Independent artist & musician Madison McFerrin has come into her own. McFerrin holds a fruitful & robust solo career w/3 self-produced EPs and numerous performances & curatorships across the country & internationally. McFerrin’s distinct vocal and meticulously layered stylings of a ‘Capella & self-harmonizing culminate in work that blends the genres of R&B, pop, soul & jazz, all with a sense of softness. Her genre-bending work has led to Questlove dubbing her early sound “soul-appella!! The throughline of McFerrin’s work is independence and she is often looking towards a kind of inner liberation. Whether she is writing about understanding one’s intuition & inner beauty or the cyclical violence of anti-Blackness & sexism, McFerrin explores how to get free and how to care for oneself along the way. Her works live at the intersection of artistry & community building. She often looks back and honors a Black music canon while creating her own unique style, utilizing her voice as a central instrument and drawing upon lifelong inspirations like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu, Pharell, Missy Elliot, & the Spice Girls. She is in community with other artists, cultural workers, & activists, and has been able to prioritize the work of women and POC in her curatorial tenures at venues like C’mon Everybody, the WNYC Greene Space, and the BRIC Jazz festival. The result of McFerrin’s work is an enduring commitment to finding ways to think better, express ourselves honestly, and nurture a sense of possibility. Born in San Francisco as the youngest sibling and only girl of 3, Madison grew up and lived across the U.S. throughout her adolescence and into early adulthood. As a young child, her earliest & fondest memories were singing & performing at impromptu home concerts and climbing trees, finding a sense of home & safety as she moved physical homes. Her lineage is also strongly rooted in music and performance. Her earliest influence in her home was her father, Bobby McFerrin a 10-time Grammy® winning world renowned vocalist and classical conductor. Madison McFerrin’s older brother, producer, Taylor McFerrin, was also a musical influence drawing her attention to the nuances of Timbaland’s production and exposing her to a wide range of sounds from Brazil to Brooklyn. All of these influences grow from her grandparents’ rich musical legacy, which includes her grandfather’s historic contract with the Metropolitan Opera and grandmother’s sought-after guidance as an award-winning vocal coach. From this, music and performance became a home of its own for her.
This event was held on 11/16 as part of Impactful Connections, our partnership with the District of Columbia Public Libraries and held on the Millennium Stage.
