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Boston Beats: Please state your
name, age, and occupation for the record please.
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Rachel McCartney: Rachel McCartney, I’m 34. Occupation: Musician?
Traveler? Student? I’m a student in nursing.
BB: How did you first get into
music?
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RM: When I was eight years old I started classical guitar, although I
hesitate to tell people that because they expect me to be a much better
guitar player than I am. But that was just my beginning.
BB: When did you write your first
song?
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RM: I was sixteen when I wrote my first song, when my dog Iza died. I did
a lot of music in high school, musicals, and I was in Jazz Band, singing.
Throughout high school I’d sneak out of the house and go to a rehearsal
for this rock’n roll band every Friday night. I was in that band for a
while, and then I was just in various other bands, really from sixteen on.
But this singer-songwriter thing, I don’t know how exactly that all
happened.
BB: Are there any songs that you
wrote then that you still play now?
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RM: I don’t think so. I wasn’t a very prolific writer then. But I started
being serious about songwriting just a few years ago. So I don’t feel like
I’ve been doing it for that long, even though I’ve been doing music for a
long time. But as far as actually writing songs, with lyrics and all,
that’s been pretty recent. But by twenty-four I was writing music, and
busking on the streets of Harvard Square.
BB: How does a new song usually
come about?
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RM: A couple different ways. Sometimes I’m just playing the guitar and I
hear a melody, and then I try to make something fit around that. But it’s
usually something I’ve been thinking about, an idea I’ve been trying to
build into a song. Some feeling.
 BB:
Tell me about your songwriting style. How would you describe it?
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RM: My style? I think it’s kind of “floaty.” I was influenced by Joni
Mitchell. She just tapped me, into my emotive side. I thought, wow, you
can make that happen through music. And then there’s a more bluesy side to
me, which I learned a lot from Bonnie Raitt. Her style influenced my
voice; I consider her one of my voice teachers. But as for my style, I
don’t feel like it’s for me to say, really. I know I have a “style,” but
that’s kind of a subjective thing. People sometimes tell me I remind them
of the most random people, like Edie Brickell or something. But I play
guitar and sing, so that’s my style.
BB: Any other musical influences?
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RM: When I was young I listened to Bessie Smith. Ella Fitzgerald has
probably been an influence, but I don’t know if you’d been able to tell.
There’s just an emotive quality in her voice that’s always been really
attractive to me.
BB: What are your favorite
albums?
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RM: David Grey, Sell, Sell, Sell. Ben Arnold, In Case I’m Gone Tomorrow.
And Meg Hutchinson’s new album, The Crossing.
RECORDING
BB: What has been your experience
recording music? What's the process?
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RM: Well, I’ve kind of just gone for it, and I’ve done it pretty naively.
I’ve done it prematurely. I’ve done it before I was ready. I’ve recorded
songs that maybe weren’t worth recording. So I’ve just documented most of
my songs, and I’ve been usually pretty lucky that there was someone there
to help me engineer it. For instance, my album Throwing Rocks. I did that
one while in Pittsburg. It was in a great studio with great mics, maybe
fifteen of them
placed at various intervals around me. We captured the sound of the room,
and the guitar and the voice. So sonically it was a great album, but I
don’t know that the songs were as fleshed out as they could be.
BB: Tell me about Eye On The
Horizon and Interim.
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RM: I had been living in Pittsburg for four years, which is where I
recorded Throwing Rocks in ’96, and then Eye On The Horizon in 2000. Those
two albums kind of book-ended my time there. Then I moved back to Boston
and started playing out, selling Eye On The Horizon. By 2002 I had written
a new group of songs, eight or nine songs that weren’t on any albums.
People would come to my shows and tell me, “You’ve got to put these songs
down somewhere,” or ask me where they could get copies of them. So it was
a natural documentation time. We wanted to record this the cheapest, the
best and raw. I had a couple tracks already that I had done with Brian
Webb: “Time Will Tell,” and “Will I.” So it was a bit haphazard, but I
knew that. My idea for calling it Interim was to hold these songs
someplace until I could give them a good home. I still think some of those
songs could be really be done right, given the chance.
BB: What do you do to try to get
your best stuff down when you’re recording?
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RM: Just try to work with the best people. Because I don’t know what I’m
doing in a studio. I can get the song out, and sing it well and perform it
well, but as far as recording I need people around me that know what
they’re doing.
BB: Do you prefer the studio or
playing out?
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RM: Playing out is instant gratification, so that’s the most fun. In
studio your perspective has to always be “the big picture.” You have to
have a clear vision of how the album is going to turn out. So when I do
make another album I hope to be clear on that part of it.
PLAYING OUT
BB: What makes a good show?
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RM: People coming to it. I get excited, and it justifies me playing my
songs, and then it’s fun. The audience is what makes a good show. It’s not
a show without the audience.
BB: What's your best show so far?
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RM: My last one at Toad was pretty good. And a couple at Passim. I can’t
think of just one. But sometimes the best show for me isn’t the best show
for the audience, necessarily. Sometimes I’ll be having a great time, and
feel really great about it, but there aren’t that many people there that
know my stuff. So the best shows are ones where the audience knows my
music, and I’m on.
BB: Have you ever opened for
anybody big?
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RM: Oh, yeah, I’ve opened for some big people. David Grey in Pittsburg
when he was just starting out. Patti Griffin, she pretty much packed this
venue of 2000 people. Shawn Colvin. Michelle Shocked.
BB: Are any of your songs
featured anywhere?
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RM: Two of my songs from Eye On The Horizon are in a movie called “A
Wedding For Bella.” This was in Pittsburg. My boyfriend at the time was an
actor, and he was involved in theatre. He knew these people that were
making this movie, and they got to know my music, and this woman fell in
love with some of my songs and wanted them in the movie. I was actually in
the movie, too, briefly. Scott Baio was in it.
BB: Did you meet him?
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RM: Yeah, I did. We had a little interaction. We were in the same scene,
and between filming people would just stand there for a while. He asked me
“Are you good?” and I said yeah, and he said, “So play me something.” I
thought, “Are you good? Act something.” Is that really reasonable?
THE BOSTON SCENE
BB: What’s the music scene like
in Pittsburg as compared to Boston?
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RM: The audience is
smaller, and somehow not as accessible, I think. Somehow art doesn’t seem
as important there, so all the artists go to see each other. But the city
is spread out, so it’s
 hard
to see everything. Here people go out to see a certain thing; either they
like Toad, or Passim or the Paradise. There aren’t that many good venues
in Pittsburg, but people would pack to see someone like David Grey or
Patti Griffin. For the most part it’s an ex-steel worker town. So it’s
just a different vibe. Here the vibe is intellectual and cultured, and
there it’s “Go Steelers.”
BB: Why did you move to Pittsburg
originally?
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RM: I had friends that were doing art there, and there was a really neat
theatre scene. I was floaty, and wanting to get out of this area and go
somewhere new, and I heard it was a burgeoning art scene. So I was just
kind of doing the Bohemian “follow by bliss” thing. Pittsburg was such a
magical place, and it was small, which was lucky for me, because I was
able to make myself known early on.
BB: Tell me about your audience.
What are your fans like?
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RM: People that would seek local music. People that don’t have the
blinders on, people that are willing to think, and be philosophical.
People that don’t need their music to be literal. Generally people in my
audience seem to be very appreciative, and much more emotional than I
expect anybody to be. Sometimes I think it’s strange that I write a song
and it’s this emotional expression, and then I’m going to go and get up on
a stage in front of everybody and sing it. That’s a weird concept to me.
But people connect to it, which is endearing to me, and somewhat
surprising, too. But not so much anymore, because the more people come, the
more I feel it’s useful. It’s a useful expression, and a positive thing.
Why I do it now, is that I feel like it’s a positive outlet for them and
for my emotions, whatever in me has created the need to sing the song.
BB: Do you do any
interesting covers?
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RM: I do a song by Sheryl Crow called “Home.” I used to get compared with
her a lot, before I was ever listening to her. I also do a David Grey song
called “Sail Away.” I cover a Brian Webb song.
BB: What are your favorite places
to play?
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RM: Toad. A place in Pittsburg called the Club Café. A place in Philly
called The Point. Around here, Somerville Theatre. And Passim. But it’s
scary there. People are so intent, and sitting straight, and are watching
your every move. Bob Dylan has played there. I don’t know, it’s an
intimidating room.
BB: Who are your favorite people
to play with?
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RM: Sean Staples. He’s played mandolin on Interim. And Plamen Jetchev, he
was the bass player. Brian Webb is still one of my favorite people to play
with.
BB: What are your favorite local
bands and artists?
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RM: Meg Hutchinson. Is Tracy Chapman considered local? She’s great.
THE FUTURE
BB: If you could play on stage
with anyone alive, who would it be?
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RM: I have to say David Grey. I do feel a connection with him, and I
expect I may play with him again. I’d love to hear him sing harmonies on
one of my songs, or sing on one of his. It’d be fun to just sing the hell
out of something with him. His philosophical approach to music is the
purest that I’ve found and most what I want to emulate. He writes to the
beat of his own drum, and I aspire to do that.
BB: If you could be in another
profession other than your own, what would it be?
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RM: I’m studying to be a nurse, so I guess that’s the answer.
BB: What is your least favorite
idea for another profession?
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RM: A janitor at a zoo. Or a brain surgeon. It’s takes far too much
concentration, and it’s somebody’s brain. How do you cope with that
pressure?
BB: What do you hope to be doing
in music in a few years? What do you hope to have accomplished one year
from now?
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RM: I hope to tour in Europe this summer, and play with some great people
over there. Beyond that, I’m considering spending some time in South
Africa.
BB: What do you hope people will
get out of your music?
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RM: I want them to feel like they got their money’s worth. And I want them
to feel as much as music can make someone feel. I want people to feel it,
through the words and the melody.
BB: What advice would you have
for aspiring local musicians?
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RM: Find out what's authentic to you, musically. Learn your craft, learn
the notes, but do that to have the skills to express your own ideas. Don’t
just do it to do it. And stay within yourself.
To learn more about Rachel McCartney, visit her website
at
http://www.rachelmccartney.com/
*Pictures courtesy of
http://www.rachelmccartney.com/
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