Raechel Whitchurch was born and raised on country music. Some might say that her life reads like a country song – from her parents’ shotgun wedding and her childhood spent living in a caravan, to her dobro-playing husband and their babies named after long-gone country music stars – it’s hardly surprising that she ended up singing her songs for a living. Raechel started playing piano when she was 5, and then traded it in at 8 for a mandolin. Guitar and banjo soon followed, and so did the songs. Songwriting became something she simply had to do, and many nights her parents would find her in her room long after her bedtime, lights dimmed, pen and guitar in hand.

“My family were all very musical and we were encouraged to chase after our own musical dreams. I started playing guitar when I was 12 and it changed everything for me. I realised that if I could put how I felt into a song, people were able to understand and relate to it more than when I just said it. I was hooked and something in me came alive.”

Raechel’s songwriting was always beyond her years, and while other kids her age were fixated on the popular artists of the time, she was listening to Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Lucinda Williams and countless other songwriting legends. This shaped the way she wrote her own songs, and even from an early age, she didn’t care if she was ‘cool’ – she just wanted to say something profound and beautiful.

Raechel’s debut album ‘Finally Clear’ was released in April 2021. It debuted at #1 on the ARIA Australian Artists Country Chart and received a Golden Guitar nomination for Best New Talent. A follow up album is planned for mid 2023.