Sara Rachele’s latest LP, Heartstrings (out via Ropeadope Records), was recorded both in London, England with her UK bandmates, Brooklyn, NY, and in her hometown Little 5 Points of Atlanta GA (USA.) Written and produced by Rachele (with a track or two produced by keyboardist Spencer Garn (Ruby Velle & the Soulphonics) the title track is an americana-powerpop-KateBush combo Rachele co-arranged with Skintights late bandmate, Waylon Elsberry. A more upbeat affair, the album features hard-hitting musicians and friends David LaBruyere (John Mayer) Binky Griptite (Dap-Kings) local atlanta favorite Kristofer Sampson, and each of the songs represent a story of a female troubadour on her quest for meaning.
Rachele grew up a studio rat and folk child. Working for free, cleaning out the cupboards at famed Decatur, GA acoustic hotspot Eddie’s Attic, she met countless musicians and writers, and fell into bands as a side player before she’d even written a song of her own. She released her debut LP, Diamond Street, in 2014, and followed with a swoony 7-inch cover of Cracker’s “Low.” The latter was dubbed ‘sublime’ by SPIN magazine, and began to chart on commercial radio. Rachele’s 2016 sophomore LP, Motel Fire—recorded with her repurposed punk band The Skintights—was imagined in Joshua Tree, Calif., with help from pedal steel player Chris Unck (Butch Walker, Lisa Loeb). Rachele then released April Fool in 2017. Dedicated to her late grandmother, the album is a collection of bluegrass and folk songs Rachele cut in East Nashville with guitarist Johnny Duke (Little Big Town, Mary Chapin Carpenter). BUST magazine wrote, “Rachele’s angelic voice channels Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton, and she has a gift for telling tales of hope and disappointment in classic troubadour fashion.”
In her young career, Rachele has also been featured at NPR, Billboard, The Village Voice, Paste, PopMatters, No Depression, The Boot, Popdust & more. She splits time between New York and her farm church in Tennessee, where she writes in a 1979 Airstream Bus, and runs independent label Angrygal Records, influenced by Liz Phair’s self-releases under the moniker, Girly-Sound and Janis Ian’s Rude Girl Records.
Heartstrings is Rachele’s globe trotting reflection, submerged in 60’s pop, folk, Americana and jazz. Velvet coos and wistful inflections hover above dreamy cadences, pervading the record with intimate details, while binding the troubadour’s timeless tales of impermanence and self-discovery. Rachele’s song “I Do” was written and recorded in her rural church in Tennessee. It is a meditative moment she wrote after a dream where musician Waylon Elsberry returned to life, it’s part love song, part dirge. “I just feel like she’s with me all day everyday, but it’s still not enough.” Rachele says. “There’s a lot of country and bluegrass history in this town,” “It’s hard not to feel her here.” (The photograph for Randy Travis’ Storms of Life album cover was taken in her church’s front yard in the now fallen-in Flynn’s Lick General Store.)
In a funky tribute Rachele does Nick Gilder’s “Hot Child in the City” (cut live in London) summoning a time where hits were king. “Makin’ Me Wait,” showcases her songwriting skills and of course Binky Griptite’s guitar virtuosity, and T-T-Tonight is something a little more fun for Rachele. She says, “Sometimes, I work on not being so serious all the time.”
Does anything sound familiar? Hershel Yatovitz, Chris Isaak’s signature guitarist, plays lead on“Go South” which is the first song written for the record. Engineered by drummer and dear friend Sigurdur Birkis (Will Hoge/Butch Walker) the song is the truest representation of her Americana roots. With an oddly oracular tone the song was written after she moved to Boston and was afraid she couldn’t hack it. She reminds herself “Get wise, or go south.” It becomes a mantra throughout the song and a backdrop to the album as a whole.
Heartstrings closes with “Wander” a poetic live studio recording with Rachele on vocals and her 1965 Silvertone single-pickup electric guitar. She muses and wonders “Do you ever wander too?” She questions an imagined lover, with no reply. This is where you can hear her Tennessee country shine through. A dreamy fantasy in a sleepy setting this song represents some of what Rachele does best, Americana crooning over a bed of gentle simple guitar chords.
“I’d started working on this album, and with Waylon dying I felt more than ever that the music is what is supposed to press on,” Rachele says. “It’s just me and Dolly Vicious at the moment,” Rachele says referencing her Belgian Malinois named after influences Sid Vicious and Dolly Parton. “Heartstrings begins with what I love the most: being in a room full of great musicians recording to an old machine — and it ends with something a little less tidy.” Heartstrings hardly ties up the bow.
Loss is only a part of the story. Heartstrings is about traveling to transform, accepting the road rocks and all. Rachele’s teacher Livingston Taylor says the best performers leave the songs there on the stage for the audience to pick up. This album collects those moments of emotion and forms of escape for us to review. “I’m constantly searching,” says Rachele, laughing. “I’m hoping for change, that there’s something down this windy path… Something that saves us all.”
01 Makin Me Wait
Sara Rachele - Vocals, Background Vocals
Jeff Hanley - Bass Guitar
Evan Howard - Drums
Binky Grptite - Guitar
Franciso Botero - Engineer
Chris Cubeta - Engineer
Kristofer Sampson - Mixing Engineer
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Studio G (BROOKLYN, NY USA)
02 T-T-Tonight
Sara Rachele - Vocals, Background Vocals
Kyle Gordon - Bass Guitar
Sean Zearfoss - Drums
Kristofer Sampson - Guitar
Peter James - Guitar
Spencer Garn - Organ
Kristofer Sampson - Engineer
Spencer Garn - Engineer, Mixing
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Sampson Sound (ATLANTA, GA USA)
03 Hot Child in the City
Sara Rachele - Vocals
Christopher Harding - Guitar, Background Vocals
George Price - Bass Guitar
Sean Zearfoss - Drums
Spencer Garn - Organ
Sean Zearfoss - Percussion
Clem Cherry - Engineer
Spencer Garn - Mixing Engineer
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Eastcote Studios / Kensaltown (LONDON ENGLAND UK)
04 Go South
Sara Rachele - Vocals
David LaBruyere - Bass Guitar
Sigurdur “Siggi” Birkis - Drums, Percussion, Music Director
Hershel Yatovitz - Guitar
Spencer Garn - Organ
Sigurdur “Siggi” Birkis - Engineer
Spencer Garn - Engineer, Mixing
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studios - Madison Studios (ATLANTA GA USA) & Diamond Street Studios (ATLANTA GA USA)
05 I Do
Sara Rachele - Vocals, Guitar
Spencer Garn - Background Vocals, Electric Bass, Drums, Organ, Percussion
Geoff Henderson - Upright Bass
Spencer Garn - Engineer
Sara Rachele - Engineer, Mixing
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studios - Flynn’s Lick Baptist Church (Flynn’s Lick, TN USA) & Diamond Street Studios (ATLANTA GA USA)
06 Heartstrings
Sara Rachele - Vocals, Background Vocals
George Price - Bass Guitar
Sean Zearfoss - Drums, Percussion
Christopher Harding - Guitar
Spencer Garn - Organ
Clem Cherry - Engineer
Spencer Garn - Mixing Engineer
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Eastcote Studios / Kensaltown (LONDON ENGLAND UK)
07 Stray
Sara Rachele - Vocals
George Price - Bass Guitar, Background Vocals
Sean Zearfoss - Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
Christopher Harding - Guitar, Background Vocals
Clem Cherry - Background Vocals
Spencer Garn - Organ
Clem Cherry - Engineer
Spencer Garn - Mixing Engineer
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Eastcote Studios / Kensaltown (LONDON ENGLAND UK)
08 Hey Johnny
Sara Rachele - Vocals, Guitar
Spencer Garn - Organ, Percussion
Spencer Garn - Engineer, Mixing
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Diamond Street Studios (ATLANTA GA USA)
09 Wander
Sara Rachele - Vocals, Guitar
Spencer Garn - Engineer, Mixing
Josh Money, Full Freq Mastering - Mastering Engineer
Tracking Studio - Diamond Street Studios (ATLANTA GA USA)
