Gloriana
INTERVIEW WITH RACHEL REINERT OF GLORIANA
By Betty Davenport
BETTY: Thank you, Rachel, for giving us this opportunity to speak with you. First of all, tell us a little about your background….Have you had any formal training?
RACHEL: Yes I have actually. I started out singing when I was five years old. I remember I got this cassette tape of Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” and I wore it out! I was just singing, singing, singing. (laughs)
My mother put me in musical theater early on. That is where I received a lot of my formal training from. I started singing and performing in musical theater from about age six until I was in high school. I attended performing arts school in 7th grade and majored in musical theater. At around age fifteen, I really started getting into song writing.
I have always loved country music so I took a trip out to Nashville with some friends. I somehow managed to get a publishing deal out there and that lead me to moving to Nashville when I was seventeen. I was working as a solo singer, song writer when I met up with Tom and Mike. We started the group and everything just took off from there.
BETTY: Who has influenced you the most in your career?
RACHEL: I would say Sheryl Crow because she holds a special place in my heart being that she was the first artist that I became aware of at such a young age. I love everything that she does and she is a true artist. I actually got to meet her when we played at the White House back in March last year. She is just an amazing person and it was really cool that I finally got to meet her.
BETTY: How did you first connect with Mike and Tom Gossin to form Gloriana?
RACHEL: Basically, I was doing the solo singer, song writer thing and put up a music MySpace profile. At the time, the boys were moving from North Carolina to Nashville to advance their career to the next level. They were looking for people to write songs and play music with. They happened to stumble upon my MySpace profile page and they reached out to me. We ended up getting together and the rest is history as they say! (laughs)
BETTY: Where did the name Gloriana originate from?
RACHEL: Gloriana came from us playing around with the word “glory” for a long time. One day Mike threw out the word Gloriana and we just loved it. We wanted something that was open to interpretation and that didn’t put us into a specific box. It was representative of the way we were and it sounded cool too! (laughs)
BETTY: On the first album, Gloriana had four members. Do you feel the exit of Cheyenne Kimball has strengthened the band?
RACHEL: Absolutely! The band started out with me, Tom, and Mike. We spent the better half of a year together as a three piece. Cheyenne was a last minute addition to our group and when she exited it was like going back to our roots to how this band really started.
We always had such a great relationship with each other and when she left, it was scary for us. It was definitely a difficult time because we didn’t know what the future would hold. A couple days later, we looked at each and said you know what…we are going to make the best of this. It feels so good now that we made the best of a difficult situation. I feel like we are closer and stronger than ever as a band.
BETTY: How much influence do you have with the songwriting and production of Gloriana?
RACHEL: All three of us had a heavy hand in writing this next record. A lot of the songs came from our own personal experiences. It had been over two years since we released the first record so we had plenty of time to really talk about what we wanted to accomplish. There had been a lot of growth from the experiences that we have been through. It was a collaboration between all of us.
BETTY: What was it like opening for Taylor Swift’s Fearless Tour?
RACHEL: It was such a great opportunity for us. It was our first major tour and we had a wonderful time. We met so many amazing fans on that tour. We are very thankful that we had that opportunity. It was so inspirational to see Taylor on tour. It was some of the best times that we had and we still like to reminisce about it. You don’t realize when you are in it how amazing it is until later on.
BETTY: What kind of feedback have you received so far from the video debut of “(Kissed You) Good Night” a few days ago?
RACHEL: The feedback has been all positive and just absolutely amazing. We were a CMT yesterday and they were telling us that the views on the video have been incredible. We are very exited about the video. We wanted it to reflect the lyrics and context of the song. From the various complements we have received, everyone is saying that this is what they imagined the video to be like. I feel like this is our best video yet. Megan Park and Tyler Hilton did such a great job for us and I feel it reflects the song in a great way. Our fans have been loving it and we couldn’t ask for anything more.
BETTY: What is the expected release date of your second album “A Thousand Miles Left Behind”?
RACHEL: Wow, now that’s the million dollar question! (laughs) We still don’t know yet. Unfortunately if it were up to us I think it would have already been out by now. No we don’t have a release date yet, but it will be this year.
BETTY: After the release of your second album, what’s next for the band?
RACHEL: Pretty much more of what we’re doing now…nonstop touring and lots of live shows. That’s all that I know for now. Not sure what the future will bring but as long as we can keep doing what we’re doing…we’ll all be happy.
Thank you, Rachel!
Find out more about Gloriana on their website at www.gloriana.com.
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