Beyond Standard

IN THE SAME way that many boomers can remember the first time they saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, Los Angeles–based guitarist and singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham recalls exactly where she was when she discovered the band. Her experience was a bit different though. Cunningham grew up listening to and playing contemporary Christian music. By the time she learned about the Fab Four, their music had been absorbed into the very fabric of the culture, like traditional songs sung in a variety of voices across the genres.

“I didn’t ever really the Beatles until I was graduating high school and a friend gave me ,” Cunningham recalls. “My mind was seriously blown. I had been hearing these songs over the speakers of stores and restaurants for years. To finally be able to put a name to them… It