Watsonville Singer Releases Debut Album

When she's not working full time or , Stephanie Madrigal, 41, writes songs. 

On Aug. 1, she released her EP album Simply Complicated, four promising folk-pop tracks with a country twang. Recorded at the Bear Creek Recording Studio in Santa Cruz and engineered by Justin Mayer, the album features soulful lyrics are accompanied by the piano and vocal harmonies of Ariel Thiermann, and the guitar and cello music of guest artists.

"It just it started as a very therapeutic mode of expression for me and i think for a long time i didnt even realize that it was my therapy," said Madrigal of her music.

Many of her lyrics come straight out of the pages of her journal, like the words of "Relieved" which talks about making a difficult decision out of love. Another song, "Forgotten Lines" is a powerful ballad that tells the tale of two people who have committed to love, yet lost it somewhere through the years.

"I wanted to capture the powerful struggle from one person's perspective, and his or her desperate plea to fight for the relationship that was slowly slipping away," said Madrigal. 

All of her songs are self-reflecting journeys that bare her soul, and "Links" is the most country of them all, thanks to the southern licks of a slide guitar. The tittle track "Simply Complicated" is the most upbeat, a poppy break away from the heavier sound.

"I just wanted to play a little bit and try out a new kind of writing. The ironic thing abut that song is that we thought oh this will be so simple, play guitar, vocals and we're done but in reality it took us a long time to finalize," said Madrigal of the title track. 

Madrigal has been singing since the age 10, and grew up listening to her parent's Motown and R & B record collection, but she sing publicly herself until she found herself singing a gospel hymm, acapella, at her father's funeral in 2000. It was the very first taste of sharing her voice with other human beings, and all those years spent singing in the shower, in her bedroom and her car seem to have paid off. 

"They were all unique songs from my soul and I think when you're writing and singing from that place it's really rewarding," said Madrigal.

Although she had originally planned a full-length album, Madrigal is super proud of bringing the four-track EP to fruition, especially with the fulltime work schedule she has as a speech therapist, and thanks Thiermann, who also works fulltime, for her undivided support.

"I think Ariel has really just helped support me in that way and help me find my voice. I'm just feeling grateful that i've been able to use our time together to make it come to life," said Madrigal. 

The artist is still writing songs and looking forward to forming a band to perform her songs and cover songs on a regular basis, locally and all over the Bay Area. Performing open mics all over the Bay Area was a major step in her musical career.

"[Performing] is definitely a very different experience... I go speak around the country on autism and I think it was foolish to think it was going to be an easy transition to singing out in public, but it's been something I've had to work on... It's so emotional for me with my songs, sometimes its hard to even get up there and sing them," said Madrigal, who finds performing to be rewarding.

"I loved it, I love the feedback and I love that people can come up to me and say 'I totally relate to that song it, brought tears to my eyes,"' she says.

Simply Comlicated is available on iTunes, CD Baby, and Amazon. Check out Stephanie Madrigal's website for more information on her music, songs, and upcoming shows!