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Rachael Sage - New Album - The Other
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The first single that was released from Rachael Sage’s upcoming album
The Other Side is “Whistle Blow,” a beautiful, retrospective
song with a slow tempo. It is accompanied by an equally beautiful and
artistic video. Under the direction of Jenny, He and with the Director
of Photography Daniel Cho onboard, both seemed to be in complete unison
with Rachael Sage’s lyrics and music.
I had not worked with Jenny before, but I saw some examples of her work
and I was blown away. I have never actually worked with a female
director in this capacity and it was exciting for me. She is very
talented and she trained at NYU. When we talked, we had a lot in common
and we shared a feminine sensibility and a specific sensitivity to music
that led to a wonderful collaboration. I hope to work with her again.
She was wonderful.
Jenny was not only open to my ideas, and when I pointed to different
examples of things I appreciate visually. She presented this wonderful
presentation with her own ideas.
It is very important to allow the viewer to interpret (the video) in a
way that resonates with them. It is important for a music video and
really anything in music. It is less about me trying to shove an idea
down somebody’s throat than for me creating art and then have people
interpret it in the way that it connects with them the most.”
Rachael Sage could be called a lot of things, a visionary, an eclectic
innovator, a human rights activist, without ever deliberately intending
to be one, but I think the best description we could provide of Rachael
Sage is she is a woman who is very comfortable in her own skin and the
values she holds close are incorporated into her music, without
necessarily sounding like loud statements.
She also has a tremendous talent for painting vivid word pictures with
her lyrics that make it very easy for someone to imagine what is taking
place.
“One of the most important ongoing lessons is to be able to take in at a
sensory level everything around you in any situation. It is no different
when you are writing, you are accessing some sort of muse or inspiration
that is ephemeral and can’t be explained. From there the craft of
finding details that do depict a time and place, an energy, a visual
imagery and emotions, you have to tune in on a variety of levels to what
can create the most impactful listen for someone or read if you are
writing poetry. I do it in a variety of different ways and it is not
always the same. I may see a film or TV program that directly inspires
me and I literally try to capture the essence of that. Other times it is
purely imaginative, with a grain of truth from my experience that
sparked it,” says Rachael Sage.
Rachael Sage wears many hats, is a singer, songwriter, musician,
producer, the owner of MPress Records and she is a visual artist. Hmm, I
hope we did not forget anything. How does she manage it all?
“That's very true, I do wear a lot of hats or at least a lot of flowers.
I do not make unilateral decisions but rather I try to take each task or
series of tasks revolving around a particular goal, one at a time. I
have ADD so I tend to hyperfocus on what means the most to me and put
off things that bore me. Making lots of lists is very helpful. I also
admittedly do not get nearly enough sleep which has contributed to some
health problems that I continue to navigate. I am trying to do better in
that department!
I really operate on 2 levels most days as a creative artist, and as a
businessperson. There is a certain amount of "grunt work" that must be
done on any given day such as emails and various (other types of)
correspondence, but I do my best to make it as pleasant as possible and
approach my communication as an extension of who I am as a performer and
who I want to be as a human in the world. It's often an exercise in both
diplomacy and strategy but always, I try to lead with instinct and
confidence while being kind. In that sense every interaction is an
opportunity to grow, even in business.
As an artist I find my opportunities to write, paint, play and reflect
when and where I can, whether on the road or at home. It isn't always
easy, but I've developed an innate sense of when I need to shut off the
phone and computer and just generally put the "do not disturb sign" on
so I can hear my inner creative voice and summon the muse when She is
near. There is no magic formula for balance but rather a sense of
meditation throughout each day, listening to one's needs and learning,
frankly, to say "no" when necessary,” she explains.
For some people there is a time and place where the light goes on and
either they or those around them think this is the artistic path this
person is going to take. Well, we do not know if we should necessarily
encapsulate it quite this way when at a very young age first wowed her
parents.
She tells the story of what happened when she was four years old, “It
is not an urban myth, with the caveat being I did not perform it at a
Mozart level. I came home (from attending the musical Oklahoma with her
parents) and I played every song with my right hand. I am told I did it
with relative ease. I was sitting at the piano and my feet didn’t even
touch the pedals. (She vocalizes just the music.) My parents were like,
what is this? It was very clear that I had an ear for music. I had
already been finding my way around the piano, so it wasn’t like I had
never touched the piano and I came home and did that. I had spent an
abundance of time on the piano already and feeling the keys innately, up
is high, down is low and the middle is somewhere in between. I wasn’t
thinking about it, it was just intuitive.
It is like how some kids play with crayons and make an undeniably
beautiful picture and we know the genius of little kids. Then we grow up
and we struggle to (rediscover) that creativity once it has been
squashed out of us.”
Rachael Sage did not stop there, “I was somewhere between three and five
years old when I started making up little songs. I had a whole bunch of
little songs, and looking back there was something to them, melodically,
for sure. I would be singing about a friend or someone who was picking
on me in school. I remember one that was about a friend named Jenny and
it is actually a catchy melody that someday I might turn into a Rock
song (she laughs warmly). It became a second language and I would come
home from a pre-ballet class that I started at three or so and I would
tap out songs by ear.
It was a natural evolution from playing other music by ear to making up
my own little pieces. My parents were not musical perse, but they loved
music, so they would gently encourage me or they would say, ‘Honey
that’s not your song, just so you know, that’s something else. Let’s
hear something you think is yours.’ Gradually, I learned the difference.
I would be watching Solid Gold on television and I would sit down
and write a song like Air Supply, about making love and I was five years
old. Of course, I did not know at all what that meant, but the words
sounded nice together. I was just trying to make songs that sounded
pretty and that were catchy. That much I knew already. You can make
something that sounds complete and whole and whatever it is, people will
clap.”
The song “I Made A Case,” is recorded both solo and as a duet with
Howard Jones. It is a song about two people who know their time together
has come to an end. One gets the sense that one person is trying to hold
onto the last shreds of love and yet at the same time they can look back
fondly at times they shared. Kelly Halloran’s violin and Dave Eggar’s
cello beautifully provide a balm for the heartbroken. Russ Johnson’s
trumpet laments. Rachael Sage’s vocals and words will prompt tears to
tug at the corners of your eyes,
“I
want to hold you again like before / I want to lay my world at your door
/ You say you’ll miss me I’ll miss you more / Time won’t heal this heart.”
Rachael Sage talks about the song, “There is definitely an imbalance in
the dynamic, but what interested me in also recording it as a duet
especially with Howard Jones is because he is a practicing Buddhist. He
is all about balance and he is a very mindful person. I think when we
have a perspective that we fully understand is our own, we do our very
best to be empathetic, to be sensitive, but ultimately the decision to
stay in or not is ours or is one person’s.
I thought with the song the lyrics could work as a solo piece and for
the reason that you explained, one person is trying to stay in it and
cling to the past, but another has already let go. In the duet version,
which some days I prefer each person feels that the other person has
disconnected and doesn’t understand, but they are actually going through
a parallel experience. The tragedy there is that they are not
connecting, for whatever reasons and that don’t necessarily need to be
explained by a song. I think in life there are so many moments like
that, personally, politically and with entire nations. Sometimes it just
seems like we are arguing the same points for ourselves, without the
sophistication of higher diplomacy if you will.”
As far as both people looking back fondly she says, “Yes, oh no doubt. I
mean in many ways that is the definition of romance for a lot of people.
The willingness to romanticize what someone might not romanticize. You
are looking for love and you are looking for what is beautiful.
Sometimes circumstance may be just the thing that is keeping you apart
or at a distance. There may be some kind of event in the world.
Especially with COVID and the lockdown, I am fully aware that many
people who were in fully grounded situations found themselves highly
challenged and ended up separating from their loved ones or quite the
opposite. There were folks who might have been in that state of flux and
were able to pull it together, because they were together physically. I
think it is a very timely song and I had a lot of people tell me that it
did resonate with them, so I am glad I recorded it.
I had a fully realized version of the song and the pronouns were
flipped. I spent a little time with Jeff Cohen (co-writer) in Nashville.
I presented the song and I said what do you think of this? It could
maybe use a little work. The first thing he said is, what is this song
about? He said, I think you are saying the opposite of that, what if you
said, you made a case for me to love you and instead you said I made a
case for you to love me. It just took it to a different level. When
someone brings an idea, that is important to a session, whether it is a
listening session or a writing session. There is no question that he
contributed, so now we are co-writers and it is an honor, because he is
a very smart guy.”
There are so many songs from the album The Other Side that reach
deep inside you and find that place where you are vulnerable, find that
place where you may smile or find that place where you may cry.
One of the songs that does just
that is “Deepest Dark,” written solo by Rachael Sage.
Rachael Sage says, “I wrote this song originally as a teenager and then
put it aside as it never quite felt finished. I thought I needed a
bridge for it. But last year I unearthed the crumpled piece of paper in
an old box of lyrics, started playing with it again and decided it
didn't need anything else but to be arranged more freely with my
wonderful band. They definitely helped me flesh out the instrumental
sections and lean into the melodies in a jazzier way. Sometimes it is
okay to let the music lead, though I tend to put more pressure on myself
(and think) every song must tell a distinct story.
“Deepest Dark,” is more of a feeling and an expression of loyalty and
commitment, even if all that means is that you're far from someone but
want them to know you would always show up for them if they just needed
a supportive friend. When I sing it now, I try to channel the energy of
the TV show Stranger Things, as I was a bit obsessed with it
during lockdown. The acting performances, especially by the younger cast
members was very inspiring.”
“Deepest Dark,” is a very pretty song, and expresses what we all long
for at one time or another, just to know that somebody cares, whether we
are touched by another person or perhaps something more ethereal,
something greater than us. Rachael Sage’s vocals have a gentle lilt and
there just seem to be so many good musicians on this album, one fears
not giving them all their due. Violinist Kelly Halloran and cellist Ward
Williams provide a nice canvas for the vocals, and Rachael’s Sage’s
playing of the piano.
Rachael Sage has toured extensively at home and internationally, so we
wondered how audiences in different countries respond to her music.
“I have indeed been so fortunate to tour all over the world. I was
surprised by just how reserved and polite audiences were in Japan, but
also how well prepared. When I shared the stage with other Japanese
artists, they had taken the time to research me, even learning
"Sistersong," and offering to play with me on it. Of course, I jumped at
that, and it was an incredible experience. In Germany I was also very
impressed that they listened so closely to the words, would come up
after and ask me about many lines, and their meaning. All in all, I have
found audiences in the U.K. and Ireland to be especially enthusiastic,
which is of course why I keep coming back,” she says.
Rachael Sage turns back the clock to reinterpret Vince Clarke’s song
(sung by Alison Moyet), “Only You.”
“It has always been one of my favorites. I love it since I first heard
it in the ‘80s. I grew up with it and it was a Pop staple in my mind. I
love Alison Moyet’s voice.
I didn’t realize originally that it was written by Vince Clarke. I
thought it was them together or just her, because her performance is so
compelling and heartfelt. It was during an era when a lot of the music
had a bit of a cold sound and sounded a bit synthetic. I always wondered
what it would sound like with a Folk / Pop treatment. I was live
streaming every week and I was looking for a few interesting covers and
I remembered that one. I gave it a go and I thought this just fits. I
feel like I am connecting with it and I am bringing something new to it.
That is why I did it and it is one of my favorite tracks on the record.
It was a lot of fun to merge my organic approach to it with my nostalgia
from the era from which it sprang,” she says.
Rachael Sage has used her voice as an artist to bring attention and
hopefully change to the homeless to the LGBTQ+ community and through her
life as an openly bisexual woman. We asked her if she thinks her music
and simply living her life in an authentic way gives a voice to the
vulnerable people in our society.
“I think it does. I don’t know that I intended for that to be the case
early on, but the more out there in the world that you are as an artist,
the more you have a dialogue with your audiences. Listeners come up to
me and share their stories and they let me know how my music has
affected them. They let me know how my choices to be out and open helped
them in some way. That does become a responsibility and I have enormous
respect for people who have been willing to share how my music has
resonated with them in that way. It becomes a dialogue. They inspire me
and I guess in some way my music is helping them. Of course, any chance
that I get I will be happy to perform at Pride Fest or to help raise
money for LGBTQ+ communities and organizations that need our love and
support,” says Rebecca Sage.
There is so much more we could say about these wonderful songs, the
musicians who play them, the words to the songs. There is nothing about
these songs that is coerced or deliberately trying to pull at your
heartstrings. You will cry, you will smile, you may laugh, but most of
all you will fall in love with an artist that is willing to be
transparent, willing to be vulnerable, so she can help all of us to
become a better version of ourselves. In the end maybe you will say with
this writer, thank you Rachael.
Please visit Rachael Sage’s
website.
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