New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Americana/country singer-songwriter Rachel McIntyre Smith has released her new single, "The Woulds (Acoustic)," today! It is an acoustic version of a song that appeared on her recent EP, Glory Daze; it is from her forthcoming EP, Glory Daze (Acoustic). Recommended if you like: Alison Krauss, Pistol Annies, Kacey Musgraves, Hailey Whitters, Brandi Carlile, Carly Pearce.
"East Tennessee-raised singer-songwriter Rachel McIntyre Smith released her critically acclaimed EP Glory Daze, a dazzling collection of coming-of-age truths and nostalgic observations, in 2022. The foundation to that EP was 'The Woulds,' a heart-on-sleeve confessional about the questions that linger after the end of a relationship and how the unknown so often keeps us from truly moving on. Now, Smith is sharing a stripped-down acoustic version of the song... " - Wide Open Country
Says Rachel of the song: "I'm a lyrics-first songwriter. I always have the concept and the lyrics before I have the melody. That's why I like pulling back the production for acoustic versions. I think that it lets the lyrics have the focus. I wrote 'The Woulds' while sitting on the front porch of my parents' house with my acoustic guitar. My hope is that this acoustic version takes people right back to that moment with me. This song is really special to me because it's kind of the secret foundation to my debut EP, 'Glory Daze.' I think most folks assume that I built my EP around the title track 'Glory Daze,' but I actually built it around 'The Woulds.' I wrote it at a time when I was living in the 'what ifs.' I couldn't stop asking myself questions that I knew I could never answer. I knew I would never take action to find answers to my questions so I just sort of accepted that I was going to 'live in the woulds.' I love this version of the song so much that I debated releasing this one as the original version. I hope folks enjoy this stripped-back version."
With her lyrically driven songs, Rachel McIntyre Smith's comfort twang music reminds listeners of the classics while also adding a relevant and fresh perspective. The Boot writes that she is "part Musgraves, part Phoebe Bridgers, all sincere storytelling and heartstring-pulling."
Raised in the small East Tennessee town of
Oliver Springs, Rachel began intensive piano training at 9 years old. She won the Tennessee
State Piano Competition twice and earned the Paderewski Medal for Guild for 10 years of superior ratings in a row. This strong background of music theory allowed Rachel to excel in other areas of music. She taught herself ukulele and guitar and also served as clarinet section leader in her school band. Although she always dreamed of being a singer, her bashfulness kept her from singing in public until she was a junior in high school. She made her debut singing "Please Mister Postman" in the high school theater arts production of "Ducktails &
Bobby Socks."
From a very young age, her mother, an English teacher, encouraged Rachel to write. She recalls, "I was fascinated with rhyming and pretended to not understand it so my mom would keep explaining it to me." Rachel won several awards for her poetry and even won a scholarship to college for one of her short stories. As Rachel progressed in music, she started combining her two passions of music and writing.
She went on to study Communications and Spanish at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. There she learned web design, graphic design, social media marketing, videography, and other skills needed in order to succeed in a world where all musicians have to double as content creators. It was there that she first heard the album Pageant Material by Kacey Musgraves, which opened her eyes to the world of country music. "I felt like I suddenly understood the direction my life would take," she says. She fell in love with Musgraves's lyrical ability to turn a phrase, make jokes, and tell stories. This gave Rachel a foundation to start finding her own voice in songwriting.
Some of her first original songs were "The Kitten Song" (an ode to a rescued kitten) and "Miss Highfalutin" (a cheeky song poking fun at condescending people). Upon graduating from college, she compiled 13 demos of her original music and began sending them to venues. Due to the quirky subject matter of "The Kitten Song," she became a regular performer at cat cafes. "It's like playing a cozy house show with 30 or so cats," comments Rachel. "It's amazing." In early 2020, she launched a concert tour of those feline-friendly venues.
Rachel began working with producer Dran Michael in the fall of 2020. Since the beginning of their partnership, Rachel has released several singles and released her debut EP, Glory Daze, in the fall of 2022. After the title track, "Glory Daze," went viral on TikTok, Rachel saw her audience grow exponentially. People compared her songwriting to the stylings of country music legends like
Dolly Parton and
Linda Ronstadt. Holler labeled her "Loretta Lynn for the TikTok generation." Through a combination of a fan-embraced hit song and Rachel's social media marketing skills, "Glory Daze" has garnered over 600,000 impressions on TikTok, was featured on BBC Radio, was selected for Spotify's
Fresh Finds Country Best of 2022, and was named one of the top 20 country songs of 2022 by popular country music YouTuber Grady Smith.
Glory Daze explores the uncertainty, nostalgia, and regret that comes along with becoming an adult and letting go of your childhood. "At the start of the pandemic, I moved back in with my parents," says Rachel. "I saw all the people I had grown up with getting married and having kids. Meanwhile, I was sleeping in the same twin bed that I had slept in for the first 18 years of my life. I got lost in a feeling that I started calling 'The Woulds.' Would I have been happier if I had chosen a different path? Would I be better off if I had stayed in that relationship? In that process, I felt so many different emotions. I poured them all into this six-track EP." With some poignant and some hilarious lyrics, Rachel pulls listeners into her headspace as she attempts to move into the next chapter of her life. Dran Michael's impressive production skills set the scene with banjo, mandolin, three-part harmony, and steel guitar.
Aiming to build upon her exponential growth of 2022, Rachel has no plans of slowing down in 2023. She will be releasing reimagined versions of songs from her EP Glory Daze which will offer a different perspective to the tracks. With stripped-back production, the songwriting shines. It feels like having an honest conversation with a friend.
Her brightly colored style, smooth vocals, and small-town charm leave a lasting impact on audiences. Americana Highways deemed her "a vocal descendant of Alison Krauss." Rachel's had the privilege to share the stage with some impressive names in country music, including Lee Roy Parnell, Larry Fleet, Paul Thorn, and Caleb Lee Hutchinson, who called Rachel's debut single, "High School Reunion," "Real country music, smart wordplay, excellently written and sung even better. 10/10."
https://www.rachelmcintyresmith.com/
