Madison Cunningham Charms and Entrances at Belly Up Tavern with Mike Viola

On Tuesday, January 27th, Madison Cunningham flooded Belly Up Tavern with enchanting piano ballads and soaring vocals. The event was seated, creating a quiet, intimate setting. Madison Cunningham released her fourth studio album, Ace, in October of 2025. Coming off of her 2023 Best Folk Album Grammy winning album, Revealer, Cunningham notes that Ace stemmed from a moment of writers block, and the concept of waiting for your feelings to manifest themselves into words. It tries asking impossible questions and facing the fear of true healing. Her stage was decorated with greenery, grassy features and a moss covered microphone stand. The garden setting created a warm and inviting environment in the tavern, as the audience settled in and fell into the flow of Mike Viola’s opening act.

The intimate, seated event began with one and only Mike Viola, best known for his work as producer with Panic! At the Disco. His solo act leans more singer-songwriter than pop, as he sings about his wife and his daughters with just his acoustic guitar. He charmed the room with his sweet and loving lyrics in his song, Strawberry Blonde, in which he sings, “it’s all so simple, it’s almost stupid, I must have been dumb, my guitar unstrung, that terrible hum was the wings of cupid.” Viola’s solo act was the perfect warm up for the enchanting show Cunningham had in store.

She sits on the grass covered piano to begin the set with the opening track of Ace, Shatter Into Form I, which the crowd receives in silent awe. The piano is hypnotizing and settles the audience into the lush dreamy landscape of the album, right as she begins to sing. Her songwriting is vivid and full of colorful storytelling, for example when she sings in Invisible Chalk,

“Incurable sun,

Impossible morning,

Boardwalk seagulls,

Diving to their death,’

Invisible chalk,

Preserving your memory

What would it take

To get you to see me?”

On stage with her is Jesse Chandler, playing flute, saxophone, and clarinet. Together they create something full and enchanting, highlighting the unique acoustic experience of Cunningham’s music. With her gorgeous vocals, soft folk guitar riffs and dense, luscious lyricism, those in the front row watch her through the grass and fall completely into the world of Ace.