BIRMINGHAM: Kitchen Garden Cafe

Tuesday 8th February, 2022

7:30pm

Event information

A Nottingham-born, York-made singer songwriter, Rachel Croft grew up with her roots set deep in folk music and the arts. Teaching herself guitar during her university years, she broke free from the well trodden path to graft her way as an independent musician and artist through busking, and has never looked back.

Over the years, Rachel’s music has branched and evolved into a more genre-fluid sound; it is cinematic, indie, often moody, with hints of soul and the sounds of the 70s. But above all else, voice is king. Her rich and varied range, strong stage presence and songwriting abilities have landed her in the spotlight of many UK festival stages and venues in Europe, catching the attentions of BBC Music, csgm blog, POPMUZIK and Liverpool Sound and Vision.

Rachel started her slow-burning songwriting career, crafting the long-awaited first single Only Dreams in 2017, which was played on BBC Radio 6 and featured on Tom Robinson’s Fresh On the Net. This was followed by her debut album, Hours Awake in 2019, which was over 95% funded by followers across the world, culminating with a packed-out album launch at The Crescent, York. This marked the start of her regular tours of the Netherlands.

Since then, Rachel has built a considerable following on social platforms, gaining YouTube plays of over 160K. She has supported artists such as Skerryvore and released 3 more singles. I Said Wait (2019), We Are (2020) and Deep Water (2020) represent a journey and maturing of sound, woven together with her powerful voice, electric guitars and layered harmonies. We Are hit hard as a comment on the state of politics and social media, and was featured on several influential blogs including LA on Lock and Women of Substance, while I Said Wait and Deep Water held a lighter, more personal narrative. All the singles gained airplay on BBC Introducing, and helped secure Rachel with spots on Moseley Folk Festival, Costa Del Folk Portugal, and tours in the Netherlands and Germany.

Rachel is now back in the studio, exploring more potent, cinematic, bluesy styles for her EP set to drop this summer. These much anticipated new pieces speak of revenge and strength, an expression of another side of her which has yet to be heard.

"In possession of a voice that boasts several unique tones, she dances between gentle, angry and a Grace Slick-like mystique… No wonder our listeners were enthralled" (Fresh On The Net).

"Truly exceptional" (Jericho Keys, BBC Introducing).

"Beautifully atmospheric instrumentation combines with powerful lyrics and captivating vocals in a Sandy-Denny-meets-Kate-Bush sort of way and showcases Croft’s considerable vocal range…beautifully impressive" (Folk Roots).

"Croft’s pure voice (soars) on Judie Tzuke wings… disarmingly beautiful" (Folking.com).

Support comes from Robert Lane, a musician and actor based in the UK. He has toured extensively and released three albums. He is also the host of The Robert Lane Creative Careers Podcast where he chats to creatives including musicians, songwriters, actors, writers, comedians and journalists about their careers and how they create their work.

“You got me out of bed to listen to this and it was worth it…I actually got out of bed to make sure I sent this in for the programme because I thought it was so good.” (Janice Long, radio legend.)