Hello friends,
It's been a little over a year since my only child died. I've thrown myself into feeling, grieving, re-becoming, and creating. Actually, I'm not sure how true that sentence is. It's more like I've been thrown into…
I set a personal world record by writing 108 songs this last year. Felt like accidentally stepping in a new song every few days. Songwriting is much less laborious when you are co-writing with ghosts. Some of these songs were meant for my ears only; but some are for sharing. Recording begins soon. The first album, Cowboy, releases 2024. The second album, Emerald Empire, will release 2025. The third album, Buffalo Nickel, is still coming together. And there's a gospel record in the works too, called Her Hymnal.
I've completed the first draft a memoir called Mother Tongue and am editing that now. In January 2024, I begin a 6-month writing course to assist with completion my first novel, titled I Meant to Go to Memphis but First I Found Cocaine. Writing prose feels amazing after twenty years devoted to songs, where you have only 3 minutes to tell a whole story.
I've had a few pieces accepted for publication recently, the latest a poem that'll be in print in Bluebird Mountain Magazine come fall 2024.
I'd hoped to tour this next summer behind Cowboy, but I'm still deep in writing mode and that feels more important right now. So it'll likely be 2025 before I'm on the road again. Sorry about that.
I'll write again when I have Cowboy-album news.
Thank you for your support. It means everything.
Love,
Rachel
[Painting of my son, Mandolin Hooper, by PA Matthison.]
