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"Music is the one thing I've always had, ever since I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody when I was about 4, in my dad's van in the Sobey's parking lot in Simcoe. It's something I love with all my heart, it's my outlet and my release. It's just....it's me."
Growing up in small-town Simcoe, Autumn has been playing guitar and singing since she was 13. She took guitar lessons from Dharma Road guitarist/singer Gerri Hooley and was proud to play her first real show at Digfest '08 in Simcoe, ON.
Autumn's inspiration for writing music came when her grandpa, Victor, developed cancer. To ease his spirits she often played and sang for him, and also wrote a song called 'Grandpa's Brown-Eyed Girl.' It remained Victor's favourite until he passed in November 2006.
She started playing at her school's talent shows and came out with a song that everyone related to-- an angsty number called 'Teenage Romance,' about the problems, cliches and tough stuff that comes with entering high school.'
"It was insane. I had people I didn't even know coming up to me and saying, 'I related to it so much...it's so true!' I mean, I wrote it in Grade 9 when I was mad. I never thought anything of it except that it was a song, which I needed to perform. (Up until then I'd done covers.) But the response from all the kids seemed to push me further-- so made a record."
The Teenage Romance EP, a ten-track disc recorded in the Technology & Communications room at Holy Trinity, came out in December 2006. Autumn donated all the proceeds ($5.00 was the CD cost) to the Canadian Cancer Society. Nearly thirty copies were sold.
The process came to a slow sometime later. After suffering from severe depression that came after her grandpa's death, Autumn soon realized how important music was in her life.
"I kept it with me everywhere. I memorized lyrics and melodies. Anything, especially Jack's Mannequin, that helped cheer me up, I wanted to recreate as my own. I became obsessed. It soon came to a point, when I had a million notebook pages scattered around my bedroom floor, that I wanted to musician. My music got me through so much. I wanted to spread the message to the world that it doesn't matter who you are or what is wrong in your life, you can make it through."
For her 16th birthday she received singing lessons from Port Dover Americana singer Tia McGraff, who has helped skyrocket Autumn's budding talent into a record, entitled Rainy Day Girl and ready to be released in 2009. McGraff's husband, Tommy Parham, is an amazing guitarist and is Autumn's producer.
Now, with a new album and a hell of a lot to talk, laugh and bitch about, Autumn Epple is back-- as her fierce alter-ego Rainy Day Girl...and you can bet she won't hold anything back.
