Hailing from Michigan, Rachel Brooke has a voice that’s perfect for authentic country songs. However, she has never been content with treading a straight and narrow path, consistently straying outside the margins. From her self-titled debut album back in 2008, Rachel has infused her music with dark and edgy undertones alongside her trademark imaginative lyrics. On her latest album, THE LONELINESS IN ME, she is once more the sweet-voiced author of a most impressive batch of songs. What the album also boasts is affecting artwork and there are also some striking videos to support various tracks. We caught up with Rachel to chat about the album and her musical journey since childhood.
Congratulations on your latest album THE LONELINESS IN ME. We’re loving it at Lonesome Highway.
THANK YOU so much. I’m really happy people are digging in to it.
You have music in your veins having grown up in a family with both parents musicians. What is your first memory of playing to an audience?
My very first memory is playing a piano recital when I was around six years old. I also have this very vivid memory of playing my first show with my dad, performing at a northern Michigan country fair. I was about 18 and I didn’t know half the songs we played. But I learned quick. That’s how my dad was. He always just expected me to know how to do it.
Did you feel under pressure to perform or was it an adventure?
Sometimes I felt pressure, sometimes it was just more fun. But I like playing under pressure. Usually it equates to a better performance.
You played in an all-girl punk band as a teenager. Was that a phase of rejecting the country and bluegrass you grew up with, or purely experimental?
I love a lot of different music. The punk stuff was a lot of fun. But I always loved a good country song. So, I never really rejected it, just having fun doing something else for a while.
What did your parents think of the venture?
Both my parents were always supportive as long as I was doing something creative and expressive. Of course, my dad probably didn’t want to hear that music but one time he let us use his minivan to play a show out of town. I’ll never forget that. He had just come back from salmon fishing and the van smelled so bad of fish. Like awful. But, hey that’s punk rock. We had places to be.
Many of the artists loved by us at Lonesome Highway followed a similar musical path, travelling from country to punk and back to country. Did that venture flavour your songwriting approach?
I would say It helped me find my footing as an independent musician. I really fell in love with the DIY approach, and still feel like that’s really who I am. I mean, I would accept some help in some areas, but I’m the boss.
You approach your art with a much wider lens than simply writing and performing. Your fashion sense and the artwork on all your albums, going back to your debut record back in 2008, suggest an artist that embraces much more than just music. How central is this to you?
It’s pretty important. I obsess over everything, including the artwork. But I think you have to do everything you can to get people’s attention to listen nowadays. And that includes having some good artwork/covers.
The videos for both The Loneliness In Me and Great Mistake are also typical of this. They both give the songs additional life and vivid interpretation. The settings and production in both are also quite spectacular. When and where were they filmed?
Great Mistake was filmed by Mike Cullen. He’s a very talented videographer animator. We went down the road from my house to this weird little western town to film that one. It felt like an old ghost town being there, and we thought it would be the perfect setting for that song.
The Loneliness in Me was filmed by Nick Gasho/Media Potion in a few different places, and actually a lot of them are from the real places that I worked at and played at while writing these songs. I played at the Cheboygan Opera House with my dad and brother once. I also regularly play Tinker’s Junction too. It is pretty spot on, which was really important to me so I could tell my story.
How autobiographical is the title track and in particular reneging the opportunity to pack your bags and head to Nashville and be remodelled there?
It’s somewhat accurate. I have been presented with opportunities in the past that I have rejected. I won’t go into detail but I trust myself and know what I want. However, I wouldn’t turn down the right one, if it ever came along.
On the album you co-wrote nine of the tracks with your husband Brooks Robbins. How did the experience of co-writing work for you by comparison to writing on your own?
Well when I write by myself there is no one to argue with so I liked working with someone else. But really, I enjoyed collaborating. I really found it very rewarding, even more so than writing on my own.
You had recorded THE MISANTHROPE FAMILY ALBUM from your side project Modern Mal in 2017. How different was it working with your husband on this album and creating an altogether different sound and direction.
It was great. We are both big country fans, so even though Modern Mal is not really a country record we are both really into writing country songs. I also think The Loneliness In Me is where we really connected as co-writers. We just seem to work well together.
Any domestic fall outs or did you get the last word!?
I always get the last word. Check out my old song “The Barnyard”
There’s also lots of humour in your writing, even if the songs attract nervous giggles rather than laughing out loud. Having said that, your characters are more likely to end up at the bottom of a well than live happily ever after. Is your creative writing inspired by traditional and real-life tales that created the folk and country music of yesteryear?
These songs are all real. Or at least inspired by something real. The sadness and darkness are real things in my life. I just like to package them up pretty. But I also really admire those old country sad songs, and want to write songs like them. They really inspire me.
It’s nearly eight years since you released your last solo album A KILLER’S DREAM. Did you deliberately take time out and work on collaborations during this time, rather than recording under your own name?
Yes and no. I like to try new things. I like to work on different projects because it’s fun for me. But I also had some major life changes that put music on hold. But I’m right where I need to be right now, I think. I’m working on some new songs for the next hit record, so it won’t be another eight years this time around.
You’ve never sold out or strayed too far from your quite unique core sound and styling since your debut album. You’ve also gathered and secured a loyal fan base on the basis of the reaction to the album. How satisfying is that for you?
I’m always glad when people like my music. I make it for me, but knowing that other people can relate, and that they buy it, support it, and come out to shows really means everything to me.
In the absence of opportunities to perform material from the album to a live audience are you intending a streamed album launch in the near future?
Yes. I’m working with a band now and we are working on our live set. My goal is to get back out on the road with a band next year, as long as everything opens up. Until then, I’d like to set up a full-band live stream. I think folks are gonna dig what we are doing.
Thanks for chatting with us and well done once more on one of the standout albums of this crazy year.
Thank you so much! It was my pleasure.
Interview by Declan Culliton