r.e. bell

r. e. b e l l

For ten years, Rachel Bell and Sam Furth have been building two houses. The first is their real house, an enchanted structure of wood that resembles a ship emerging from the forest. The second is metaphorical, whispered into being by breath, sustained by energy and sound, and fashioned of words and music. This house of lyric imagination, whose door is perennially open and whose windows let in the light of the sun and moon simultaneously, stands without walls, welcoming you for as long as you wish to stay.

Rachel and Sam’s band, r.e. bell, is a welcome addition to the American indie music scene. Blending folk-rock and punk-country into their own unique sound, the band features Sam’s eclectic talents on guitar and Rachel on lead vocals. Her voice is infused with the tropical soul of a blood orange, and rises and falls like the deep tidal waters on the rocky shores of her coastal Maine home. They are joined by Rafi Hopkins on guitar, Tom Boutereira on drums, and Robert Sanchez on bass.

Their songs are intimate love letters: to one another, to their friends and families, to the land and Earth, to the community. In October 2005, r.e. bell released a debut CD, Rogue Horse, a stunning array of songs that includes the folk-rock lullaby “The Husher,” an environmental travelogue poem by Scott Hastings set to music, “American Trash,”, the haunting love song “Orange and Red,” an ode to a grandmother like none other, “Highways and Butterfly Wings,” and the traditional instrumental, “Uptik Waltz,” transformed into a ballad with Rachel’s original lyrics. Recorded at Truegoat Studios in Lubec, Maine, Rogue Horse also features the multi-talented Gabe Lowery. As Rachel says, “We would not be where we are today without the strong creative input of our dear friend, Gabe, who passed away in October 2006. Gabe will continue to be an influence for us, and we hold him in our hearts whenever we make music.”

The band’s second CD, Twilight Language, is scheduled for release by summer 2008. You can help support the creation of this musical adventure by subscribing to the r.e. bell CSA (Community-Supported Arts) initiative.

You can listen to r.e. bell on local Maine radio stations, including WMPG (Portland), WERU (Blue Hill), WSHD (Eastport), and Maine Public Radio. The band has scheduled performances across the state of Maine, but will gladly travel further afield to share its music.

Rachel Bell and Sam Furth and their three children, Finn, Inez, and Jonah, live on a nine-generation family farm on the northeastern coast of Maine, at the edge of America. Tide Mill Farm is also home to Rachel’s parents, brother, aunt, uncle, and extended family of cousins. The farm supports organic gardens, free-range dairy cows, pigs, chickens, goats, and draft horses (for more information, please visit www.tidemillorganicfarm.com ). Rachel says, “Our music is our garden. It grows from our story and the soil we call home. It is organic, original, and rooted deeply in the land we live on and the lives we lead. It is our belief that organic agriculture, small family farms, supporting one's local economy and local artists are some important ways to make a difference in the world today. These beliefs are interwoven in the fabric of our music, and they are part of the voice and vision we carry forward with us. As a garden nourishes people's bodies, may our music feed their souls. We bring these songs to you on a chipped plate the color of the sky. We place them before you on a wooden table scarred with age. These are humble songs, human songs, songs about love.”

--written by Kim Dana Kupperman of the Gettysburg Review