MEET THE GUYS

Sometimes musicians get lucky and achieve overnight success, and other times it takes years of hard work and dedication to reach that level. Although rising country duo Madison Station hasn’t achieved that prolific status just yet, that doesn’t mean they haven’t already more than paid their musical dues. For guitarist/background vocalist Craig Anderson, who hails from Madison, Alabama, those dues were paid recording and touring with hit country band Heartland, which he co-founded in advance of their meteoric rise with the #1 smash “I Loved Her First.” For lead vocalist Lance Horton, years of performing, touring and hard work have forged a seasoned voice, along with a work ethic that can’t be matched.

“My dad sang in a Southern Gospel Quartet for over 30 years,” recalls Collinwood, Tennessee native Horton. “I spent many weekends traveling around with them.” Spending much of his younger life as an accomplished athlete, it wasn’t until one of his friends invited him to sing on the Legend’s Corner stage in Nashville that he realized that music was his calling. “I was completely hooked right away. The exhilaration of feeling a connection with your audience is simply indescribable.”

Anderson remembers a similar musical family past. One of his grandfathers performed regularly on the historic WSM-AM back in the day and his other grandfather was a music minister at church who really got him into playing. “He played guitar and later built and played fiddles. I’ve got a fiddle of his and a classical guitar he got in the Navy while stationed in Hawaii in 1946. My brother Todd and I loved playing music when we were younger, but it wasn’t until my late teens when I got really serious about it.”

Produced by veteran Nashville hitmaker Jimmy Ritchie, Madison Station’s new song “Back In The Day” takes fans on a nostalgic journey to the times when life seemed easier, when days were spent drinking “Sun Drop in a bottle, sitting on the tailgate outside of McDonald’s.” The video invokes that same wistful sentimentality, and is certain to become a fan favorite. And Jimmy and the boys are cooking up lots more where that came from.

To listen to Madison Station is to listen to a culmination of music that has been a lifetime in the making. With their distinct country sound, the endless dedication to their craft of songwriting, their undeniable chemistry onstage, and the history of their experience in the music business, this rising duo is well on its way to making their very own mark on the country music landscape.

LANCE HORTON