Madison Cunningham is a singer, songwriter and guitarist1. Her connection to the pedal world runs through JHS Pedals: she has a signature pedal with the company, the Artificial Blonde stereo vibrato, and JHS founder Josh Scott has also put her pedalboard together23.
The Artificial Blonde signature pedal
The Artificial Blonde began as a working tool rather than a product. When Cunningham recorded her second full-length album, Who You Are Now, her producer Tyler Chester was already in contact with JHS about getting modulation pedals to develop her new foundational sound, and her go-to was the JHS Emperor Chorus/Vibrato43. Scott, who was tech'ing for her, noticed that she always had the Emperor on and was always switching the settings between a subtle and not-so-subtle sound3.
"her Emperor was always on and in vibrato mode, Madison kept reaching down to switch the settings to create another faster and deeper vibrato tone for a particular song."
That habit shaped the pedal. The Artificial Blonde evolved out of the Emperor's design, and Cunningham traveled doing live shows and sessions for her new album with the prototype for a full year, a black nondescript stompbox labeled "BLONDE?", before JHS released it officially as her signature pedal53.
On the JHS Show
Cunningham was featured by Josh Scott on the JHS Show episode "Who Is Madison Cunningham?"45.
News
Sources (5)
- JHS Pedals Artificial Blonde Madison Cunningham Signature Vibrato, Pedal of the Day, 2023-09-23
- MADISON CUNNINGHAM ARTIST SIGNATURE PEDAL, JHS Pedals
- JHS Pedals launches much-anticipated Madison Cunningham signature vibrato pedal, the Artificial Blonde, MusicRadar, 2022-10-21
- JHS Artificial Blonde Stereo Vibrato (Madison Signature), Delicious Audio, 2023-09-25
- ARTIFICIAL BLONDE, JHS Pedals
