Madison Marlow and Taylor Dye met at age 15 through the assistance of a vocal coach who worked with both. The two began working with representatives of Big Machine Records and songwriter Aaron Scherz. They first performed under the name “Sweet Aliana”. After finishing high school, the two moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to begin their musical career. In 2014, Big Machine revived the Republic and Dot name for a new imprint. Maddie & Tae were confirmed as the first signing of the label in June 2014. Their debut single, “Girl in a Country Song” reached number 1 on the Country Airplay chart. The duo never intended to hit a nerve when they sad down on St. Patrick’s Day and wrote the song. The girls were merely their own reaction to the reductive tilt in today’s Bro Country.   They wrote the debut single with Scherz, who co-produced it with Dann Huff. The song hit hard at that Bro-Country trend of 2013 and 2014.  “Girl in a Country Song” debuted at #58 on the Country Airplay chart dated for the week ending July 19, 2014. After 23 weeks, it reached Number One for the chart dated December 20, 2014. It became the first debut single by a female duo to reach Number One since The Wreckers did it in 2006 with “Leave the Pieces” and only the second in history. Their second single “Fly” was released in January 2015. Maddie & Tae made their television debut when they performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Their debut album is due sometime this year. With any luck we hope to spend some time with them here at CRS but regardless we’re sure to be very busy people during this week long grand event. Here’s hoping all of you have much success during the annual Country Radio Seminar.