Rachel Yamagata - Happenstance - January 2005

There is a combustible quality about newcomer Rachael Yamagata that for a lot of listeners will call to mind Fiona Apple. A first spin of Happenstance can make you itch with the thrill of discovery, but it also leaves behind the impression that its singer is vaguely dangerous; which is exactly what makes these songs so absorbing. "Everybody's talking how I can't be your love," she pouts in a melodically engineered stutter on opener "Be Be Your Love," one of several tracks pairing her with a piano that seems to take the brunt of the punishment for her wrecked relationships. The rest of the disc unravels with similar heat: When she growls in her full-time rasp that "(You've) worn me down/like a road/I did everything you told" on the very infectious indie-rock leaning "Worn Me Down," you believe her. But the less stormy numbers work as well, with "1963" coming off as flower-power pop grounded by a voice that knows better and "I Want You" wending its way through a fat, heartsick wallow to emerge someplace burnt in honesty. A late minute-long instrumental feels more tasteful than pretentious, adding to a monster of a debut already fueling hopes that happenstance--the term, not the album--will play a miniscule part in Yamagata's eventual output.

I discovered the husky, growl in my voice after joining the Chicago band Bumpus – a highly energetic funk/soul/hip hop band influenced by Sly Stone, Prince, Mos Def, George Clinton, and others.

Self taught as a pianist, I had never thought to be in a band, but when I saw them I had the irrepressible urge to be on stage with them – tambourine was my first role. I’d bring them coffee and donuts at 2am during practice and sit on the roof of their rehearsal space singing along. One day they needed a third harmony and I was there. They changed everything for me – introduced me to the fantastic interplay between bass and drums, electric live performances, horn sections, and band dysfunction which of course is a rich songwriting foundation. I had to find that Joplinesque power somewhere or face a public crash and burn competing with huge bass amps, guitar rigs and so on… Therefore, in true go-out-and-do-it Cher-like fashion, I did. With four writers and three front people, I also learned the art of crafting set lists and live shows and working an audience.

Alas, I kept falling in and out of love and needed some creative outlet for those emotions. Surrounded by guys who weren’t really coming from Carole King, Roberta Flack, James Taylor, Ricki Lee Jones, Simon and Garfunkel etc…the trail I began with them started to diverge. My writing didn’t fit, so in a cathartic breakdown six years later I decided to try an open mic with these other songs and see what happened. The next day I ran into an artist that handed me the business card of the scout that led to my first showcase at the Viper Room in 2001.

Every part of my musical experience has worked somewhat backwards, so I expect the insanity. My first solo show in NYC was at the Living Room on an out of tune piano. My second was a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden opening for David Gray. So yes, it’s crazy and no I don’t like to think about it too much or it does freak me out.

At this time I met my first manager who ran the CD duplication house that made copies of my five-song demo. Several more rounds of showcasing for major labels followed until I finally settled in at RCA Victor Group.

So began the whirlwind of co-writes, producer searches, booking agents, publicists and so forth. In the winter of 2003 I began work on an EP with producer Malcolm Burn (Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan) in Kingston, NY. This happened to be 20 minutes from my parent’s house in Woodstock.

My initiation into solo recording was similar to my initiation to solo performance: fast and intense. Malcolm is a wonderful genius that pulls it out of you no matter what. He’s earthy, raw, organic, and truthful and a handful for a new artist that hadn’t had time to figure it all out on her own. Our work connected enough to garner some great reviews in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer etc. and earned me a place on MTV’s ‘You Hear It First,’ and CNN’s ‘The Music Room.’ From there the EP has since conquered The Gap, a Northwest airlines flight to France, a golf course in Virginia, and a fruit stand in Woodstock – so my friends and family tell me. I have just found out about a Starbuck’s sampler and I’m hoping that guarantees me some free coffee.

I’m grateful for all of it, but I have to remember calm, calm, calm, don’t dwell, don’t dwell, don’t dwell…

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