eTown takes a hike up the hill to Macky Auditorium on the Universiry of Colorado campus in Boulder as we revisit a special show featuring two brilliant award-winning musical artists: Rufus Wainwright and Madison Cunningham. Rufus has won two Juno awards and been nominated for several Grammy awards, while Madison won the Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2023. It is our great pleasure to have their voices on eTown this week.

Rufus Wainwright grew up in one of folk music’s most celebrated families, but his own musical interests led him toward pop, opera and theater. Rufus talks with eTown host Nick Forster about growing up with musical parents Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, his lifelong love of opera and his return to folk music with Folkocracy, a 2023 album of folk covers. And he hasn’t slowed down since this recording. Two major projects have since come to life: his West End musical Opening Night and his classical work Dream Requiem, which premiered in Paris with Meryl Streep as narrator.

Madison Cunningham developed her musical talents in her father’s Southern California church before establishing herself as an inventive guitarist and songwriter. She and Nick discuss her unconventional approach to guitar playing that helps shape her sound. Madison also shares a wonderful story about discovering Rufus’s music and how he became one of her musical heroes, eventually collaborating with him on “Alone” from Folkocracy.