‘This place is magical,” says Fern Maddie. She’s explaining that she just randomly met an audience member, who was about 50 and went to the same “weird hippy college” as her in her home state of Vermont. Maddie only recently took a break from living in the woods and tending goats there to play her first tour – only to bump into someone with mutual friends more than 3,000 miles away.
You suspect the occasion was ordained by the folk musician’s acclaimed 2022 album Ghost Story, which she self-released, but found widespread acclaim beyond Vermont. Touring in support of the record, Maddie plays a mix of old and new songs, and opens with a run of traditionals: Cumberland Gap and Don’t You Go a Rushing. Beginning on guitar, her playing is understated, but as she switches to banjo it becomes more expressive and detailed, striking a deft balance between technical proficiency and eloquent fluidity. Her voice has the ability to soar but is contained and never bombastic; it occasionally recalls the delivery of Joanna Newsom, but with less of a sharp edge. Most often, it sounds tender and powerful at once. Despite a profound love of traditional ballads, Maddie’s own compositions, such as Northlands and the stirring Dorothy May, are often the most arresting.
