Rachael Sage

Multi award-winning New York songwriter Rachael Sage has penned quirky, melodic pop songs since she was old enough to reach the piano keys. Over the course of her career, she has steadily built a loyal grassroots fanbase with a rigorous international tour schedule, performing in inventive configurations featuring Wurlitzer, drums, trumpet and string quartet. Like her musical idol Elvis Costello, she's endlessly fascinated with the crafts of songwriting and arrangement, and counts Buddy Holly, The… Show more Beatles, David Bowie and perhaps most surprisingly, John Lee Hooker among her biggest inspirations.
I met Johnny Lee while I was a radio DJ at Stanford University. I used to play piano at the happy hour in my dorm, and his organ player delivered the kegs. One day he heard me playing and invited me to a BBQ at Johnny Lee's house. I ended up interviewing him for the station, and after that we just hit it off. He'd invite me over on weekends to play his wurly, and say 'now Rachael, play me some of that Joni Mitchell-classical music!' It was pretty humbling." The song "Blue Light" is about her unlikely friendship with the bluesman, who Sage says, "loved to talk about politics in a very simple, essential way. He seemed to genuinely want to know young people's opinions, and to keep affirming that music was the one great equalizer.
Her latest self-produced disc, Chandelier, was recorded by longtime collaborator John Shyloski, mixed by Grammy(c) Winner Kevin Killen (Elvis Costello, U2), and contains 13 tracks of what Performing Songwriter calls "engaging pop arrangements and gripping melodies." A musically eclectic affair, the album covers a myriad of emotions, but always comes back to one central theme: fragility.
The title track, Chandelier, reflects on the reality that "life as you know it could come to a crashing halt at any time - and if it does, will you have done everything possible to relish it along the way?" Sage says she was prompted to write the song after learning that a fellow musician had been diagnosed with severe tendonitis and was advised to take a solid year off the road to heal. "I had pretty bad carpal-tunnel myself at the time, and it really made me think: 'am I just going through the motions here, or am I as conscious and grateful as I can be, every chance I get to do what I enjoy? Performing is a privilege - sometimes it's way too easy to forget that." Layering several tracks to achieve an orchestral effect, cellist Dave Eggar (Coldplay) perfectly captures what Sage describes as "what a glacier melting might sound like, if it could sing."
The song Vertigo is a frenetic, 6/8 plea for distance from a manipulative adulterer, a scenario she admits "was based on a very unfortunate real-life experience." My Word, which Sage composed in her early 20's, is a vibrant folk-pop arrangement featuring violinist Allison Cornell (Cyndi Lauper) and guitarist Ben Butler (Dar Williams). The song was written while she was studying at The Shakespeare Lab at the New York Public Theater, shortly before she decided to focus on music full-time. Sage, who received a degree in Drama from Stanford University and also studied at The Actors Studio M.F.A. Program, reveals: "I had no idea how much I'd use that [drama] training as a singer-songwriter...but I'd definitely say my biggest influence in terms of dynamics - aside from The Beatles - continues to be The Bard."
Another notable cut on the record includes Sage's cover of Mexico by Jump Little Children, which she heard while performing at a radio station in Atlanta. "That song is about so many of the things I was experiencing during the making of this album, especially the process of trying to let someone go you know is not good for you - someone who's hurting you but you still can't help but be attracted to their passion. Intensity can be intoxicating, even when it's destructive." Heavy guitars and Rachael's first harmonium performance punctuate a Tom Petty-esque arrangement featuring organ playing by fellow New Yorker Rob Curto, who also appeared on Sage's two prior recordings, 2004's Independent Music Award-Winning album Ballads & Burlesque, and 2006's The Blistering SUN.
For all of Rachael's international travels (she toured in the Uk this past fall and made her debut in Japan this winter), she insists her favorite musical moments are when "people come up to me at shows and give me their own CDs...I really get a kick out of that, because we're all doing the same thing, just trying to connect and be heard." One such fan approached her at a concert in San Francisco, explained she was a singer-songwriter herself, and then proceeded to ask Rachael if she'd write a song for her commitment ceremony - which became Wishbone. "I was honored, but I've never written asong like that for such a personal event - so it was definitely a vulnerable situation for me. Thankfully, she and her partner loved it, and now that it's on my record I'm really glad I said yes!"
Sage, a former dancer who performed with The New York City Ballet in her teens, also designed the album artwork for Chandelier, which features a drawing by an intern at her label MPress Records. She was photographed in a dress designed by an East Village neighbor, where she's lived for over a decade. "I really enjoy finding fellow artists in the City who are still in that place where the idea of reaching a new audience for their work - however large or small - is what gets them out of bed in the morning...basically, it's the reason I still live here and probably always will."
www.rachaelsage.com
Seth Glier will grab you...if not with his powerful falsetto or his melodic prowess, then with what Performer Magazine calls his "intoxicating groove." The 20-year-old singer, pianist and guitarist - who abandoned studies at The Berklee School of Music after one year because he "decided I should be playing for people and not for grades" - aims straight for the gut on his MPress Records debut, The Trouble With People.
Glier was raised on the music of Joni Mitchell, Martin Sexton and Jeff Buckley, but considers his brother to be his greatest influence. "My brother is autistic and non-verbal. I learned to communicate with words better once I realized how to communicate to someone without them."
Beginning as an act of solitary creation, The Trouble With People was recorded in Glier's basement over the course of three months. In the comfort of his own home and without the constraint of being on the clock, Glier patiently treated each song like a scene in a movie. "I felt as though I was collecting footage for a film rather than recording an album," he recalls. After carefully assembling a palette of sounds including a string quartet and vinyl scratching, Glier and co-producer Ryan Hommel recruited Alan Evans (Soulive) to play drums on several tracks. The result is an expansive set of songs with lush arrangements that elegantly support Glier's unabashedly honest lyrics.
A Western Massachusetts native, Glier released several Diy albums before catching the attention of MPress Records founder Rachael Sage last fall. Sage observes, "Seth's songwriting is classic, and hearkens back to great piano-based songwriters who broke in the '70's like Billy Joel and Elton John...but he has an impressive range that grabs new audiences immediately, and his sense of melody is incredibly strong." Upon signing Glier, Sage brought in Grammy(c) Winner Kevin Killen (U2, Tori Amos, Elvis Costello), to re-mix Glier's original tracks.
Recently featured in The Boston Globe for his "100% Fan-Funded Tour", Glier is already a seasoned troubadour. He has performed hundreds of shows across the country - including a set for more than 25,000 people on the National Mall in Washington D.C. - and has shared stages with John Mayer, Martin Sexton, Erin McKeown and Cheryl Wheeler. Other notable supporters of Glier's music include acclaimed singer-songwriters Ellis Paul and Livingston Taylor, as well as legendary producer Russ Titelman (Steve Winwood, Cyndi Lauper, Eric Clapton). Livingston Taylor says, "Listening to Seth's music gives me hope for what's to come. The next generation is alive and well."
On November 3rd, MPress will release Glier's label debut The Trouble With People, featuring 12 original songs. The physical release will be preceded by an October 6th digital-only version, via iTunes. Highlights of the album include the soaring 'Gotta Get Away', the Beatles-influenced instrumentation on 'Naia', Glier's commanding title track, and the insightful 'Someone Else To Crown'. A sophisticated collection that shows surprising maturity and self-reflection, the album weaves understated tales of real people in quiet pain. Maybe the term 'old soul' has meaning after all...
www.sethglier.com

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