Memphis, TN – Female Southern Rocker Rachel Wise has released her eagerly anticipated debut album “Southern Life.” With influences like the Allman Brothers band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Patsy Cline, Kelly Clarkson, and Etta James, Rachel’s sound has been described as soulful country with a southern rock flair.
Says Rachel, “The musical concept came from me noticing there’s a space in country music that I wanted to fill. There are very few female country artists with a southern rock sound, and it’s my favorite genre! I kept wishing to hear more women do this kind of music then realized maybe I should stop wishing and do something about it.”
A Mississippi native, Rachel Wise grew up listening to an eclectic collection of music from heavy metal to classical to contemporary Christian. Being born into a musical family, she made her public singing debut at the age of two at her grandparents small church in Ashland, MS. Since then, she has been involved in various choirs and worship bands for most of her life. She broke into the Memphis Music scene in the fall of 2012, when she began her songwriting career. She and her songwriting team began crafting her signature sound.
Says Rachel, “The writing process was pretty simple. Steve Corbett, Bernard DeSeck, and I were all so excited to be doing this that when we would meet weekly, we’d all have stuff we couldn’t wait to share. One week Steve showed us some riffs he had been working on that I absolutely loved. It had a swampy backwoods sound that inspired me to write ‘Southern Life,’ which is all about my life in the south. I grew up on a dirt road in the backwoods of Mississippi and I love to go mudding and shoot guns and drink sweet tea. the lyrics reflect that. A lot of the other songs talk about relationships and draw from the emotion of a fresh breakup or how it feels to actually get to be with your soulmate.
There are also a couple of Christian songs, because my relationship with Jesus is probably the biggest part of my life. I was always told to write about the things I know so it’s an album full of songs that tell you about my life which was very comfortable for me. The recording process was a different story altogether. I had never done any recording in my life. Here I was in a room full of experienced musicians and engineers and the legendary Jim Gaines producing. I definitely felt like a tiny fish in an ocean, but we got it done and I hit some notes I didn’t know I had in me. I feel like recording that album made me grow more as a vocalist than anything else I’ve ever done.”
Rachel has been the featured artist twice on 95.3 The Rebel’s ‘Rebel Roadhouse’ and a guest artist on Rock 103’s “Memphis Made.” She also has headlined at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street, and at historic Lafayette’s Music Room. In support of her new album release, Rachel is currently working on a music video for the title track of “Southern Life,” coming soon!
In closing Rachel has this to impart, “I hope you love the sound, and you enjoy listening to the music, but I hope the lyrics bring you what you need to hear, whether you need the message of Jesus’ love, nostalgia, or it helps you get over a break up, or just brings a smile to your face because it’s fun, my hope is it effects you in a positive way.”