Rising country star Rachele Lynae releases her new album Every Reason today and co-wrote all 12 songs on the album. Every Reason follows her self-titled 2014 debut and showcases her vocal talent and songwriting skills.
“This album is so personal to me. I have definitely grown in my craft as a songwriter, and I’ve found a sound that’s more me, more authentic to me. I’m having more fun with it. I was so serious about every single thing, but I think with art, the quality actually improves when you stop putting the pressure on it. I’ve found a different kind of fearlessness that comes from being super comfortable in your own skin,” said Rachele.
The album serves as a love letter to her husband Tim Creedon, whom she will be celebrating a wedding anniversary with as well as the album’s release. She credits him on the album by saying, “To my wonderful husband Tim, thank you for giving me a love story worth writing about. This album is full of reasons why I love my man and everything I love about making music.”
I had the opportunity to catch up with Rachele during the Covid-19 quarantine to talk about Every Reason, surviving the lockdown, fresh seafood, finding love in the music business, and most importantly, The Tiger King.
First off, how is your quarantine going?
I really haven’t had a chance to get bored because there’s always more music to make, there’s always more content to make. I just haven’t felt bored but then yesterday I had a moment and I said “I’m bored of the house, does that count?”
My sister lives in L.A. and has been out here during the pandemic and we have a side project and we just love working on content together so we’ve been working on covers and putting them up on Instagram. I filmed a music video last week for “Got It Bad” and I think it’s gonna be pretty cool.
The first little bit we did a little more binge watching than now. We did the whole Tiger King thing just shamelessly. It’s just like watching a train wreck.
Arguably the most important question I will ask you is…do you think Carole Baskin fed her husband to the tigers?
I am going to have to say that I think it’s highly likely.
You grew up in the Pacific Northwest and your father is a commercial fisherman, so fresh seafood was at your disposal at all times. Now that you live in a land locked part of the country, how much do you miss fresh seafood?
We were so spoiled because the fish we would get, I mean we could literally go fishing, catch a halibut, bring it in and cook it for dinner. Obviously, you can’t get any fresher than that. There’s nothing like a fresh halibut – it just melts in your mouth.
You started singing and songwriting at an early age, when did you know that this is what you wanted to do with your life?
I wish I had a good answer for you, but I always wanted to be a country singer. When I was 12, I started to write actual full songs instead of just making up little ditties. I began to understand the craft of songwriting, but of course not mastering it at that age but learning and focusing on it, I realized I wanted to be a performer as well as a song writer.
Who were the influences that helped lead you down that path?
Some of the early influences outside of family that was musical like my dad and grandmother were the Judds, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain. The first CD that I got that was mine was LeAnn Rimes. She was a big idol because she was so young when she got started, so I was like “I’m not going to waste any time” and that’s when my dad started getting really scared.
Now, why was dad getting scared?
I was 10 years old and like “hey dad, LeAnn is 13 we really need to get on this. This is no joke.”
You’re a singer with a deep love of country music but are from the Pacific Northwest. How did your love for country music come to be?
My roots are deep in country. I’ve been singing country music my whole life. I naturally sing with a bit of a twang and it’s not because I grew up in the south. I have some family that has a little bit of that accent in Northern California, an area where the settlers were from Oklahoma, so I think that’s maybe where it came from.
I just love those catchy pop melodies that are mixed in with the storytelling of country music.
You are lucky in the sense that you get to have your cake and eat it too. Your now-husband is the drummer in your band, but he was not your husband or even your boyfriend when he joined. Please let us know how this all came to be.
He was recommended to me by my band leader at the time and I had had a really good experience with him so I was like “sure, let’s try it on and see what happens.“
It comes to rehearsal time and I was like “oh, he’s cute,” but he’s younger than me and we’re in a band together and I don’t want to mess that up. I was kinda the naysayer, even though I was immediately in to him.
Was the feeling mutual?
Yep. Yeah, the song “Running Out Of Reasons” is our story. I just kept saying it won’t work for this reason or that reason. I kept throwing out excuses but he just kept pursuing me.
Your husband actually co-produced one of the songs on Every Reason. How was that experience?
We are still learning all the time how to work together even during this quarantine. It’s an interesting thing because when it’s the person you love but then all of a sudden you’re also doing business, there’s this weird situation where you don’t have as much of a filter. Because with your spouse, you don’t have as much of a filter.
So then you have to respect each other in a professional setting and I really think it strengthened us and continues to.
You co-wrote every song on the album, so what is your songwriting process like?
Literally songs have started pretty much every way a song can start for me. I would say, though that the most common thing for me is to have a melody with a couple of words. Sometimes I’ll have a cool hook idea, but honestly, a lot of times a melody with a few words kind of starts it.
This album is pretty full of people I just know. “Got It Bad” for example I wrote with Hannah Bethel and Jamie Good. Jamie and I met through her dad, who I worked with on my sophomore project. Hannah Bethel went to Belmont with me, so that’s one situation.
When setting out to make an album, countless number of songs are brought to the table in hopes of making the cut. How do you decide what stays and what goes?
I had a hundred-something songs I listened to, then I narrowed that down. My narrowed-down list was like forty-something. Then, I literally forced my family to listen to every single one of these songs and give me their favorites and tell me why.
I did the same thing. We all got homework. Then, at then end of the day, if there was a song that, because I wanted to record all forty-something of them, everybody was like “it’s not my favorite,” then it would go lower on my list. At the end of the day, it came down to what feels like this record and where my heart is.
You can find Rachele Lynae’s new album Every Reason on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you get your music fix. Join Rachele tonight on Facebook Live at 7 PM CDT for her Virtual Album Release Party.
You can keep up with Lynae on all social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
Steven McCash is the Music Columnist for SoBros Network. He is the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music, in addition to the occasional live show review. Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
