Today's tunes come from the Canadian roots duo Madison Violet (Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac, often accompanied by Adrian Lawryshyn on bass). I love these two women for their song-writing skills, bluegrass influences, and exquisite harmonies.

Above: "The Small of My Heart," performed on the Music Fog bus in Memphis, Tennessee. The song comes from Madison Violet's fourth album, No Fool For Trying.

Below, "The Ransom" (from the same album), a poignant song about life on the road as a musician...and the financial ups-and-downs so familiar to many of us in arts professions. This was also a Music Fog performance, this time at the Mansion on O, in Washington, DC.

And last:

"Lauralee," performed at a Folk Alley gig in Kent, Ohio.