Rachel Williams: Lovers & Liars
She has the musical attitude of Miranda Lambert and the vocal prowess of Wynonna. All the reviews are consistently predicting that Rachel Williams is the next big act to come out of Nashville…
“Rachel Williams has all the qualities to be a very big star and I still stand by my original prediction that fame is just round the next corner for this exceptionally talented young singer-songwriter” –Maverick Magazine
“The most soulful female vocalist since Wynonna. Rachel Williams possesses all the qualities of a major star in the making.” –Clint Higham, EVP, Morris Management Group
“I’ve seen many talented people come through the hallowed gates of Nashville. Rachel Williams however is one of those rare diamonds that appears once in a long while.”- Stewart Harris, Songwriter
Rachel Williams’ music truly is music with no boundaries that just about everyone can identify with. At its core are all the elements of country but this girl’s practically created a genre of her own. Merge Nashville with Motown and then mix in a bit of edgy pop-rock and you begin to get an idea of her captivating sound. Her idol’s, Wynonna and Bonnie Raitt, influences are apparent. Continue listening and the sounds of Stevie Wonder soul will make you wanna dance as Seger style riffs will satisfy your need to rock. Put all that together with the relatable lyrics that hit close to home and show off Rachel’s range of vocal ability and you’ll put these tracks on repeat and rock out all night long.
Simply put, if you want to get to know this artist from Belleville, Mich., just turn on her tunes and you’ll feel like you’re reading Rachel’s journal. Jumping into songwriting has forced her to really dive deeper into her life and experience the roller coaster of emotions that come with it. Songwriting has been and will always continue to be an evolving process and her newfound confidence and fearlessness is more than apparent on Rachel Williams’ latest release.
Lovers and Liars, the third album from Rachel Williams, is the most personally nurtured piece from the artist yet. “Every song is a page from my life,” Williams shared. In fact, she draws so much from her own life that Rachel’s friends and boyfriend tend to hold their breath with the creation of each song. “A lot of times my songs are my release, they’re my way of being confrontational, without having to pick a fight.”
It’s been nearly two years since the release of her last album so the songs on the highly-anticipated Lovers and Liars have been with Rachel for a while. By having the time to spend on this album and play with each of the tracks, she was able to carefully cultivate the sound she was looking for. The music has by no means lost her unique edgy style- it’s still rockin. It just comes from a much more confident and mature place for the artist, “this album has much more of a groove without anything to prove” feel to it. Having more time with the songs both in the studio and performing them live has opened Rachel to even more creative ideas. Although all the songs didn’t start out with the traditional country influences, she found the perfect places where the fiddle, mandolin and banjo fit right in.
From the country rock leanings of “Unbroken Ground” that delves into taking a chance and diving deeper into a new relationship…to “In Between” the piano-infused, sparse ballad that spotlights Rachel’s soulful vocals….to the irresistible and driving mid-tempoed anthem “You Let Me,” Lovers and Liars covers a lot of musical territory.
The intimate ballad “What If We Do” with its seductive groove explores the excitement of new love. And Rachel belts out “Woman to Love,” a powerful statement about R-E-S-P-E-C-T with its delectable bass riffs and guitar licks that both male and female audiences will rock out to. The title track “Lovers and Liars,” Rachel co-wrote with Karleen Watt and Kim Copeland. Audiences relate both to the frustration expressed in the lyric of not always being able to tell the difference between the two and to the very catchy chorus.
Rachel refers to “Where My Line Is” as her “theme song these days” making it her own declaration of independence by redefining her personal boundaries. Angela Kaset, SESAC Country Songwriter of the Year, co-wrote the banjo tinged, Janis Joplin inspired track.
As she was with Lonely at the Bottom, Rachel has been involved every step of the way with her newest release. She wrote or co-wrote every one of the seven tracks and was in the studio throughout the entire process, co-producing Lovers and Liars with veteran Nashville producer Kim Copeland. Rachel had a hand in everything that went into this album and takes full ownership of the final product. Holding her ground and sticking true to herself, Rachel has produced yet another album she truly believes in.
GOING DIGITAL
While Williams’ fans who attended this year’s CMA Fest had a chance to get their hands on the few physical CDs that were printed, most of her fans will have to purchase the album to play on their mp3 players. “Its common knowledge that the industry is going digital and country music has to catch up,” Rachel said noting the trend. The bold brunette, who has always been resolute about keeping control of her career, is taking another fearless step forward and releasing the seven-song CD, primarily digital. Why just seven tracks? Williams’ objective is to not make her fans wait so long for new songs and release more music more often. The goal- several songs every SIX months, instead of just one album every two years!
Rachel is very aware of the importance of keeping all of her social networks up to date and doing it herself. “People need to know that you’re human and what really resonates with them is that glimpse into your life that social networks are able to give them.” So when you see updates on Rachel’s Facebook, Twitter and MySpace pages, you know that she is speaking directly to her fans and followers. “Artists have absolutely no excuse not to be 100% in touch with their fans now.”
She also knows the way of doing business in music industry is rapidly evolving to catch up with the advances of the digital world. Rachel has come a long way in Nashville since being known as the “Cracker Barrel girl” as a finalist on the second season of Nashville Star. She now has a much clearer picture of how to get to her goal of being a successful, enduring artist, “My vision of the dream has changed.”
Lovers and Liars, the title of her latest release, could be referring to her awareness of the traditional way of doing business on Music Row. Already in her short stint in Nashville, Rachel has keenly watched the life of a typical label deal. “Some fly, some flop,” she noted, simply due to an executive’s decision without the artist’s input. She stands by her decision to keep her career in her
own hands right now. “Why would I sign my life away and get the same results I’m already getting with myself and my team?” This way, Rachel still holds the reigns and plays to nobody’s rules but her own until the perfect partnership package presents itself. “I want to pack stadiums, be played on the radio, live the life, but also find a happy medium between ‘respected artist’ and ‘celebrity.’ I never want to be deemed a sell-out.”
ALWAYS KNEW WHAT SHE WANTED
Williams’ solid musical foundation was laid early on in life. A native of Belleville, Mich., she grew up within shouting distance of the birthplace of the Motown sound. From the tender age of two, when her grandfather took her to her first Judds concert, Williams cultivated a devotion to Wynonna. Watching countless Wynonna television appearances and reading every interview she could get her hands on, the aspiring singer admired the personal strength and career longevity that she herself would later strive for as an artist.
“At five years old I told everybody I was going to be the next Wynonna,” she recalls amusedly. “My mom would always ask if she could sing with me, and I would say, ‘No, I don’t need a Naomi.’”
Williams had two significant things going for her from the start—a strikingly full-bodied voice and the conviction that she was born to be a performer. Her passion and raw talent only became clearer as she progressed from herding family members into the living room to witness her hairbrush/microphone mini-concerts to sweeping talent contests and choir competitions.
The budding siren conquered the club and fair circuits of Michigan and surrounding states in her teens, handling the bulk of booking responsibilities herself, but she finally gained national exposure on the USA Network’s Nashville Star 2. Working as a waitress at the time the show aired, she soon became known to two million viewers as “that Cracker Barrel girl.”
“We would have tons of people call Cracker Barrel and come in to see me, and I’d be covered in coffee from waitressing,” she laughs. “I can’t even tell you how many menus I autographed.”
Following Nashville Star, media attention and a string of noteworthy opening slots (including Williams’ crowing achievement—a long-coveted show date with Wynonna) she decided it was time to up the ante and leave the restaurant job behind. With the subsequent recording of her full-length debut—2004’s First Day of the Truth—the singer solidified her heady mélange of country, R&B and rock.
After relocating to Nashville in late 2004, Williams began burning up the road with her band every chance she could, touring with Jason Aldean, Sammy Kershaw and other acts, as well as playing numerous showcases around town.
She’s also amassed a solid list of co-writers including Karen Staley (Faith Hill hits "Take Me As I Am" and “Lets Go To Vegas”), Rachel Proctor (“Where Would You Be”, Martina McBride) and Mark Irwin whose songs have been cut by Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks. Rachel has also been writing with Mark Narmore who had a hit with Craig Morgan’s "That's What I Love About Sunday" and Bonnie Baker who wrote "My Sister" by Reba.
The set list and the venues may change from night to night, but one thing remains constant—she’s dedicated to delivering a great stage show, the kind that wins over even the audience members who don’t typically listen to country music.
(Click here for
EPK page and printable .pdf.)
For more information:
Susan Tucker
Copeland Tucker Management
1010 16th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
615-429-5032
ctmgmt@aol.com
Website: rachelwilliamsonline.com
Myspace: myspace.com/rachelwilliamsmusic
Record label:
HER Records
Nashville, TN
Booking:
Bobby Roberts Company
bobby@bobbyroberts.com
