姓名： RachelHarrington 英文名：- 性别：- 国籍：- 出生地：- 语言：- 生日：- 星座：- 身高：- 体重：-
Rachel Harrington is a singer-songwriter making music rooted in the traditions of old-time country, folk and bluegrass.
Rachel Harrington grew up in Oregon with a deep Pentecostal upbringing, from families of Danish dairymen and Irish lumberjacks. As a child, her only exposure to music was gospel - that and her father\'s secret Stax/Motown collection he\'d amassed since his return from Vietnam. She especially loved the black gospel groups, the secular Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.
\"I remember being a little girl, like 8 and 9, and my folks would leave to go to church often in the evenings and I\'d beg to stay behind at home - when they left I\'d turn out all the lights and put on the Otis Redding records and stand in front of the big window in the living room, singing into this broken little microphone I\'d gotten somewhere.\"
At the age of 12, after a stay with an aunt and uncle in Montana, she fell in love with horses and began to ride and participate in rodeo events. Out on the ranch one day, she met an old cowboy named Dutch who spent many hours giving the novice rider lessons - during which he listened to his favorite radio station: \"stone country.\" This provided critical exposure to the likes of Hank Williams Sr., Loretta Lynn, and George Jones.
\"Hearing Loretta Lynn changed my life. Finally, I had someone I could actually sing like. And it was then I also realized the connection between country and soul. First time I heard Hank Williams I knew he was coming from the same place as Ray Charles - I could just hear it.\"
Around this time, a family friend gave Rachel her first guitar. Shortly after, her parents divorced, her mother remarried, and the new family moved to Texas. More country music. Just out of her teens, Rachel had a son and lived in Houston for five years, eventually returning to the Northwest where she put herself through college as a single parent.
\"I was writing a lot then, during my college years, a lot of short stories. On weekends I sang in a honkytonk band - called Little Lotta Dickens and the Pulltab Playboys. That was a lot of fun, but that\'s all it was to me, just a hobby. Most of my life, music was just a hobby. It wasn\'t until 2001, after my second son was stillborn, that I began to take music seriously.\"
Following a rough year of grieving, she says, \"I just didn\'t want to be that little girl in the window anymore. Life\'s too short for that.\" In January, 2004, Rachel released a homemade demo EP called Halloween Leaves and began to play open mics. Soon, she was opening for many of her songwriting heroes: Guy Clark, Eliza Gilkyson, and Todd Snider. She then began work on a proper debut album.
As a fourth generation Oregonian, from great-grandparents who moved westward from Texas, Harrington feels a strong connection to place and to creating music that, at least in part, captures some of the stories and heritage of The West. She holds a Bachelor\'s degree in Pacific Northwest Bioregional Studies from Fairhaven College in Bellingham, Washington and completed Master\'s work in Environmental Conflict Resolution at NAU in Flagstaff, Arizona. During her college years, Rachel also studied creative writing with critically acclaimed author Ann Cummins and began to write short stories. \"If anything, I think I\'m actually a short story writer. The story always comes first.\"
:: Awards & Achievements ::
*2011 Chris Austin Song COntest, Merlefest, Winner
* 2011 Top 5 Finalist, Belfast Nashville Songwriting Competition
* 2006 Emerging Artist Showcase, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
* 2006 Honorable Mention, WCS International Song Contest * 2005 Winner, Gig Harbor Songwriter Competition * 2005 Winner, Old No. 9 Music Scholarship
:: Selected Festivals ::
* 2010 Celtic Connections (UK)
* 2010 Broadstairs Folk Week (UK)
* 2009 Naked Song Festival (Netherlands)
* 2008 Crawley Folk Festival (UK)
* 2010 & 2008 Perth Southern Fried Festival (UK)
* 2009 & 2008 Glasgow Americana Festival (UK)
* 2008 Devon Folk Festival (UK)
* 2008 Larmer Tree Music Festival (UK)
* 2008 Stamford Guitar Festival (UK)
* 2009 & 2008 Leigh-on-Sea Folk Festival (UK)
* 2008 Bluewaters Bluegrass Festival (WA)
* 2008 Rivercity Bluegrass Festival (WA)
* 2007 & 2005 Gig Harbor Folk Festival (WA)
* 2007 Bainbridge Bluegrass Festival (WA)
* 2006 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (NY)
* 2006 Not Yer Daddy\'s Grass (bluegrass festival) (OR)
* 2005 NW Pickathon (OR)
* 2004, 2005, 2006 NW Folklife (WA)
* The Tractor Tavern, Seattle
* The Triple Door, Seattle
* Aladdin Theater, Portland
