Madeline Leman on the long journey to her latest album Ripen on the Vine

Victorian artist Madeline Leman’s latest country-folk album, Ripen on the Vine, was recorded in 2023, and while Leman has released some singles since then, the album needed a little more time to emerge – for a very important reason. As she tells me early in this interview, her young son was unwell for several months, so the album’s release was necessarily delayed.Upon release it went to number 4 in the ARIA Country chart and number 5 on the Australia Indie chart, and Leman has also played shows in support of it, no doubt swelling the numbers of fans for her intelligent, often whimsical music that combines beautifully crafted lyrics with rich musicality.Leman grew up in a musical family – her parents met while playing in a band together, and were folk artists. They dubbed her the ‘human radio’ because she would sing so often from such a young age. Piano was her first instrument, and Missy Higgins a big early influence, so Leman began writing songs on piano.She then taught herself guitar and, while at university, listened to a lot of country music. At that time in Melbourne the alt-country/Americana scene was at its height, but it was a folk artist with whom she made the most lasting connection. Sharing a house with folk artist Leah Senior, Leman played her a song she’d written; this led Senior to Leman to play in a folk duo with her. Leman also talks about recording certain songs on the album and the choices that were made musically and lyrically, and we talk about clothes – if you watch the interview rather than listening to it, you’ll see that her clothing choices are as astute as her musical ones!It was a great pleasure to meet Leman, who is a passionate, articulate artist and one whose music is enriching on so many levels. And listen to the end to hear her talk about the line-dancing class she teaches …Listen to/buy Ripen on the Vine on BandcampListen to Ripen on the Vine on Apple MusicListen to Ripen on the Vine on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.