|
Background
The Circus
I was born in Sydney in 1962. At our backdoor was a village green, where
circuses would come every two years, tie the elephants to our back fence,
and hang their trapeze clothes off our hills hoist. I'm not sure how this
affected my music, except to say the sounds and smells of the gypsy life
are very sweet to me, expressing a freedom beyond the suburbs-a horizon.
My mother's records
I have sung for as long as I remember, along to my mother's records. Frank
Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, all the old musicals, Burt Bacharach, the Carpenters.
I began playing piano by the age of eight, and this became my main instrument
for the early part of my life, and was a fantastic grounding in musicianship.
Music School
I studied at the NSW Conservatorium, majoring in piano, and graduated
with a BMUS.ED in 1983. It was after I left the Conservatorium that I
turned my back on the piano and the life of a classical pianist.
Arramaieda
I began to sing, really sing…after I left music school. My voice was the
part of me that had never been trained, never had to sit for an exam.
My voice wanted to soar and explore new horizons. Whilst living in Tasmania,
I met Melanie Shanahan who was forming the vocal group Arramaieda, and
we began to explore a cappella singing in a big way. Arramaieda became
well-loved throughout Australia, and I sang with the group for seven years.
We performed at all the major festivals in Australia, and produced an
album More Ways than One (1992, Natural Symphonies) that was to sell 15,000
copies nationally. We were lucky enough to support such fantastic world
acts as Yothu Yindi, Sheila Chandra, Lucky Dube, Zap Mama and Steeleye
Span.
Click here to order
Arramaieda's CD 'More ways than One'.
The desert
After my work with Arramaieda, I traveled to the western desert in Western
Australia to teach on some Aboriginal communities. I went back there several
times over the next few years. The spaciousness of the land, the language
and the people becoming a source of inspiration for the next part of my
career. I began to write songs far more regularly. Even thinking of those
horizons seemed to give me a melody, or a scrap of lyric to work with.
Going solo: Wilurara
I decided to launch my solo career with a solo album. I had worked with
Steve Berry in his capacity as engineer and producer on a film titled
Women of the Earth. We had also put down a couple of tracks in his studio
in 1998 ('Bosnia' and 'Gotta Get Goin'') that we later decided would be
included on the album. The album took 18 months to complete. I flew up
to Byron Bay from my home in the Blue Mountains, and we would work on
a track over a few days. Most of the songs were very new and were arranged
by Steve Berry and myself. We made use of some of the fantastic local
musicians in Byron including Greg Sheehan (percussion), Claes Pearce (violin)
Greg Lyon (bass) and imported some of my favourites- Jaimi Pattugalan
(drums), Martin Tucker (Kora), Mark Robson (didjeridu) Stephen Taberner
(Double Bass), Maggie Mulham and Clive McArthur (Vocals).
Performances
I perform with my guitarist, Lenny Marks and backup vocalist, Maggie Mulham.
Recent performance highlights
include:
Woodford Folk Festival, Cygnet Festival, Dayelsford Festival, Femme Funk
Festival, New Caledonia, Troubadour Festival, Fairbridge Festival, Kulcha
Fremantle, Denmark Festival Of Voice, Sydney Metro, National Folk Festival,
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts Qld, Blue Mountains Folk Roots
and Blues Festival, Jamberoo Festival, The Basement, The Clarendon, Katoomba,
Manly Jazz Festival.
Recordings
Wilurara: Rachel Hore (2000) Independent release
More Ways than One, Arramaieda, (Natural Symphonies
1992) sold more than 14000 copies nationally.
Siren Song (A.B.C.music, 1996)Various artists. Rachel's voice is
featured on a compilation of women singers from around the world. Women
of the Earth (1995) Soundtrack composed/performed by Rachel for a
T.V. documentary.
Punitive Damage (1999) New Zealand documentary released in major cinemas
across Australia . Rachel composed/performed the soundtrack.
Top of Page
|
