Maddie Ashman
Maddie Ashman is a singer songwriter and composer, who sets out to bring fresh sounds to modern music by placing cello at the forefront of pop. Since releasing her EP ‘Apparently’ in May, she has been named 6Music’s BBC introducing Track of the Week with the leading track ‘6AM’, and was runner up in BBC 1’s live lounge competition this year. She has received acclaim from many impressive artists, with Tom Grennan commenting “I’ve never seen a cello be used the way she used it”. In 2022, Maddie performed at Latitude, and was the opening act in tour shows for Alfie Templeman, Tom Rosenthal, Tom Robinson and more.
Maddie also pioneers the microtonal guitar in her music. Much of her practice involves exploring ‘just intonation’, that is pure tuning, drawing parallels between it and how we treat nature and our environment. In 2022, Maddie came 3rd in the international microtonal guitar competition, had string quartet music performed at the Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival, and put on an audiovisual installation at Aldeburgh Festival, commissioned by Britten Pears Arts, which was later shown at COP-27 and Dartington’s Thrive Festival 2023. The EP of microtonal guitar and multi-track voice featured in the installation can be found on her Bandcamp, and has been praised by artists from Floating Points to Meredith Monk to Nico Muhly.
Maddie’s last two singles were international collaborations, working with Oscar Anton and Tolgahan Cogulu. She has had airplay on NTS, Reprezent and BBC radios. Aside from live shows, Maddie has also given lecture-performances at universities showcasing her unique approach to cello and guitar in music.