Rachel McIntyre Smith’s childhood was filled with music. She started playing piano at 9, and by high school she was performing Beethoven, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky in state competitions.
She played clarinet in the marching band, and taught herself to play guitar and ukulele to accompany her singing. But a funny thing happened on her way to Nashville…
While in college at UTC she began an internship at Chattanooga’s Songbirds guitar museum, and with their encouragement, began to perform her original songs around the city. “I started to get my toes wet playing shows, and I realized what a cool music scene Chattanooga has,” she said. “It’s a friendly place for me to be.”
While Nashville is full of opportunity, it can be hard for an outsider with no connections to break in. Through her work with Songbirds, she earned the chance to open for some big name touring artists like Paul Thorn, Lee Roy Parnell, and American Idol runner up Caleb Lee Hutchinson. “Those are opportunities I wouldn’t have gotten in Nashville among so many other people trying to do the exact same thing.”
In between working and playing shows around town, she’s now recorded two EPs of original songs. Glory Days was released in 2022 and drew upon the experience of returning to her family’s home during the pandemic, where she was surrounded by artifacts from her childhood.
This June she plans to release her second EP, Honeysuckle Friend. She says the last few years have given her some fresh perspectives on the past, and they’ve helped shape some new songs. “What’s really cool is that I wrote all these songs in the last year, so it’s more of a timestamp of my perspective right now.”
The first single (Parenthesis) will debut on streaming services April 5th. It tells the story of a relationship through a (parenthetical) internal monologue. “It’s a script of what I’d say and what I’d keep to myself if I unexpectedly ran into the one that got away.”
Another new song, Grow Up Slow, was inspired by her grandmother. “It’s about some lessons my grandmother would tell me when I was growing up. It’s about enjoying where you’re at. The song can be boiled down to this: I ain’t crushing it, I ain’t rushing it, and I think I’ll be better because of it.”
Rachel is excited to unveil some of her new songs this Thursday March 14th at the Woodshop Listening Room in St. Elmo. I love playing at the Woodshop,” she said. “It’s probably my favorite venue in Chattanooga.” She will appear alongside Marty Bohnanon and Alex the Band at the Woodshop Variety Show. Doors open at 7, music starts at 8, and there is no cover charge.