At 20 years old, local singer-songwriter Maddie Indre has seen her star rise this year after the release of her full-length debut, “Serenity,” in February. The artist performs as Indre and caught the attention of more than 1,000 attendees at 330 Day, an acoustic music showcase spotlighting 33 Northeast Ohio musicians, this past March.
“I got the call the day before ‘cause somebody couldn’t make it, and they needed a fill in,” Indre said. “That performance was crazy because it was the largest group of people I’d ever performed in front of, for sure.”
Indre, tucked in a corner of the stage under a spotlight with just her guitar in tow, gave a crowd-pleasing performance that was met with great applause and cheers.
“Flawless,” the original song she performed, is the third track on “Serenity.”
The songwriter said the tune is about initially viewing the flawlessness in a relationship, a job, a new situation or any other facet of one’s life until the luster fades and, as she sings, “we just call it done.”
“What music has done for me, it can take you to another place — it can just be so relatable, you just think it’s about you,” she said. “I want to make that and provide that for other people.”
'I got off the highway one time and went home because I thought of the melody for one of the songs on my album'
Leaving college to pursue music
Indre attended Kent State University, working toward an exploratory degree until finally settling on the university’s public relations program.
During college, the singer-songwriter hosted and performed at local open-mic nights in small coffee shops like Scribbles Coffee Co. and Last Exit Books Coffee House.
Prior to her performance on the 330 Day stage at Umstattd Performing Arts Hall, the artist said, “I’d only played coffee houses, and it’s always a much smaller audience.”
While a visually confident performer, the artist’s confidence in school gradually began to wane.
“I knew I wanted a career in music,” Indre said. “I didn’t know how ‘cause, at that time, it was something super overwhelming, and I didn’t have any idea how to go about it. I just wrote songs in the bedroom. I didn’t have a plan.”
She made the decision to leave school and focus her abilities on writing, arranging, performing and recording her original songs.
“I got off the highway one time and went home, because I thought of the melody for one of the songs on my album,” she said. “So I just decided I should leave school for now, and I just shouldn’t keep this up at the moment.”
Indre said while she knows school will always be there if she decides to return, right now, her passion lies in music and writing.
“I like to set goals and work towards them,” she said. “I know education’s important, but it’s just not where my heart’s at right now.”
Writing and recording "Serenity"
During her first year of college, Indre had several songs under her belt that she had written in high school and developed shortly thereafter.
Her goal was to work on an album and perform as much as possible so she could gauge the audience’s feedback on each song.
“This album was an effort to find what kind of sound I wanted to go for,” Indre said. “If you count when I started writing, [it took] maybe a year. And then to record the album, probably about a year.”
Indre recorded “Serenity” at Realgrey Records, a boutique recording studio in Canton.
The album contains 10 of Indre’s original songs, each showcasing her dynamic blend of ethereal, breathy singing with controlled, powerhouse vocals that highlight significant personal yet universal emotions in her songs.
She said her singing and songwriting are influenced by Linda Ronstadt, Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Alex Turner from The Arctic Monkeys.
Taking on larger stages
While coffee shops and small open mic nights were her “safe space” to hone her craft as an up-and-coming performer, Indre has graced larger stages for bigger audiences throughout Ohio.
Indre was recently featured as part of the Women’s Rock CLE 2019 lineup at the House of Blues July 20 and held her album release show at the Rialto Theatre in Kenmore in February.
Indre will perform at PorchRokr in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood Aug. 17.
