Rachel Taylor-Beales has a talent for story telling, with an eye and ear for the ‘real’ world around her. The mix of Folk, Jazz, Country and Americana blends to create a sublime sound that stops you in your tracks. Moving between guitar and piano led songs she weaves quirky melody and rich harmony into her narratives.
Rachel's Background is one of many homes and places. Before she'd hit 12 she'd lived in 13 different houses and had relocated five times between Australia and the UK. As one of many artists in her family, there was always a spare guitar to hand and this encouraged Rachel to begin writing songs the by the age of 14. A few yearrs later she began performing regularly on the Nottingham scene; met Bill (a visual artist) eventually got hitched and left for Australia. They spent the next 4 years travelling round on variety of modes of transport from push bikes to station wagons held together with string, and after playing and painting in all kinds of places, they formed a performing arts company. Along the way they picked up other singer-songwriters, dancers and a rainmaker and decided firmly never to get proper jobs. Since then they have composed and performed their way through theatres, schools, prisons, pubs, clubs, festivals and even an audio book and played an extensive tour of the UK and America.Now based in Cardiff, Rachel has settled down and is well into a career as a solo artist. Her debut album, Brilliant Blue first self-released and then taken on by singer songwriter Martyn Joseph (who re-released it on his own Pipe Records label), was met with great appreciation from those who heard it. BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris called Brilliant Blue "lovely" and Acoustic Magazine said it was "hauntingly beautiful". That album, the first in her colour trilogy, is now followed up by Red Tree, (Released on Hushland, May 21st 08)
Much of Red Tree takes British folk as its starting point. But Taylor-Beales takes the genre in a new direction, adding in hypnotic, echoing vocals, subtle strings and country/blues tones so that something entirely new is created. Her voice ranges from strong and powerful to wispy and dreamy. Her storytelling recounts her observations with humour, elegance, anger and sweetness. Together, the impact of Rachel’s songs of great melody, the wistful ambience and her charming stories combine to create a startlingly affecting work.
Described by Spiral Earth as a 'Liberating Listen- it should be welcomed with open ears, arms and eyes,' and 'Individual and compelling songwriting talent, with a striking singing voice to match.' by Folk in the Round...
Always ambitious, Rachel's live performances often combine music and visual art inspired by the songs, courtesy of artist and husband, Bill Taylor-Beales, via video images creating a dynamic wall of evolving scenes. (He has also occasionally been known to paint live during performances.) Rachel performs both solo and with an ever varying lineup of her very talented 'collective' of musicians.Her tastes range from Jasper Fforde to Camus, Green and Blacks to Haribo fixes, G 'n' T to communion wine. And her CD player these days is stocked with Waits, Orton, Dylan, Cave as well as Iron and Wine, Di Franco, Sufjan Stevens and much more...For more information and reviews check out Rachel's website
www.racheltaylor-beales.com
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