Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel McIntyre Smith.
Hi Rachel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was raised in the small East Tennessee town of Oliver Springs and began intensive piano training at nine years old. During my training, I won the Tennessee State Piano Competition twice and earned the Paderewski Medal for Guild for ten years of superior ratings in a row. This background of music theory really helped me in other areas of music. I taught myself ukulele and guitar and also served as clarinet section leader in my school band. Although I always wanted to be a singer, my bashfulness kept me from singing in public until I was a junior in high school. I made my debut singing “Please Mister Postman” in the high school theater arts production of “Ducktails & Bobby Socks.”
From a very young age, my mom, an English teacher, encouraged me to write. Long before I was writing songs, I was entering poetry and short story competitions. Over time, my passion for writing and music started to merge.
I studied Communications at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where I learned web design, graphic design, social media marketing, videography, and other skills needed in a world where all musicians have to double as content creators. During college, I discovered the Kacey Musgraves album “Pageant Material” which opened my eyes to country music. That album helped me find my own unique voice for songwriting.
I began performing my own music in 2019 and have gotten to share the stage with some awesome artists including Larry Fleet, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Lee Roy Parnell, and Paul Thorn. I just released my EP “Glory Daze” and I’m in the midst of my first-ever radio campaign. I’m really excited for folks to hear my first project!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Juggling my job and music has definitely been a struggle. I work full-time as a multimedia coordinator because music isn’t yet a reliable source of income for me. Trying to make a career as a singer-songwriter while also working 40 hours a week is really hard. The moment I get home from work, I start working on music stuff. Usually, I’m working on music til past midnight. Then wake up and do it all again.
It costs so much money to make music, and I don’t have any big financial backer or label helping me make music. I’ve had to be really frugal and make life adjustments in order to afford the cost of recording, publicity, etc.
All that being said though, I’m very grateful for my situation because my boss at work is very supportive of my music. He is flexible with my schedule when I have to play a show or do something music-related.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a country/American singer-songwriter and I just released my debut EP, “Glory Daze”! I wrote every song on the 6 track project and even shot the cover art for it. I think if folks are fans of Alison Krauss, Hailey Whitters, or Kacey Musgraves, then there is a good chance they will like my music as well. One of my favorite parts about releasing music is the visual side to it. I love coming up with the concept for the cover art and lyric video.
One thing that I think has given me a lot more creative freedom compared to other singer-songwriters is that I’m a professional multimedia coordinator. I studied Communications in college and learned graphic design, video editing, social media marketing, etc. I’m really grateful for those skills because I can create a lot of quality contact without having to wait for someone else to do it for me.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I think that a lot of folks in my generation will be able to relate to my debut EP “Glory Daze” because it is essentially my quarter-life crisis in musical form. I think it’s a really common headspace for twenty-somethings to experience. The narrative about being in our 20s that we had been told growing up was that your 20s were the best years of your life, you’d make wild memories with your friends, you’d be independent, you’d find your significant other, and you’d really start your life. Unfortunately, the reality of being in your 20s is quite different. Especially after the pandemic, a lot of us feel missed out on that fantasy. With the cost of living being sky-high, a lot of us are still living at home with our parents. After college, all our friends scatter across the country to start chasing their own individual dreams so it can feel really isolating. Each one of my 6 songs on the EP dives into a different facet of my quarter-life crisis. I think there is healing power in music so I hope this EP reaches the people going through their quarter-life crisis. I want them to know that it’s completely normal to feel the way they do.
Pricing:
- Glory Daze CD $10
Contact Info:
- Website: rachelmcintyresmith.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelmcintyresmith/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelmcintyresmith
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcintyresmithh
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rachelmcintyresmith
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/rachel-smith-231165611
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelmcintyresmith
Image Credits
(For all images except pink shirt singing picture) Rachel McIntyre Smith & Margie Smith (Pink shirt singing picture) Courtney Conway
