© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lily & Madeleine: 'A Real Force of Nature' in WUWM's Performance Studio

Lily & Madeleine in the Lake Effect performance studio.

A few months ago, we introduced you to the music of sisters Lily and Madeleine Jurkewicz, the indie duo called Lily & Madeleine. The Indiana-based musicians came by the Lake Effect performance studio ahead of a past show in Milwaukee.

Lily & Madeleine brought a lone guitar and mandolin, along with touring member Shannon Hayden. They offered stripped down arrangements of songs from each of their three records: "Rabbit" from Fumes, "Paradise" from their self-titled Lily & Madeleine and "Small Talk" from their latest record Keep It Together.

"When we're in the studio like this, when it's more stripped down, the vibe of the song is very different than the vibe on the record," Madeleine says of their music. "I'll go back and listen occasionally to see where my head should be when I'm playing that song."

Lily & Madeleine's sibling chemistry is clear in these sparse live arrangements, but Shannon's mandolin pulls the songs together. "Siblings are a real force of nature," Shannon says. "When you're talking to them, you know you're talking to two people who can read each other's minds. It was a little intimidating at first, but I don't think about it anymore."

"I feel like Shannon is one of our sisters now," Madeleine is quick to add.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBzxj0IIP90

WUWM's studio session was engineered by Jon Strelecki.

*Originally aired October 28, 2016