result of we now have to be as a result of we’re on stage. I wish to be related as a result of we’re related. And I’m noticing the distinction. I believe that our present is, and possibly we’re tooting our personal horn, however I understand how good we’re. I simply know the way good we’re collectively. And I can see it within the viewers’s faces once we are related. And once we are simply in survival mode, I see that too of their faces. So, I wish to solely be related in the best way that the viewers can really feel how sturdy the connection is.”

And to be clear, there aren’t any ‘sides.’ There’s no good and unhealthy, winners or losers. It’s two individuals who have come to a degree of their lives the place they want, for their very own well-being and happiness, to be separate.

“It was a protracted dialogue. And I believe, particularly for the final couple of years, and I don’t imply to talk out of flip, Brenley, however there was a choice that Brenley had made. The pandemic hit and we form of misplaced that yr or two years, as all people else did. And Brenley needed to spend extra time with household, along with her mother and father, as a result of our mother and father had been getting old. I don’t wish to inform her story, however that was an enormous factor, she was eager to spend time along with her household. And sadly, over a brief time frame, she misplaced each of her mother and father. And I believe that put issues into perspective much more, like figuring out that if there are issues that you simply wish to do in life, there’s no higher time than the current. Seeing her develop as a girl and as a woodworker and an artist, in addition to doing solo music – I get that. I see that. However did I would like this band to come back to an in depth? No,” MacIsaac stated, from her house in downtown Toronto.

“That was a factor we needed to work by means of and we proceed to work by means of. I believe this yr has been unimaginable. I believe we’re very fortunate to make this a celebratory yr. I believe we each skilled it within the U.Okay. the place we had been on stage and it was magical and it was electrical. I used to be like, ‘oh my God, there are such a lot of individuals within the viewers singing these phrases again to us which have been followers for 15, 20 years. And that’s magic. And I’ll miss that for certain. And there have been so many new followers who had been saying, ‘I can’t consider we’ve simply found you now as this chapter involves an in depth.’ That half breaks my coronary heart. So, did I would like this to finish? No. Do I believe it’s the correct factor to do? Sure.

“I do know the enjoyment we get from it, however I additionally know that we each must discover different issues. And Brenley is a real artist in so many alternative methods. I’m form of stepping again to a job at instances that I used to be in earlier than we met, by way of doing work with different artists. I simply performed a competition final weekend in each Heather Rankin’s band and Catherine McLellan’s band. And I really get pleasure from that. It stresses the hell out of me as a result of I wish to make it excellent, however I’m form of tapping again into that a part of who I’m within the position as a musician. Do I believe that Brenley and I’ve extra music in us, collectively? Sure. We’re not tapping into that for the time being, however I believe a while and house will possibly enable us to rekindle that dynamic.”

That the choice to step away from Madison Violet occurred within the band’s twenty fifth yr makes the moments of reflection much more poignant. Whatever the circumstances, it’s a landmark, a milestone, an achievement in a frighteningly fickle trade to final 1 / 4 of a century, each recognition and artistic relevance nonetheless at an all-time excessive.

“On issues I actually discovered within the early days was that should you actually need one thing to occur, you’ve simply received to start out. In the event you actually wish to do one thing and you set your coronary heart and your thoughts and all the pieces into it, then that’ll occur. We didn’t make it huge. We’re not within the high two per cent of the people who find themselves rolling in dough as musicians. And I believe that was most likely by design as a result of each time I received panicked about fame, that one thing would occur, I might marvel what that might appear to be. My physique language, my thoughts didn’t align with that. I needed the cash. I needed the success, however I by no means needed what comes with that. We made a dwelling from it. Have we banked tons of money? No, however we made a dwelling for 25 years doing it at a fairly vital degree, which is nice. So, I believe what I’ve discovered is that if you need it to be a sure means, all the pieces that your physique aligns with, that’s what’s going to occur. It’s not what you assume you need; it’s how your physique reacts to it,” stated MacEachern.

MacIsaac appears to be like again on the offstage antics, the journey, the time spent with MacEachern and bandmates alongside the highways and byways of North America, Europe and Australia.

“It was a good way to go and discover all these international locations. For me, it wasn’t solely about being onstage, it was the entire expertise. I nap rather a lot within the van and I’m exhausted on a regular basis, we’re all exhausted being on the highway. However it is usually that point whenever you’re laughing your ass off due to the silliest issues. And that occurred on a regular basis. Brenley and I performed collectively for 25 years and Jake Zapotoczny has been within the band for 11, so he’s household as nicely. I believe the dynamic between the three of us was particular. We’re three Libras and once we toured with a drummer, he was additionally a Libra. I beloved the time without work stage. I beloved the banter between us. I beloved going to seek out the perfect espresso or meals. We’re all foodies, all love espresso, all like to chuckle and discover. And people had been the massive issues for me. And the cherry on high was attending to be on stage on the finish of the day whether or not you’ve had an excellent day or a foul day, that was the perfect second,” she stated earlier than speaking concerning the physique of recorded work, which incorporates 11 albums and numerous fashionable singles (their final album, eleven, got here out in 2022). The music created by Madison Violet deeply touched the souls, spirits, hearts and minds of followers everywhere in the world. The authenticity of MacIsaac and MacEachern as artists, their inimitably compelling craft as songwriters, the connection between them on stage and the collective reference to audiences so eloquently described above, makes for an indelibly necessary legacy.

“Proud. I must say, in a nutshell, I’m pleased with that. We by no means left something unsaid. It was how we related with one another. It’s how we related with followers. It’s how we grieved, how we beloved. We spent 25 years placing our hearts on our sleeves, and funnily sufficient, once we did write exterior of that field and tried to jot down from a distinct perspective, that wasn’t from proper right here [points to her heart] these are the songs that by no means received performed on stage and although they had been written from an genuine place, the by no means related. We join with our followers, they usually connect with the songs that simply we simply ripped our hearts out writing.”

Madison Violet didn’t make an enormous deal out of the present tour being their final apart from the title web page of their web site saying merely, ‘Final Name and Remaining Tour’ underneath a black and white picture of the pair. They’ve finished little to no press, nor are there at the moment any huge plans for a profession retrospective launch of music, as so many bands do once they shut a chapter or hit a major profession milestone. After a brief break again house in Canada for numerous dates within the Maritimes and Ontario, they’re off once more to Europe, with their final ever marketed present being Dec 6 in Wetzikon, Switzerland. MacEachern and MacIsaac are nonetheless considering if, not to mention when, a closing farewell present could occur in Toronto.

“We’re purported to do a final Toronto present however we haven’t booked it and I believe one of many causes we haven’t is as a result of I’m fearful about that possibly we’ve already finished our final Toronto present and that we simply finish issues in Europe. Then we’re going out to The Carleton [in Halifax around Thanksgiving], and we’re doing 4 reveals in a row there as a result of all of them bought out so quick. I can’t consider how a lot traction that is getting. We now have finished zero press, zero, actually zero about this final yr. We spent zero cash on a publicist, advertising, something. And we now have seen 95 per cent of our reveals bought out. It’s been stunning and I believe that simply goes to point out that, wow, we now have these followers who’ve been following us for 25 years. They don’t at all times come out, however they’re popping out now. They usually have to be those spreading the phrase. However, yeah, we don’t know that the Toronto present goes to occur as a result of I really feel prefer it’ll be a heartbreaker,” stated MacEachern.

“We talked about both having buddies or all people who’s ever performed with us over the previous couple of years come out to that present. That was an thought we now have bounced round. I like that concept, however I additionally love simply the thought that we could have already finished the final Toronto present. We performed Hugh’s Room Reside earlier this yr. That was considered one of my favorite reveals we’ve ever finished. The viewers, the power within the viewers was electrical in a means that we’ve by no means felt earlier than. We at all times really feel one thing particular in Toronto, however this was completely different. I really feel that power in Toronto. I really feel that power in Halifax and there are a few cities in Germany that I really feel it as nicely. They’re so particular. They make doing what we do worthwhile,” added MacIsaac.

When did it hit them that the reveals they’ve for the rest of the yr, and the reveals they’ve already carried out in 2025 are possible the final they may ever do in these communities, in entrance of these followers?

“What’s fascinating is, for probably the most half, I haven’t been experiencing that. I’ve skilled being within the van the subsequent day going, ‘holy shit, I can’t consider the power in that room!’ For me, we did put the work in. We did construct a following in X.Y and Z metropolis, however I haven’t been in that mindset of this being the final time, besides the final present on the U.Okay. tour that we simply got here again from. That tour was superb, and it felt so good on stage. The final present, which was the Wickham Pageant, about an hour and a half from London. It’s humorous as a result of we normally like to select a canopy track on each tour, an previous tune after which make it our personal. One of many final ones we did a few years in the past was ‘You Make Me Really feel Like Dancing,’ by Leo Sayer. We went on at Wickham after which he went on. He was the headliner. I stood facet stage watching him and it was so unusual and I simply welled up with tears and was like, ‘what are we doing?’ It was a pleasant second,” stated MacIsaac, with MacEachern additionally admitting that this dialog is simply now bringing the sense of finality house for her as nicely.

“I’m sort of with you, Lisa. Typically we’ll end the present, just like the one we did in London and I might assume, ‘oh, these individuals are into this. They’re on this room figuring out it’s our final time,’ however we’re not likely taking part in that means. It’s virtually like we’re not permitting ‘the top’ to enter into the present. We completely stated this was our final name, and the final name is normally purported to be enjoyable, it’s the final drink of the night time or no matter. And so, that is how we’re going into it. And, really, it’s humorous whenever you requested how we get by means of that night time after night time, it’s really the primary time it landed on my chest, virtually like this heaviness, that oh God, it’s the top. I’ve by no means skilled it that means.”

The following huge query is what now? What does life and artwork and music appear to be for Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac beginning in 2026?

“I’m working each side of the stage now. I’ve been taking part in, as I stated, with Catherine MacLellan and performing some stuff with Heather Rankin and Sarah MacDougall. However I’m additionally working at a desk for the primary time ever a number of days per week at Starfish Leisure [a management company representing the likes of Blue Rodeo, The Sadies, Skydiggers and more]. It’s 4 ladies within the workplace, together with myself, all badasses. I began earlier this yr once I’ve been off the highway. I’ve been studying copious quantities concerning the different facet of the trade and fortuitously I’m glad that I’ve as a result of Brenley and I, for years, we now have finished our personal reserving and advancing and present stuff, and we all know the highway, and we all know what artists like and don’t like and know the issues to look out for. So, there are very many transferable abilities,” she stated with a chuckle.

MacEachern spends an excessive amount of time at her rural property, hunkered down over her woodworking tools, in addition to different inventive endeavors, which nonetheless consists of making music.

“I’ve been inquisitive about woodworking for years and years and years, however I by no means had sufficient time to dedicate in direction of it. As a result of whenever you study a talent, you need to follow it, similar to taking part in a guitar or the rest. So earlier this yr I went to the Rosewood College of Woodworking in Perth, Ontario for 5 days and took a course on excellence with hand instruments. I’ve been slowly increase this workshop, however I nonetheless don’t actually know what’s driving it. All I do know is that I’m in a significant stream state once I’m working in there, and once I sit down to jot down songs, it comes actually quick. I’m discovering myself to be tremendous prolific proper now as nicely. It’s actually weird as a result of there’s no strain to jot down. And which may be why. So, it’s actually popping out of me and I’m certain it’s as a result of I’m on the finish of this actually robust time. There’s been a whole lot of grief. I misplaced each my mother and father and my canine in a six-month span,” MacEachern stated.

“In 2023, two years in the past, my mother died. 4 and a half months later, my dad died. After which two months after that, my canine died. I used to be going to take 2024 off to spend with them, however I didn’t get to spend that point with them. In order that was an actual jolt to the guts. And that’s undoubtedly once I stated, ‘okay, I received it, this has received to come back to an finish.’ And I believe the woodworking is sort of placing me right into a meditative state, and there’s the thought of taking one thing and stripping it down and that stuff. Like, I’ve been utilizing a hand airplane all morning. I purchased a desk off Market. I paid about $225 for it and it might have price me $1,500 to construct it from scratch, with time and supplies. So, I’m redoing the highest and, I simply like it.

“I additionally received again into portray. I used to color rather a lot and now I’ve time to color once more – principally summary work and panorama stuff. And I’m actually having fun with that. So, I suppose if I had been to say I used to be hooked up to something, my want could be to show all three of music, portray and woodworking one way or the other right into a model that I can survive on. In an ideal world I might be doing all three issues and I may make sufficient of a dwelling doing that. However I’m nonetheless not fairly certain the best way to make all of it work simply but.”

Each as Madison Violet and individually, MacEachern and MacIsaac had been beloved by many throughout the tight-knit Canadian music trade, particularly in Toronto the place they bonded and collaborated with lots of the cities’ finest and brightest feminine artists. How did they, and the legion of MV followers around the globe take the information of the ‘finish of an period?’

“From my perspective, I might say the buddies have been unhappy and supportive. The followers, once more, are supportive and there’s a number of public messages on the market of assist. However it’s the non-public ones which are actually intimate and inform us about how our music has affected their lives, has been part of their lives, has received them by means of difficult moments. These are the tales that have an effect on me. Clearly, we do that as a result of we like it, however it’s about connection and hoping that individuals will join and relate to the tales you’re placing on the market. What I’m seeing a whole lot of is individuals relaying their tales of connection – all the pieces from getting by means of grief, to taking part in our music as their wedding ceremony track. It’s full circle. That, for me, has been stunning, however very onerous to learn as a result of it’s bittersweet, it’s a little bit of a intestine punch, however it’s additionally an elevator. It elevates my coronary heart,” stated MacIsaac.

“I ponder if we might even have gotten half of those tales out of individuals had we not made this announcement. I used to be at a cottage and met this man, and we didn’t know one another. My companion is a buddy of his spouse and we’re sitting on the again deck and my companion and the man’s spouse go inside, so we begin speaking and he requested what I do. And I stated that I used to be getting out of a band after 25 years and blah, blah, blah, and he asks what’s the identify of the band. And I advised him it was Madison Violet. He begins welling up with tears and he goes, ‘oh my God. I used to hearken to your track ‘Crying’ on the radio on a regular basis and I beloved it.’ So, with out having this dialog, I might by no means have identified that. It was simply such a pleasant connection and it does make me really feel sorry it has to come back to an finish. However it’s occurring and I’m sort of finished apologizing. I’ve gone by means of that stage. No extra apologizing, it’s similar to, okay, let’s get on with this,” added MacEachern.

So, to riff on one other cliché, it’s undoubtedly goodbye, however maybe not ‘farewell’ for Madison Violet. What’s assured is that the probabilities to see this remarkably gifted, compelling, prolific and enchanting duo are restricted … so get out to see them whilst you nonetheless can.

For extra data, go to www.madisonviolet.com.

Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and creator primarily based in Napanee, Ontario, Canada, who has been writing about music and musicians for greater than 30 years. In addition to his journalistic endeavors, he works as a communications and advertising specialist and is an avid volunteer in his group. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.