Rachel Harrington

About Us

Reared among the Pentecostal pines of Oregon, 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 - that, and her father's secret Stax/Motown collection he'd amassed since his return from serving in Vietnam. She especially loved the black gospel groups and the secular Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

"I remember being a little girl, 8 or 9 years old, 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."

At age 12, after a stay with family in Montana, she fell in love with horses and began to ride in rodeo events. Out on the ranch one day, she met an old cowboy named Dutch who spent many hours giving the novice rider lessons - during which he listened to his favorite radio station that described itself as "stone country." This provided critical exposure to the likes of Hank Williams Sr., Loretta Lynn, and George Jones.

"Hearing Loretta Lynn changed my life. Finally, I had someone I could actually sing like. And it was then I also realized the connection between country and soul. First time I heard Hank Williams I knew he was coming from the same place as Ray Charles - I could just hear it."

As a sixth generation Oregonian, Harrington feels a strong connection to place and to creating music that captures some of the stories and heritage of The West. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Pacific Northwest Bioregional Studies and a Master's in Environmental Conflict Resolution. During her college years, Rachel also studied creative writing with critically acclaimed author Ann Cummins. "If anything, I think I'm actually a short story writer. The story always comes first."

Her fifth studio album (out September 2018) is a home-coming of sorts. Hush The Wild Horses is the result of five years largely off the road, homesteading in Oregon, being with family.

The stories behind this harvest of songs include a brother with a meth addiction, a Vietnam veteran uncle who committed suicide at age 40, and a grandmother who died while holding Rachel’s hand.

“It’s definitely my most personal record,” she says.

Harrington has played major festivals throughout Europe and the US, made four live appearances on BBC’s legendary Bob Harris Show, and reached millions of listeners through airplay at Starbucks. A 2011 winner in Merlefest’s esteemed songwriting contest (previous winners include Gillian Welch and Tift Merritt), this is Rachel’s much-anticipated return to recording and touring.