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Rachael
Warwick Well, as I have already said, Rachael's album was an excellent debut of great new material, and her voice came across so gutsy and quite unique. And live?, even more outstanding! The range and power of her vocals was superb, and the way she moves about the stage just exudes confidence. Backed by a fairly tight set of musicians including drummer Liam Bennett, Rachael set about gaining a few more fans from the small crowd gathered at the Borderline. Sadly being first act up out of three meant that she was only allowed a short set, she therefore decided to keep the talk to the barest minimum so that she could perform as many songs as possible. First up was the very catchy and exceedingly happy tune Sunshine, which had Rachael dancing about the stage, plus gained everyone's attention from the off. The rootsy Cowboy quickly followed, and the quality of these first two tunes proved her worth not only as an excellent singer, but also as a mighty fine songwriter as well. It makes a change to see a new British Country artist singing their own material, instead of churning out cover after cover after cover. But it is even more refreshing when the quality of that material is so high, as was proved with the excellent Lovin', which had Rachael showing her full vocal range as she powered her way through this up-tempo tune backed by some fantastic slide guitar playing. Thank You had Rachael totally enjoying being up on stage, as she was not afraid to belt out her vocals in a kind of statement saying " I am here to stay, this is where I belong!" The last of Rachael's self penned songs was another catchy tune aptly titled Goodbye, as it came at the end of the set. Two covers were performed on the night, but definitely not the usual ones. Rachael proved very brave in tackling Dolly's Jolene, and did an amazing version of it too! Whilst not trying to change the style of the song she still managed to stamp her own mark on it. I'm sure Dolly would approve very much of this rendition. The second cover was Knockin' on Heaven's Door, which again was a phenomenal version of a true classic masterpiece. This had Rachael giving absolutely everything vocally, going from emotive to powerhouse to tender. Truly magnificent! The only song I haven't mentioned was another from her debut album (although not written by Rachael), and although a very good tune, Rodeo Man tended to come across a little too pop compared to the rest of the show's songs. The debut album is entitled ANGLO AMERICANA, and that title sums up her music, as she is definitely not old style country , but definitely more country rock. I hope this young lady gets the success she deserves, as it is so good to finally have a British artist that is good enough to compete with the American singers. David Knowles |
