At just 17 years old, the teen country sensation has released her second EP, Cowboys, a collection of three significant songs that cements her insightful music on the country music landscape. This follows her first EP, Teenage Heartbreak which was released at age 16.
I wanted to know how one so young got into singing and songwriting at such an early age. She said, “My parents bought me this old Casio keyboard at a garage sale when I was three or four, not the nicest thing, just something to get me into a hobby.”
Rose officially began piano lessons at age 12, which started the whole process.
“I explored all the different aspects of music, from writing and singing to recording, which has always been my favorite. I would write stuff on piano or guitar so I could sing to it,” she recalled.
Though she hails from upstate New York, her parents regularly listened to country music, and she always loved to sing it. She recalled watching CMT as a toddler and was mesmerized by the likes of Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert.
At age 14, Rose began writing songs in earnest during the pandemic. However, she quickly realized that she couldn’t replicate the recording process for country music anywhere but Nashville.
She stated, “There is no comparison between Nashville and New York recording. Music videos, you can kind of get around. But the recording aspect – it’s like everyone knows everything about everything [in Nashville]. In New York City, you have some studios here and there, but there just is not the knowledge and the love for country music.”
Since she still lives in New York and has mainly written songs alone, she initially didn’t participate much in Nashville’s songwriters’ rooms. But Rose soon learned that getting feedback from others to help tweak her music was beneficial.
She said, “I love to sing. But I know that writing is not my forte, so I don’t get offended if somebody’s like, ‘Hey, let’s add this, this, and this.’”
The title track, “Cowboys,” was pitched to me earlier this year. It is an honest song that admits, “I’ve got a thing for cowboys.” The clever lyrics drew me in; I would have never guessed it was a young lady from New York who wrote the song.
But her song “Won’t Be Me” from her Teenage Heartbreak EP really put her on the map. The relatability of the teenage heartbreak tune captures the ache of young love and puts her in a league alongside a teenaged Taylor Swift.
Her evolution as a songwriter is evident, and Rose continues to resonate with her generation through her lived experiences as a teenager in small-town America.
The first song of Rose’s I came across last year was “Sober.” The lyrics belie her young years, but I hesitated to feature such a song from a 16-year-old. She explained, “I didn’t even think about that when I was writing it [at age 15]. When you listen to it, you realize that it’s not really about alcohol. It’s a metaphor.”
With her latest EP, Cowboys, Rose’s innate sense of storytelling is even more apparent than ever. The three songs included are the title track, “Cowboys,” the pre-released “Save it” (as in save your excuses for someone else), and the newly released “Guess,” a song that implores the guy to go the extra mile to figure her out.
While I have interviewed hundreds of talented singers/songwriters, I don’t recall coming across one so young who could illustrate her emotions so succinctly through words. Add her alluring, gritty vocals to the emotive tunes, and you have a rising country music superstar in the making.
Because of her age, Rose mostly tours in upstate New York. She is currently in the middle of her Finger Lakes Tour, where she performs at least three times a week.
Madelyn Rose is poised to become an important voice in her generation’s newfound relationship with country music while honing her craft and identity in songwriting. She and other young artists like her will continue to keep country music at the forefront and, most importantly, relevant to all who follow them. Fans will want to hear/play her songs because they can relate to them.
Stream Cowboys today!
You can follow Madelyn Rose on her website, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, and all streaming platforms.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
