Faren Rachels. Traditional small town girl that grew up on 90’s music. Old soul that was born in the wrong generation, but still likes to party and have a good time. Singer/songwriter and talented newcomer. Those three sentences encapsulate who Faren Rachels is directly from her. She had an interview with NECM about her new single, her life, and her tour with Luke Combs.
“Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood. Those women really drew me into to country music. You can just hear it in their music and I try to do it so it’s in mine too,” Rachels said on what her style of music is like. “I definitely love the newer stuff too, so I’d say it’s a blend between the newer pop melodies but produced traditionally.” Her newest single ‘Free Drinks’ jumped oout at her as the single off her self-titled album and is her favorite song to play live– which comes just in time for her stop here in Boston, Thursday 11/16 with Luke Combs. The song is a feel good song about a guy that is bad for you but still feels good; exactly what receiving free drinks feels like. Faren released an acoustic video of the single a while ago, and many people were inquiring on where to buy it, so naturally she answered their demands. The single is now featured on the ‘New Boots’ Spotify playlist.
As mentioned earlier, Faith Hill and Trisha Yearwood are some of Rachels’ musical influences. “Trisha is my idol. She actually grew up an hour away from me and she played sports at the high school I went to, so her pictures were all around the school when I was growing up. Vocally, I love her [Yearwood’s] and Hill’s tone. What makes them impactful is that they have families and still tour, to me they are absolute powerhouses!” Rachels admires those two great artists and hopes to someday fulfill her dreams of being a powerhouse artist like them.
Faren is on her way to stardom. Her self-titled album features four songs out of five co-written by her! Most of the songs came from when she was still in her publishing deal and writing with a lot of other people. “I wasn’t writing for a record, I was writing to write. But once I had a record on the table I knew I wanted them to be on there.” Some of her co-writers include Aaron Goodwin and Bark Butler, both of whom she says “really get me, as a person and writer. Writing with them felt great, everything just fell out and into place. It was better not writing for a record.”
Fans can expect to Faren Rachels on tour with Luke Combs on the Don’t Tempt Me with A Good Time Tour which stops at the House of Blues in Boston Thursday night. Rachels said Combs is one of the best guys she’s met in Nashville; “he is such a great guy, and he takes care of everybody. I remember when we were first on the tour bus together, he would check on me, I swear, every five minutes! It was so sweet, but I was like ‘you need to get some sleep, I’m fine!’” Faren is excited to be performing with him because she considers Luke Combs a friend to her.
She is one of three openers for Combs on his tour, and she knows her job is get people ready for Luke; “I’ve been focusing on which songs goes best with his fans and I’m ready to get out there and party with them! He has the best fan base because they always want to hear new music.” The pairing should make for a great concert up in Boston and everywhere else on the tour.
So how does the small town girl that had a graduating class no more than 50 feel about her new city life? “It’s interesting. Sometimes I feel out of place because I am and always will be that old soul and small town girl, so the traveling is interesting. My town has gotten a lot smaller it seems!” she laughed off. “But Nashville is my favorite place. I’ll never leave. It’s become my home.”
Be sure to check out Faren Rachels’ self-titled EP, her single ‘Free Drinks’ and catch her on one of the stops during Luke Combs’ tour!