Rachael Sage's New Album Character is An Inspirational Tribute to Survivorship - New York City Article

Hailing from NYC’s Lower East Side, Rachael has been making great records since 1996 when she polished her best demos and collected a handful of players to pull together her first release Morbid Romantic.

Since then she has shared the stage with the likes of Howard Jones, Sarah McLachlin, Judy Collins, Marc Cohn, The Animals, Jamie Cullum and Ani DiFranco. In fact her latest single, “Both Hands” from her new album, Character, is a cover of an Ani DiFranco tune.

Rachael is currently on tour promoting her new release, Character, with an extensive list of dates in the US and the UK lasting through late June. Some of these dates are in support of Howard Jones and many are solo shows.

Howard Jones discovered Rachael’s music several years ago through an agent, was impressed with what he heard and graciously offered her a spot as a support act on his tour. He has always enjoyed working with Rachael and he personally emailed her to ask her to support him on his upcoming tour this year!

Her shows supporting Mr. Jones feature a duo version of the band The Sequins consisting of herself and Kelly Halloran on violin. For her larger shows she brings a much bigger 4-5-piece version of the Sequins including cello, violin, drums and guitar.

The songs that make up Character are a diverse collection of solid, inspired introspective songs anchored by Rachael’s beautiful voice and her piano. As needed, the accompaniment may include guitar, drums, violin and cello. The consistent theme, of course, is dealing with the appreciation and what comes into play with the development of "Character."

I spoke with Rachael recently and got to the source for her inspiration for her new release and well as what has made her such an engaging songwriter and performer over the last 20+ years.

Her newest album is titled Character for good reason. She recently went through a endometrial cancer diagnosis in 2018. The acceptance of the situation and the treatment that followed along with other life experiences that help mold anyone’s character are all felt in the songs included here.

"All the songs are about some aspect of what comes up our lives that impacts how you get to be the way you are. What defines our character? Is it our environment or more so, the quest for who you want to be? This is the journey everyone takes dealing with the choices of how to integrate what has come your way.” Rachael explained.

Her inspirations growing up included The Beatles, (her dad sold Beatle wigs when they were popular!), Buddy Holly, Motown and Carole King’s Tapestry. She ranks Elvis Costello as her favorite songwriter. Tapestry was especially enlightening for Ms. Sage as that record opened up the world for her by combining heartfelt and original songs into pop songs at the same time.

As a fan of John Lennon she entered the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2008 and she won her category of Folk Artist with a song called “Hunger In John.” As a result of winning the JLSC, Rachael was recently recruited (in 2019) to teach NYC school students the crafts of songwriting and recording on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. The bus offers a mobile recording studio providing students with hands on opportunities to make music and video projects.

Rachael is a die-hard New Yorker and enjoys her time here and walking all over the city. She likes the idea of “Follow Your Dreams” but is aware that can be a challenging and overwhelming message.

“Finding space in the city that can be an oasis to relax and rebalance is very important to nurture wellness as well as your dreams.”

Rachael has created an exceptional collection of songs on Character that will leave you with a lot to consider long after the record is finished. I’m certain those songs and themes will be expanded upon on her upcoming tour.

She has two upcoming stops in NYC. She will be at Sony Hall on March 21 supporting Howard Jones and another show at Joe’s Pub on June 2 with her band, The Sequins.

An interesting footnote to her upcoming show at Joe’s Pub…Rachael Sage was the first singer/songwriter to preform at Joe’s Pub while she was studying at NYU’s Power Lab. As the club finished a needed renovation, she was recruited by the club management to open the club for their first performance.

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