RACHEL RICHARDS

With the release of her new album Beautiful Dreams in October 2009, RACHEL RICHARDS is carrying the tradition and heritage inherent in her music to a new dimension.

Following her win at the 2008 Australian Bush Balladeers Star Quest, Rachel released her successful debut album I’m A Country Girl and subsequently won the New Talent awards at both the Gidgee Coal Bush Ballad Awards and Stan Coster Memorial Awards at Bungendore.

All indicators were positioning Rachael squarely as a new rising star in the bush ballad camp, a direction that she had wholeheartedly embraced with the I’m A Country Girl album. The first album included self penned bush ballads together with songs from SLIM DUSTY, STAN COSTER and KEITH JAMIESON.

But when work started on writing songs for Beautiful Dreams, Rachel quickly found she was facing a dilemma. The songs that she was writing, still pure Australian and strong stories of our country and its  characters, were shifting stylistically from her original bush ballad course, but not completely diverse by any means.

Rachel found herself in a parallel dimension that has opened to many of the other second and third generation of bush balladeers – the likes of GRAHAM RODGER, TRACY COSTER, IAN QUINN and ANITA REE - whose music has undergone a significant shift in more recent times.

The simple, formulated structure of the unique bush ballad has been complemented by the new generation, morphing into, for want of a better description, an updated version of the original style and inherent storytelling.

What we now have is a highly talented band of Australian storytellers and balladeers – all with a strong background in the traditions and heritage of the bush ballad and an accompanying respect for the fans of the genre – who have moved this musical treasure into the new millenium.

And there came the fine line for Rachel Richards. Her music was undergoing an evolution, and she was acutely aware of the balancing factor between the bush ballads and her Australian stories. But she was passionately determined to be true to herself and her music, and Beautiful Dreams is a wonderful example of someone carrying the tradition and heritage into this new dimension.

Rachel is quite an extraordinary writer – her songs, while often strongly personal, don’t have any of the introversion and self indulgence that often separate listeners from stories with many new songwriters. Her stories are often simplistic on the surface, but enforced with strong messages and visual impact.

The breadth of the new album Beautiful Dreams is quite empowering. From the poignancy of the title track and Bowling In Heaven as Rachel tells of her close encounter with dementia via her grandmother and her subsequent passing to the inspiring optimism of the first single Carry On, the stories immediately connect.

Memories of childhood in Great Australian Bush and the reflective Going Home, and the life lessons in Handle With Prayer and We've Got It Good – the collection draws you in, song after song, story after story.

With innovative production by STUIE FRENCH and featuring a cast of Australia’s finest musicians, Beautiful Dreams is a compelling album. The reaction to Beautiful Dreams was immediate, with the first two radio singles receiving widespread national airplay, and the album continues to draw enthusiastic reaction from both the country music industry and fans. Other accolades include 3 finalist berths at the 2010 TSA Songwriters Salute Awards held during January’s Tamworth Festival. They include: Children's Section - Two Little Stars, Gospel Section - Handle With Prayer and Country Ballad - Rose Beside The Highway.