Madison Cunningham Brings "Ace" to Mass MoCA

Friday, September 25, 8pm | North Adams, MA

Grammy-winner Madison Cunningham plays the Hunter Center at Mass MoCA on September 25, touring behind Ace, her third studio album for Verve Forecast, with support from Julia Cumming.

Cunningham was born in Escondido, California, the daughter of a pastor, and picked up a guitar at seven, performing alongside her five siblings in church by age twelve. Rolling Stone has described her sound as a new spin on West Coast folk-rock—classical tendencies, electric guitars, jazz-school chord changes, and alt-rock strut living under the same roof. Her 2019 album Who Are You Now earned a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album, and her 2022 follow-up Revealer won Best Folk Album at the 2023 ceremony.

Ace grew out of a period of writer's block and, more directly, the end of her marriage in 2024. Cunningham says her prior records dealt with heartbreak as observation rather than lived experience and that she wanted Ace to be emotion first: heartbreaking, lush, and bold, with piano pushed to the foreground in a way she's described as creating "a mountain we built together." Co-produced with Robbie Lackritz (Feist, Rilo Kiley, Bahamas, Peach Pit), the fourteen-track record tracks the full arc—falling out of love, heartbreak, and falling in love again. Lead single "My Full Name" drew praise from Paste for lyrics it called "simultaneously sprawling and intimate," compared to "an ancient work of poetry."

Julia Cumming, the New York-born bassist of Sunflower Bean, opens with material from her solo debut, Julia.

Hunter Center, Mass MoCA, 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA. Tickets at tickets.massmoca.org.