Madeline Edwards is having a pretty good summer. The rising star will spend next month performing for the final leg of the Outlaw Music Festival. The 10th Anniversary edition of the touring event is headlined by legends Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
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For fans of this genre-bending artist and music in general, this is a major accomplishment. Yet, a recent post on Edwards' TikTok suggests industry professionals are unimpressed.
Madeline Edwards Has Quite the Stunning Resume
If you aren't familiar with Edwards' work, here's a quick rundown:
The Houston-raised singer-songwriter gained attention for performing "Love My Hair" with Mickey Guyton and Brittney Spencer at the 2021 CMA Awards.
Her 2022 debut album, 'Crashlanded' seamlessly blended elements of gospel, soul, jazz, and country. It helped her garner appearances at some major festivals and a debut at the Grand Ole Opry. She was even named a Spotify "Artist to Watch."
Tragedy struck in 2023 when Edwards lost her brother to suicide. The loss inspired many of the songs on her sophomore album, the independently released 'Fruit.' It came out last month.
"I'm constantly inspired by him, it's crazy," Edwards told People. "He was just wildly creative with no limits. There's not enough people like that in this world."
Edwards Encourages Other Artists To "Stay Indie"
Several days ago, Edwards shared on TikTok that she had been experiencing a "phenomenon" with music industry professionals.
When Edwards mentions the legendary names she's going to be touring with, they seem unfazed. We'll let her take it from here.
"And these industry professionals give me the same reaction to those names as if I had just told them, 'By the way, I'm throwing a little party at the local pub in downtown Nashville.'
"I don't know when it became not impressive, or not cool, to open for some of the greatest songwriters of our time, but this is the kind of industry that we work for now. Where you can compare those kinds of names, and that big of a tour, with a question like, 'But what are your TikTok numbers like?' My advice to every single artist out there is, please stay indie.
"I promise you will make a lot more money, and you will get a lot more say over your career, and you get to really cool s—t like for really big people. And apparently, that's not impressive anymore, so please stay indie. These people don't know what they're talking about, and if opening for Bob Dylan isn't cool enough for you, then you can go f—k yourself."
Sounds like strong advice to us.
