Minor League Deities

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Cocktail Wieners	4:29	Play
2		Better Than Me	3:07	Play
3		Feste's Theme (Heavenbound)	3:40	Play
4		Under Winter	4:58	Play
5		Dancin' Shoes	4:18	Play
6		Lucinda	2:17	Play
7		Still An Angel	2:32	Play
8		Eighth Lit Window	6:03	Play
9		Only Stranger	5:06	Play
10		January	2:39	Play

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Description

Rachael Davis has been singing on-stage since she was two years old. Being born to parents who never intended to keep her very far from music for very long seems to have made all the difference in the world. Before she was mobile Rachael would be set in a car seat and placed in the middle of a song circle, and with silver bells on her ankles she would shake her feet to the rhythm. At one-and-a-half Rachael was singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to anyone who asked, and at two she started performing with her parents on stage.

Born in Lansing, Michigan, Rachael spent almost six years of her life in Chicago before her parents -- musicians as well -- settled in Cadillac, Michigan, where she was constantly nurtured and encouraged by family, friends, and other respectable musicians. When Rachael was eight she was singing on second stage at Wheatland Music Festival. The Irish singer Maura O'Connell was just backstage. When Rachael walked off stage Maura went up to her, and grasped Rachael's face with both hands and said, "Never stop doing it for the love of it!"

Rachael has spent most of her life involved with music in one way or another -- whether as the lead in three of her high school's musicals, singing with her family-based group Lake Effect, or performing solo with a few friends as special guests. She attended Interlochen Arts Academy in Northern Michigan -- which also counts among its alumni, Peter Yarrow, Anne Hills and Jewel (Kilcher).

In the span of her twenty-two years, Rachael has literally shared the stage with Boston based singer/songwriter Vance Gilbert, folk divas Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers, Prairie Home Companion regulars Robin and Linda Williams, jazz legends Marcus Belgrave and Winston Walls -- amongst others. She has opened for Dar Williams, David Lindley, Garnet Rogers, Chris Smither, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer, Richard Shindell, Susan Werner, Peter Mulvey, Eddie From Ohio, Nerissa and Katryna Nields, The Kennedys, Clive Gregson, Hugh Blumenfeld, David LaMotte and many more.

In September of 2001, Rachael moved from Michigan to Boston and within the span of seven months was awarded a Boston Music Award for Best New Singer-Songwriter. In 2002, Rachael contributed "Lonely When You're Gone" to the Respond II compilation (which can be found at http://respondproject.org), which also includes such luminaries as Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls (amongst many others).

Her influences range from the jazz stylings of Ella Fitzgerald to the soulful pop vocals of Patty Griffin -- with many more in between. She is a contemporary songwriter but is equally at home singing anything from traditional ballads to Cole Porter to Joe Henry.

In April of 2001, she released her debut CD, "Minor League Deities", featuring performances by many of the people who musical and personal paths she has crossed throughout her life. One of those is Claudia Schimdt, who says of Rachael:

"Rachael is a bold explorer in the undefined and powerful territory of her primary intrument--her own human voice--and the stories that come through it."

Some quotes about Rachael:

Mary Lou Lord: "[Rachael sings] with the voice of the most beautiful color you've never seen.

Jim Fleming (Fleming & Associates): "I haven't listened to a new artist this much since I first became familar with Stacey Earle."

Susan Werner: "We don't have Eva Cassidy anymore but we do have Rachael Davis"

Eddie From Ohio: "With a voice that moving - we could listen to her sing the alphabet all night and that would be enough."

Ellis Paul: "Rachael Davis . . . has one of those voices that you know will somehow find its way to a national spotlight . . . keep an eye -- and an ear -- out for her"

Claudia Schmidt: "Rachael is a bold explorer in the undefined and powerful territory of her primary instrument -- her own human voice -- and the stories that come through it."

Dean Magraw (folk and jazz guitar wizard): "People . . . please open your hearts and bathe your ears in the 'Be-here-now, soul-on-your-sleeve'-inspired new voice of Rachael Davis!"

Scott Alarik (Boston Globe): "Davis is off to a faster start than any Boston-based songwriter in memory."

Ben Edmonds (Detroit Free Press): "Davis commands a voice older than her years, an instrument that is equally sure expressing strength and vulnerability, and her songwriting is fearlessly eclectic." (full article)

Matt Smith (Club Passim / FolkWeb) "Rachael shows a refreshing depth to her writing, while at the same time keeping a bit of playfulness. [Minor League Deities] covers a nice range from contemporary singer/songwriter, to a capella, blues and jazz...not to mention a great banjo tune! To top it all off, there's Rachael's voice. She could knock down walls with it -- and the wonderful thing is, she knows how to use it. She's got an incredibly powerful voice, but doesn't feel the need to knock you down with it on every track. There's a great nuance and tension when she holds back just enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. All in all -- a five-star record!"

Brian Bishop (The Musical Curmudgeon): "This woman is anything but minor league. She has a major league voice which essentially is her instrument . . . You better see Davis soon, because it won't be long before it will be too late to say: 'I saw her when.'"

Mike Hughes, Lansing State Journal: "Her voice and songwriting seem to defy age. One moment, she's a jazz singer, her voice vaulting across ranges; the next, she's a folksinger, wizened and weary." (full article)

Ann Arbor Review: "Her music is built around her voice, a shimmering and versatile thing that trips lightly through Ella-esque jazz lines, growls and belts and glides." (full article)

Sara Barss, The Item (Lancaster, Mass.): "Her voice was incredible, powerful, sweet and clear."

Jack Leaver The Grand Rapids Press: "Davis' music defies categorization. The 10 tracks on her debut run the gamut of her influences, with minimal instrumental backing built around her versatile and powerful voice." (full article)

Ralph DiGennaro (Red Cedar Soundstage House Concerts): "Rachael Davis displays a vocal range at once delicate and powerful. Her original songs are melodic lullabyes underscored by a lilting voice that unfolds in dream-like rapture. Rachael is an awesome new talent with a style as refreshing as sweet lemonade on an August afternoon."

Mike Strohmeyer (Vocal Folkus Music Productions): "Rachael can't weigh any more than about 100 pounds and she's got a voice that would be the envy of a woman twice her size (and a lot of guys too) -- we seriously fear for our glassware!! You owe it to yourself to come and see (and hear) what we mean."

Deb McWethy (McWethy House Concerts/Peterborough Folk Music Society): "WOW!!!!! Rachael is amazing. She got a standing ovation in my living room! She is so cute, and happy. She and Brett are like brother and sister with each other, so comfortable. Their spontaneity and stories are refreshing and musically they have so much to offer. What a range of voice and music. My sons, ages 30 and 32 are still talking about it."

Laurie Oudin (Main Street Cafe, Homestead, Florida):"She is ridiculously talented, and it will be nice to say, 'I knew her when...'. "

Holly Figueroa (singer/songwriter): "Another really scary thing as a songwriter is to share a show with someone 10 years or so younger than you who is, by far, a better songwriter, singer, and performer than you ever were, ever will be, or ever thought there could be in someone so young. This happened to me for the first time at Club Passim on December 5, when I had the good fortune (or misfortune, depending on how you look at it) of following Rachael Davis. She blew me clean away in about 20 different ways. I think she's maybe 19. Maybe. She writes these songs about dreamers and drinkers and Mississippi . . . stuff that no 19 year old from the UP in Michigan thinks about, let alone writes poetic gems about. And her voice . . . like Billie Holiday and Allison Krauss had a love child. Check her out. She's wicked awesome."

An ardent fan: "Not everyone is righteous enough to be the center of everyone's amazement."