Rachel’s gospel music time

RACHEL Harrington has been doing things in the wrong order for quite some time. She'd had extensive radio play before performing her first live show, and she was opening for Grammy winners before releasing her first record.

From families of Danish dairymen and Irish lumberjacks, Rachel's only exposure to music as a young child was gospel. She especially loved the black gospel groups and the secular Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

The musician said: “I remember being a little girl, eight or nine-yearsold, and my folks would leave to go to church in the evenings and I'd beg to stay behind at home.

“When they left I'd turn out all the lights and put on the Otis Redding records and sing into this broken little microphone I'd gotten somewhere.”

Rachel’s fifth studio album is due for release next year. Hush the Wild Horses is a home-coming of sorts. It is the result of five years largely off the road, homesteading in Oregon, and being with family.

The musician has played major festivals throughout Europe and the USA. She has already made four live appearances on BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris Show. In 2011 she was a winner in Merlefest’s esteemed songwriting contest.

The multi award-winning folk singer takes time away from performing at festivals to bring her sound to the Norden Farm Studio on Sunday, October 7.

For more details, call the box office on 01628 788997 or log on to www. nordenfarm.org