In advance of this year’s Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, I was filling in slots for my unplugged showcases at the Acoustic Live booth when I received an email from folk guru Alan Rowoth urging me to include newcomer Rachael Kilgour. I accepted his word as gospel and invited her. Not having time to research further, I had no idea what was in store when she showed up. At the appointed hour, as the preceding act concluded, I turned and was confronted by a young woman of quiet beauty. There was a frankness in her eyes that exerted a pull, something like gravity. When she began to perform, employing a metronomic strum and singing in a bell-like alto, the gathering around the booth, like me, was transfixed. When Rachael performs, a force of nature erupts. She unleashes a palpable torrent of passion, whether singing about social injustice or a searing personal revelation. A recent Northeast tour swing brought her to New York City. She included the open mic at The Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village on her to-do list. It provided the perfect opportunity for an in-person interview in the vacant pre-dinner restaurant area while she waited her turn. After telling me her life story, she played a new song, “If I Am Gonna Fall Apart,” to the (almost) empty room. Her words and music echoed far into the night as I mentally prepared this profile. How the Girl Got It Rachael was born in 1984 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, Minn., auspiciously in the same hospital as Bob Dylan. Bob’s family relocated to Hibbing while Rachael’s stayed put. Her earliest musical influences originated with her family. Both grandfathers played music for fun. At family get-togethers there were three favorite songs that would go on repeat when the relatives got together and everyone would sing along. The youngest of three siblings, she expressed interest in learning the violin at around 3 or 4, but her family could afford neither the instrument nor the lessons, so it had to wait. When Rachael was 9, a new, music-focused elementary school was built a block away and she started taking free violin lessons. She continued studying the violin all through high school and college. At around age 16, she taught herself guitar, learning songs by roots rockers like Neil Young and Cat Stevens and most of the songs from the classic folkie songbook, Rise Up Singing. Additionally, her parents’ record collection included folk music from the ’60s. Her older brother, a strong influence, developed what became a lifelong passion for political activism, so she listened to and learned political protest songs. Camping with Catie Rachael attended college for two years at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where she majored in musical education. After her first year, in 2005, she worked at a summer camp to help care for the staff’s young children, including those of the camp director and the director’s partner, singer/songwriter Catie Curtis. Rachael sang and played for the campers, mostly from Rise Up Singing. She had brought her violin with her and, in addition to playing guitar and singing, was soon joining Catie herself on fiddle in late-night jams after the children were put to bed. Rachael finished the summer and went back to school. She had been writing protest songs and sang one of them at a political rally. The reaction was so warm and strong that she knew it was what she wanted to do with her life. After completing the year, she left school to pursue life as a performing songwriter. Rachael worked two more summers at the camp. Her friendship with Catie evolved to include an invitation to join her on two midwest tours, first as backup on fiddle, then as an opener. Catie was sure to assure Rachael that the invitation was based on not just friendship, but on her talent. Rachael watched Catie and absorbed facets of the art of performing. She continued writing and playing at rallies, and in coffeehouses and concert halls around the Midwest. Her burgeoning career was put on semi-hold during an eight-year marriage. Although she continued to write and play locally, it was mostly an at-home affair with her spouse and stepdaughter. She released two albums, the eponymous Rachael Kilgour (2008) and Will You Marry Me? (2011) and a three-song EP of politically minded music, Whistleblower’s Manifesto (2013). This September, Rachael began work on an album of all new, powerfully intimate work with Catie Curtis as the producer. The album is being recorded in Boston by award-winning sound engineer/producer Crit Harmon and will feature a lineup of talented musicians, including guitarist Duke Levine. A kickstarter campaign is already in progress. A Loss Leading to a Leap Forward In 2014, the marriage fell apart and a grieving Rachael poured her broken heart into songwriting and began singing again for the world at large, widening the periphery of her touring range. At Catie’s urging, she entered numerous songwriting contests. In 2015, she was chosen as a finalist in the Telluride Troubadour Competition and the winner of the LEAF Festival (Black Mountain, NC) Newsong Contest. She will perform at the LEAF Festival in October. . Her forays into activism have led her to perform at numerous benefits and write songs dealing with wealth inequality, racism, religious hypocrisy, sexism and privilege of all kinds. This is a large part of how she’s channeled her passionate nature. In November, Rachael will be at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference in upstate New York and will play in numerous showcases, including the Acoustic Live late night Friday guerrilla showcase. We know she’ll make a lot of new friends and fans. When the gigs begin piling up here in the northeast, be sure to see her. The missives from her heart will win yours. Website: rachaelkilgour.com

In advance of this year’s Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, I was filling in slots for my unplugged showcases at the Acoustic Live booth when I received an email from folk guru Alan Rowoth urging me to include newcomer Rachael Kilgour. I accepted his word as gospel and invited her. Not having time to research further, I had no idea what was in store when she showed up. At the appointed hour, as the preceding act concluded, I turned and was confronted by a young woman of quiet beauty. There was a frankness in her eyes that exerted a pull, something like gravity. When she began to perform, employing a metronomic strum and singing in a bell-like alto, the gathering around the booth, like me, was transfixed. When Rachael performs, a force of nature erupts. She unleashes a palpable torrent of passion, whether singing about social injustice or a searing personal revelation.

A recent Northeast tour swing brought her to New York City. She included the open mic at The Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village on her to-do list. It provided the perfect opportunity for an in-person interview in the vacant pre-dinner restaurant area while she waited her turn. After telling me her life story, she played a new song, “If I Am Gonna Fall Apart,” to the (almost) empty room. Her words and music echoed far into the night as I mentally prepared this profile.

How the Girl Got It

Rachael was born in 1984 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, Minn., auspiciously in the same hospital as Bob Dylan. Bob’s family relocated to Hibbing while Rachael’s stayed put. Her earliest musical influences originated with her family. Both grandfathers played music for fun. At family get-togethers there were three favorite songs that would go on repeat when the relatives got together and everyone would sing along. The youngest of three siblings, she expressed interest in learning the violin at around 3 or 4, but her family could afford neither the instrument nor the lessons, so it had to wait. When Rachael was 9, a new, music-focused elementary school was built a block away and she started taking free violin lessons. She continued studying the violin all through high school and college. At around age 16, she taught herself guitar, learning songs by roots rockers like Neil Young and Cat Stevens and most of the songs from the classic folkie songbook, Rise Up Singing. Additionally, her parents’ record collection included folk music from the ’60s. Her older brother, a strong influence, developed what became a lifelong passion for political activism, so she listened to and learned political protest songs.

Camping with Catie

Rachael attended college for two years at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where she majored in musical education. After her first year, in 2005, she worked at a summer camp to help care for the staff’s young children, including those of the camp director and the director’s partner, singer/songwriter Catie Curtis. Rachael sang and played for the campers, mostly from Rise Up Singing. She had brought her violin with her and, in addition to playing guitar and singing, was soon joining Catie herself on fiddle in late-night jams after the children were put to bed.

Rachael finished the summer and went back to school. She had been writing protest songs and sang one of them at a political rally. The reaction was so warm and strong that she knew it was what she wanted to do with her life. After completing the year, she left school to pursue life as a performing songwriter. Rachael worked two more summers at the camp. Her friendship with Catie evolved to include an invitation to join her on two midwest tours, first as backup on fiddle, then as an opener. Catie was sure to assure Rachael that the invitation was based on not just friendship, but on her talent. Rachael watched Catie and absorbed facets of the art of performing. She continued writing and playing at rallies, and in coffeehouses and concert halls around the Midwest.

Her burgeoning career was put on semi-hold during an eight-year marriage. Although she continued to write and play locally, it was mostly an at-home affair with her spouse and stepdaughter. She released two albums, the eponymous Rachael Kilgour (2008) and Will You Marry Me? (2011) and a three-song EP of politically minded music, Whistleblower’s Manifesto (2013). This September, Rachael began work on an album of all new, powerfully intimate work with Catie Curtis as the producer. The album is being recorded in Boston by award-winning sound engineer/producer Crit Harmon and will feature a lineup of talented musicians, including guitarist Duke Levine. A kickstarter campaign is already in progress.

A Loss Leading to a Leap Forward

In 2014, the marriage fell apart and a grieving Rachael poured her broken heart into songwriting and began singing again for the world at large, widening the periphery of her touring range. At Catie’s urging, she entered numerous songwriting contests. In 2015, she was chosen as a finalist in the Telluride Troubadour Competition and the winner of the LEAF Festival (Black Mountain, NC) Newsong Contest. She will perform at the LEAF Festival in October. .

Her forays into activism have led her to perform at numerous benefits and write songs dealing with wealth inequality, racism, religious hypocrisy, sexism and privilege of all kinds. This is a large part of how she’s channeled her passionate nature. In November, Rachael will be at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference in upstate New York and will play in numerous showcases, including the Acoustic Live late night Friday guerrilla showcase. We know she’ll make a lot of new friends and fans. When the gigs begin piling up here in the northeast, be sure to see her. The missives from her heart will win yours.

Website: rachaelkilgour.com