I’m currently writing songs for a debut album. I’m so happy to be a part of Portland’s vibrant Americana music scene. Here’s an overview of my musical projects…
Rachael Rice is an Oklahoma-born, Vermont-bred cosmic cowgirl living in Portland, Oregon. Her style of music is a hybrid alt-vintage honky-tonk, rockabilly, and country-tinged folk-rock not found on “real country” radio. Rachael plays guitar and rack harmonica.
A former bandleader of her all-girl country outfit The Taoist Cowgirls as well as her other band The Cosmic Americans, she has played with various Vermont outfits including Rusty Romance and Little Engine. She currently plays solo shows, and with her partner Dan Haley (of Portland, Oregon Ed & The Boats fame) in a folk-rock duo called The Begonias. Rachael also plays occasional shows with Belinda Underwood and has been inspired by her to take up the ukelele.
The Begonias is an import from the Green Mountains of Vermont. Dan Haley and Rachael Rice now make their home in Portland and offer the best of both worlds: songs as sweet as maple syrup, and as warm and textured as your favorite rainy day sweater. Their original Americana folk-rock blooms with vocal acrobatics and harmonies evocative of Simon & Garfunkel, the Everly Brothers, and Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Haley’s virtuosity on guitar and mandolin match Rice’s soulful singing and solid rhythm. Together they live up to the praise of Vermont’s largest weekly: “peculiar pop brilliance” (Haley) meets the “Sweetheart of the Outlaw Rodeo” (Rice).
Rachael Rice & Dan Haley
Rachael also produces cause-worthy tribute concerts featuring stellar local talent covering artists they love. She’s produced several all-female tribute concerts including Just Like A Woman, a tribute to Bob Dylan, and Some Girls, a concert featuring the songs of the Rolling Stones. Her shows are sold-out events that feature beloved performers who share a stage to build community and challenge themselves to reinterpret classics in a new way.
