You can’t say you didn’t see it coming, and you can’t really say you blame them. It’s hard in country music for women, for duos, for mothers, for performers who want to keep their integrity in tact.
The post On The Split of Country Duo Maddie & Tae first appeared on Saving Country Music.
I thought Through the Madness from 22 was a great album, but was disappointed in the Josh Kerr produced Love & Light record. Hopefully, Maddie, who’s the real vocal talent in the duo, will find a better producer than Tae’s husband for her next project.
Also, credit to both of them for singing properly in an era where so many female singers are either overly breathy or, in the worst cases, sing with really strange accented enunciation that is almost child-like.
BTW, quick persusing of Wikipedia and Google shows that Tae’s husband Josh Kerr is the brother of Hannah Kerr, a Christian music singer on the Black River label, and Josh and Hannah Kerr are the grandchildren of the head of Black River Entertainment, Terry Pegula, a petroleum engineer who owns the Buffalo Sabres and is also part owner and president of the Buffalo Bills and is descibed as being worth $7 billion.
Never listened to them on regular rotation, but they’ve always seemed to be a bright spot in the mainstream. If Tae is taking a step back, I do hope Maddie keeps going as a solo artist. We need more strong female artists out there.
Man, I hate to see this (although I totally understand and support the decision). My daughter absolutely loved their music and Die of a Broken Heart is one of our very favorite songs. They were such a positive influence (although vastly underappreciated) on other up and coming female acts. Will miss new music from them.
Sad to hear. The type of pop-country (think late 90s/early 2000s) that was still rooted in country. Released the best album of their career this year. Wish them the best!!
It’s hard for Country music for women,A THOUSAND TIMES HARDER for us blacks,TEN THOUSAND TIMES harder for us handsome black cowboys,but I wondered what happened to Maddie and Tae,because “Girl In A Country Song” perfectly illustrates women’s struggles to be heard in the genre.(I should have written and sung,”Handsome Black Canadian/American Cowboy Never Sung About.”) Hopefully,those talented ladies can reconcile and resume their career.
My wife and I enjoy their music, and we loved seeing their lives reflected in songs like “Chasing Babies & Raising Dreams.” As a father of a 3 year old and a 1 year old, though, I can imagine the intense strain of juggling touring and motherhood. I hope it’s a much-needed hiatus for a few years until coming back together, since they have always been genuine and heartfelt and solid role models, much needed in our day.
It’s a bummer, but like others have said totally understandable. Can’t help but think their legacy would have been a bit different if not for that unplanned 5 year gap between albums 1&2.
I would imagine touring is hard on family life and children grow so quickly. I can understand why Tae is focusing on her children, they are very young. Family must come first. Good luck to both of them.
Never my particular flavor but I had to hear “shut up and fish” lots when my girls were younger and I know those two sound amazing together – very few not sisters harmonize that well. King Margo doing it right and right now, save that you gotta go back a good while.
Imagine being thirteen – just becoming a teenager – and excited about their first album, and being told that the next one will be out when you’re an adult.
I’d also argue releasing “Fly” as the direct follow-up to “Girl In A Country Song” was a costly mistake with how lethargic and anonymous it sounded. It just simply didn’t play to their strengths and halted all of their momentum for a while there needlessly burning through all of those months to barely scraping the Top Ten by the end of its run.
The quality of their output really declined after their debut album, in my opinion. Their personality and some degree of wit was what drew me to them in the first place…………..but then it’s as though their label squelched them of any personality or identity thereafter with “The Way It Feels” and “Love & Light” suffering from sounding dull and lifeless and lacking any clear artistic angle aside from their only other major hit “Die Of A Broken Heart”.
Tragically I blame label interference primarily for their precipitous decline: pointing to their six years between debut and sophomore studio albums as additional evidence of this. I also always thought it was a huge mistake following up “Girl In A Country Song” directly with the instantly forgettable adult contemporary ballad “Fly”. It absolutely should have been “Downside Of Growing Up” if they wanted to take a more mature track or “Shut Up And Fish” if they wanted to double down on the playful side. The glacial months-long radio push for “Fly” just instantaneously sucked all of the momentum out of their career at the time until rebounding with “Die With A Broken Heart” five years later.
End of an era. I liked the first album but their next few were kind of dull. There were some good songs but it seemed like they didn’t have another “Girl in a Country Song” in them. With that said I have a soft spot (guilty pleasure) for Sad Girl Summer that released this year. I could have seen that as a first album song.
Good for tae. Kids dont stay little very long. Enjoy them while you can. I liked them though like some have said, the lack of music for a long time hurt them. I wish them both well.
I wonder if the “Bro-Country” era was the “Girl In A Country Song” backlash. Anyway,hopefully Maddie and Tae resume their career as their children mature to the age they don’t require as much supervision.