I'm finally awake.
Its a very exciting time right now. It feels like the universe and I are finally pulling together and in the right direction. I'm falling in love again with this life & striving to make it better each and every day. As nauseating positive as that may sound, I've decided to go with it, haha.

I'm surrounding myself around people who are good for me, I'm trying to nix negative thoughts or grumpy moods from others and DEFINITELY from myself. It's hard but worth it. I'm re-training my brain. I'm excited to be excited about myself again. Does that even make sense? ;) I'm excited to write more songs, better songs. I'm pumped to practice guitar until my fingers bleed. I'm ready to be more involved in every aspect of my career-whether its scheduling more meetings, calling radio stations, dragging myself out of my sweat pants and seeing more live shows. whatever. I'm up for the challenge of challenging myself to be out there more, to better the "product" of Rachel Williams, to listen and act, to sell more CDs, to book more shows, to exhaust myself in the best possible way by being productive.

Something has been stirred in me in the last couple weeks and I'm so thankful. It's a wake-up call. People always say "You get one life" and things along those lines, and it's so easy to take cliches like that and have it go in one ear and out the other. But it's really true. I think I've finally realized all the time I've wasted pursuing things that I thought would make me happy in the long-term, but they didn't. No friend, no boy, no trip, no new purchases blah blah blah is going to fully satisfy this heart, so...it's back to my first love. Ah yes, the first love...

Let's go back to the 5 year old girl who performed concerts standing on my Nana's fireplace singing The Judds. Or the 10 year old girl that made up song & dance routines to Mariah Carey in my basement. Or the 14 year old who fearlessly cold-called radio stations and fair promoters, asking if I could sing at their next event, and did. Or the 17 year old who burned my own CDs until 1am, the night before a show...printing off CD labels and stamping 'em on and cutting out photos she'd copied at Kinko's. Or the 19 year old girl who packed up everything she owned and piled it into the back of her Ford Escort and drove 550 miles to Nashville alone and never second-guessed or looked backed back.
I always liked her.

It's been a crazy couple of months and it has opened my eyes and my heart for the first time in a long time. Situations have come into my life unexpectedly that at the moment, left me feeling defeated, or used, or confused. But the second I realized that there are things out of my control, that I just have to let it go and give it to God, the easier everything became. You can control no one but yourself & how you react to what life thows you. I'm finally Ok with letting go of "friendships/relationships.." I never thought I'd be OK without. My new roommate is awesome. I'm becoming closer and growing relationships that before, I'd never really pursued. I'm getting focused. I'm playing guitar and writing songs/coming up with new ideas left and right. I'm cleaning my bedroom (that's a big one, haha!). I'm calling my family more. I'm spending time with my pups. I'm thanking God that my Dad and "soulmate" got through surgery just fine. I'm breathing deeper these days ;)

This is gonna be a fantastic year, fo shizzle.
Bring. It. <3

Thank you for indulging me in my rare blogging moment ;)

I will write a more professional later.
Until that later moment comes, check out our contest at www.rachelwilliamsonline.c
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Follow me on Twitter, I say! ;)

 


 

There's SO much to catch everybody up on and not enough time!  But it's been awhile since I checked in, so I'll try to give you all at least a quick run-down:

I am currently writing this from the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan), enjoying the great outdoors, visiting with friends and such.  Shot a gun for the first time, caught my first fish (14 inch Large Mouth Bass!)...only that but watched it get cleaned and ate it too..woop woop!, went into the Great Lakes (Michigan & Superior) for the first time, hung out at the U.P. State Fair yesterday, went rock climbing, ate tongue curry  (yeah, forreal) and going camping tomorrow!  I'm such a mountain girl now, who'da thought?  Haha!  Crazy how I've lived near Detroit for 19 years and never once ventured up to the U.P.  It's like a whole nother universe up here, and I'm diggin it! 

This trip comes just after getting back from an 11 day excursion out west.  Got to be in California...saw Orange County, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Malibu, and everything in between!  My BFF/roommate, Ellie & I went out there for a wedding a couple weeks ago.  One of my girlfriends from high school asked me to be a bridesmaid, so I accepted and before you knew it, I was in my dress, fixing the bride's makeup, taking photos, dancing to Whitney Houston on the dance floor, and so on!

From there, I ventured onto my first vacation as an "adult" in Los Angeles.  Drove around without a clue as to where I was going and managed to stumble across all the sights...Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, the beaches.  We were so tourist-y,
but I loved every minute...from posing with celebrity stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Michael Jackson and Britney were my highlights!), to taking the most ghetto-fabulous/HYSTERICAL tour of Hollywood/Beverly Hills celebrity homes on an "open top bus" (the photos of this are priceless!), Rodeo Drive, discovering the $2.50 margaritas in Santa Monica, to having our rental car's battery die in the hotel parking lot.  Needless to say, our trip was rather eventful ;)

From Hollywood, it was onward to Dallas where I landed right into a whirlwind couple of days.  I played a big show in Lufkin, TX  with hit songwriter Jill Colluci (think "No One Else on Earth" by Wynonna, baby!) and my producer, Kim Copeland on Friday night.
Special thanks to radio stations KTIR in Granbury, TX and KJ 103 in Lufkin, TX and TV  station KETK-NBC's "East Texas Live" for interviewing  me as part of their shows and helping to promote the gig!  Big shout-out to Connie for being the hostess with the mostess and not only for giving us the hook-up and booking us a great show, but for throwing the most fabulous house parties too!

From Dallas, I was home for 4 days..wrote an AMAZING song with one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Bonnie Baker (can't wait to get into the studio and record it THIS WEEK!), and booked 2 more shows for early September! 

Speaking of which, these are shows you WON'T want to miss!

Tuesday, September 1st join us as I tear it up with my full band for a night full of music from the new CD, "Lovers & Liars", previous albums, AND cover songs!  I'll be joined by the badass that is Bruce Wallace (superb singer/songwriter/rockstar guitar extrodinare/entertainer) and his band, Walrus.  We'll also be celebrating my best friend/roommate, Ellie's Going Away Party...as she says goodbye to all of us here in America and moves back home to the U.K. :(  Doors open at 5:30PM, show is from 6PM-9PM at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, $5 cover.  Both bands play back-to-back so be sure to be there from beginning to end!

Friday, September 5th-I will join hit songwriter Tim Buppert and James Casto for a special, intimate acoustic performance at Chukkar Farm and Polo Club
in Alpharetta, GA starting at 7:30PM.  Great music in the beautiful Georgia scenery...can't beat it!  More information and tickets at www.chukkarfarm.com/concerts.html   (The  night before, I'll be seeing Britney Spears live in action in Atlanta, WOOHOO!)

Tuesday, September 8th-Number one hit songwriters Jill Colluci (Wynonna, Travis Tritt), Karen Staley (Faith Hill, Tracy Byrd), and Georgia Middleman (Keith Urban, Martina McBride) will join me as I host a late round at the legendary Bluebird Cafe here in Nashville!  You won't want to miss this all-star lineup of powerhouse performers!  Show starts at 9PM, $8 cover.  Make your reservations next week at www.bluebirdcafe.com or by calling 615. 383.1641

Thats all I've got for now...

Hope everybody's August has been wonderful and I'll talk to ya real soon!

Nothin but love,
Rachel

P.S.
"500 Days of Summer" is SUCH A GREAT MOVIE!

P.S.S.
I need to dedicate some serious time to uploading new photos here on MySpace this week!!

UNBROKEN GROUND
(Rachel Williams/Bruce Wallace)

New relationships are always a risk.  The more you invest, the greater the stakes.  But if it's right, then it's obviously worth it in the end.  But how will you ever know how good love can be if you don't step outside your
comfort zone,  look beyond what you think you know, and dig a little deeper?  This song talks about how love's not always going to be easy, but that she thinks this guy is worth taking the plunge and going where they've never
gone before...opening up, venturing into unchartered waters, and ultimately...breaking ground.

YOU LET ME
(Rachel Williams/Sara Beck/Kim Copeland)

Break-ups suck.  They hurt no matter how you look at it.  I'd just been fresh off my latest break-up and was definitely feeling the aftermath, therefore, talking about it non-stop the entire week after.  Luckily, my co-writers didn't seem to mind.  So they sat there, as I went through the whole situation, the scene of that night, and half
a box of Kleenex.  I debuted the song at the legendary Bluebird Cafe two days after we finished writing it and it came off great!  The response was so overwhelming positive, and I felt more enlightened and empowered each
and every time I performed it.  Now, fully recovered, it's still one of my favorite songs I've ever written!  I feel like I turned my heartache into something catchy and relatable!

WHAT IF WE DO
(Rachel Williams/Paul Sikes)

There's always that chance that when you meet someone new and you get your hopes up, that they are not going to
turn out to be "the one" for you.  However, how exciting to think that maybe this IS "it"!  It'd be a whole lot safer to not even try, but you might be missing out on that one great love you've been waiting for.  I've never
been too good with writing happy, love songs, but for some reason, this one came easy for me and my co-writer. The song took on a whole new life once we got it in the studio.  The groove is infectious and yet, simple.  Just the way love should be, right? 

A WOMAN TO LOVE
(Rachel Williams/Bruce Holloway/Karleen Watt)

I'll admit it, I too am guilty of settling for the "less than perfect" guy/relationship because it was better than  being lonely.  However, once you come to the realization that you deserve better, there's no going back.  No girl will ever be happy being second-best, or left trying to read his mixed signals.  This song is about loving
yourself enough to know that you're worth holding out for...you're a woman worth being faithful to, worth falling head over heels in love with, and not settling until you find someone who feels the same.  I wrote this song along with Karleen Watt and a dear friend of mine, Bruce Holloway, who unfortunately passed away in the spring of 2009.  I remember talking about how impossible dating seemed to a woman in her young 20's.  So here was this big, body-builder, Austrailain teddy bear
who said "Yes, let's write about this...tell  me more."  And you know me, I more than willingly obliged.  Out came this song that is a dating anthem for all women out there...thanks for listening, Bruce!

IN BETWEEN
(Rachel Williams/Karleen Watt)

I'm an all or nothing type of girl.  I don't know many people who can deal with the whole "we're not dating anymore, but we're not exactly 'just friends' either" situation and be truly happy.  My co-writer started playing the opening chords of this song on  the guitar  and I just sang whatever fell out of my mouth.  I love this song because it's different from anything I've recorded in the past.  I imagine myself in a blues club and seeing the singer onstage, with just a piano and a microphone, singing this song
especially for me.

LOVERS & LIARS
(Rachel Williams/Karleen Watt/Kim Copeland)

This song was practically torn out of my diary and then recorded for the world to hear.  Luckily enough, there are more than enough people
in this world that can get what I'm feeling here.  In my opinion, nothing resonates like a sad song.  I think that the frustration one feels with not being able to tell the difference between a lover or a liar is something that  hits a little too close to home for everyone.
Thus, being the reason that I chose this song to be the title track.

WHERE MY LINE IS
(Rachel Williams/Angela Kaset)

Growing up is hard to do.  Growing apart is even harder.  When you see someone for who they truly are, and it's not pretty, then it'll never be the same.  That relationship is changed forever.  For once, this song wasn't written about a love interest, but even still, someone that I put it on the line for.  Everyone wants to give the ones they love the benefit of the doubt, that second chance.  But when the truth comes out,  it's a hard thing to argue with.  This song is my 'declaration of independence', if you will...sort of like a theme song.  I'm redefining my boundaries, what I expect for myself...
from others around me and from me, personally.  I'm drawing my line and standing firm.  It's liberating.