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Blossom Music Center || 17-year-old singer Farley has old soul
By John Benson
When Rachel Farley was a young girl growing up in Georgia, all she could think about was becoming a country artist.
Naturally, this included singing along to whatever song was on the radio, as well as closing her eyes and pretending she was on stage in front of thousands of people. However, this young lady was different than most. She attended country concerts as if she was doing her homework. Sure, you’re naturally thinking she studied the artists’ every move.
OK, so she did that, too, but Farley also would carry a camera along to the shows to take pictures of the audience. That way, when she finally got a chance to sing on a big stage, she’d know what the crowds looked like.
That memorable first moment took place last month when Farley debuted as an opener on Jason Aldean’s summer tour outside of Toronto. The bill rolls into Northeast Ohio for a sold-out show Friday at Blossom Music Center.
“I was really, really excited, and I didn’t get nervous my first time out there,” said Farley, 17, calling from her home in Mt. Juliet, Tenn. “I trust my band. I know we all know what we were doing. We were just going to have a lot of fun out there. I never had a moment in my life where I didn’t want to do that, ever.”
At the age of 11, Farley started playing guitar. Two years later, she started gigging around, playing an amazing 100 shows a year. That’s when she was asked to attend a songwriters night where pickers sit in the round, each taking a turn throwing out songs. The person who asked her to attend that evening was famed Music City songwriter Bruce Burch. Also joining the group that night were then-rising-artists by the name of Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert.
You can guess that was a pretty big night for Farley, who befriended the singers. A few months later she was invited to go out on the road with Gilbert. As crazy as that story may sound, one questions what a 13-year-old has in common songwriting-wise with 20- and 30-year-old men?
“You know, people have always kind of considered me an old soul,” Farley said. “I feel like life is very much perspective, and at 13 I may not have been through the same things as someone older than me but to me they felt the same. Like my first heartbreak when I was 12, I started writing about that. To a lot of people that’s silly and a joke but to me that’s the first thing I had been through and that felt just as real to me as it would to somebody older.”
Apparently that’s the truth, because Gilbert and Ford’s friendship and guidance was genuine. Today, only a few years later, Farley is in play in Nashville where she’s currently courting record labels for her already recorded debut album.
Now all Farley can do is stay focused and hold on tight. She’s looking forward to her debut single dropping this year, with the album hopefully following in 2013.
Some of her favorite tunes include the rocking “Ain’t Easy” and “Live That Night Again,” as well as the breezy “Pickens County Town.”
Stylistically, Farley said she’s all over the board, epitomizing the iPod playlist generation with influences ranging from Patsy Cline and Aldean to Pink, Joan Jett and Guns N’ Roses.
Farley said, “I definitely love country music and I love that rocking edge.”
One look at her website and the heavy leather jacket clad Farley appears to be going for more of a biker chick motif.
“Yeah, I tend to give off that vibe,” Farley laughed. “That’s just kind of how I am. I love that style, but I don’t actually ride bikes.”
At least, not yet.