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Photo: Courtesy of Shervin Lainez
When Wyclef Jean refers to you as “the future” even before your debut full-length album has been recorded, people ought to start paying attention. In Rachel Brown’s case, not only has Wyclef been singing her praises, but rave reviews have come from Okayplayer, The New Yorker, Glamour and Vanity Fair. The New York City native also has a fan in Jaden Smith, who called Rachel’s “Bumblebee” his favorite song of the moment.
Rachel will be bringing her Bermuda-inspired sound to Joe’s Pub on August 11th. In support of the gig and her second EP titled The Band, she answered some questions for Downtown about the aforementioned hype and what else is coming up for her.
How did you meet Wyclef? What’s his involvement with your music/career?
Rachel Brown: We were both performing at the Bermuda Music Festival a few years back, and that was the first time I met him and saw him perform live. I was blown away and inspired by his showmanship that night. Over the years we kept on running into each other in New York through various small world coincidences, including sharing several bandmates, all of which eventually evolved into him crashing my shows and me crashing his.
A lot of praise has come to you from the likes of Okayplayer, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair — three very different outlets with truly different expectations of what a great artist is. Does this sort of early interest in you add a lot of pressure? Or is recognition from the media more of a bonus for you?
R: I think people who are outside of music often underestimate how much blood, sweat and tears go into it. It’s hard to grasp unless you’re really in the trenches. So to get that kind of feedback for something you’ve created, there are almost no words. I’m very grateful, and very motivated by it.
For someone who hasn’t yet heard The Band EP, how would you describe it?
R: We recorded live in a studio, so you’re hearing all real instruments played by human beings! The songs run the gamut from some new — albeit technically ancient — sounds that you may not be as familiar with, such as the kora featured on “Last Call,” to a soul throwback on “Not Over You.”
Is a full-length album currently in the works for you?
R: Nothing specific planned at the moment, but certainly on the horizon!
Your cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” earned a lot of praise. Do you plan on doing other covers? Or was this just an inspired one-off recording?
R: I do covers all the time at shows or online, but this is the first time I’ve considered adding one to an album. When I do a cover, it’s really important to me to put a new spin on it. Chances are the original artist nailed it the first time — and in Whitney’s case, there’s no doubt — so I feel there’s got to be a purpose. I read the lyrics to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” as being particularly heartbreaking, so I wanted to present it in that way.
What’s to be expected from your upcoming show at Joe’s Pub?
R: New songs, old songs, plus who knows! There’s always a bit of spontaneity, the band — we had ten performers on stage at the last show — and I feed off the audience and each other, so each show is always a little different from the last.
Finally, Rachel, any last words for the kids?
R: Be kind.
Check out Rachel’s cover here:
-by Darren Paltrowitz