Rachel VanSlyke

Central Earth Day Festival, Orlando F.L.
Alachua Spring Festival, Alachua FL
The Kickstand, Gainesville, F.L.
Shooting Star, Gainesville, F.L.
The Pizza Palace, Gainesville, F.L.
The Elbow Room, Gainesville, F.L.
Bike Bash on the Bay, St. Petersburg, F.L.
Tavern 213, Ft. Lauderdale, F.L.
The Guitar Bar, Savannah, G.A.
Home Team BBQ, Charleston, S.C.
Eddie’s Attic, Atlanta, G.A.
The G-Spot, Greenville, S.C.
Reys, Greenville, S.C.
Barley's Tap Room, Greenville, S.C.
Blue Ridge Brewery, Greenville, S.C.
Parris Mountain State Park, Music in the Woods Series, Greenville S.C.
The Coffee Underground, Acoustic Sean, Greenville S.C.
Smiley’s Acoustic Cafe, Greenville, S.C.
Bohemian Café, Greenville, S.C.
Haygood Mill, Pickens, S.C.
The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C.
The Pumpkintown Opry, Pickens, S.C.
Main Street Deli and Coffeehouse, Central, S.C.
Jittery Joe’s, Clemson, S.C.
Jack of the Wood, Asheville, N.C.
The Evening Muse, Charlotte, N.C.
The Greenrice Gallery, Charlotte, N.C.
Smelly Cat, Charlotte, N.C.
Flat Rock Wine Shoppe Back Room, Flat Rock, N.C.
Rocks, Richmond, V.A.
Lickedy Splits, Philadelphia, P.A.
Kenny’s Castaway, NYC, NY
The Living Room, Providence, R.I.
Grass Roots Festival, Boston, M.A.
The Burren, Boston, M.A.
Club Possium, Boston, M.A.
The Lizard Lounge, Boston, M.A.
Union Street Coffee, Biddeford, M.E.
Dog Fish Bar and Grill, Portland, M.E.
Langdon Street Café, Montpellier, V.T.
Saratoga Hats Off Festival, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Saratoga Final Stretch Festival, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Gaffney’s, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Café Lena, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
City Tavern, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Coffee Planet, Balston Spa, N.Y.
The Waterwhole, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
Dunn Brothers Coffee, Nashville, T.N.
Ugly Mugs, Nashville, T.N.
Billups Art and Music, Nashville, T.N.
The French Quarter, Nashville, T.N.
Acoustic Coffee House, Johnson City, T.N.
Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, Hollywood CA

Radio and T.V.
Appocolypse Now, Woodstock N.Y.
Mike Collins, Charlotte Talks, NPR, Charlotte, N.C.
Philadelphia Daily News Podcast, Philly, P.A.
Portsmouth, Community Radio, Portsmouth, N.H.
WMNF
WUSF
PIX 106 clear channel
WEXT

- www.reverbnation.com/rachelvanslyke

TSR Records [CD, 2007]

So you’re sitting in your favorite local coffee shop sipping a soy latte and contemplating your day over the Missed Connections section of the alternative weekly. A woman comes in; she strolls past with her guitar case and a sign that she’s entertainment for the night.

You watch as she sets up the mic, adjusts the stool and drinks some water then clears her throat. The music that is released between breaths is soothing and comfortable; a perfect accompaniment to the atmosphere.

Rachel VanSlyke is a throwback to the 90’s coffeehouse rock. Her catchy, well-written songs could be the anthems of several teen sitcoms, fitting snugly into the juxtapositions of teen love’s heartbroken, angsty, dreamy scenes. Her song “Into Me” could have been on many episodes of Dawson’s Creek, before Joey and Pacey finally hook up.

Her voice is smooth and smoky, like the exhalations of a cigarette swirling in the air and gently resting on top of unsaid words. The songs extinguish into each other, creating the overarching ideas. “Weightless” is an instant favorite with its slow jam lyrics, It’s more than a moment and I want you to know that you cover me in silence.

This mid-90s comparison is not to trivialize VanSlyke or her music, rather give it an exquisite taste to ready the palette. The 90s was one of the most progressive times for rock music. Rachel VanSlyke’s album, So I Begin is a tribute to this nostalgia.

- fensepost

This is Rachel Van Slyke’s debut record and it’s a great start to what I am sure will be a long career in music.

She is a great songwriter, these songs are addictive and catchy but not too mainstream or commonplace. I can imagine them being played on the radio but only on cool stations. There’s a complexity here that you don’t find in your average top 40 songs.

Her style reminds me of Marie Frank especially on track 3, ‘Into Me’. Her vocal tone is different, but the manner is similar. Her voice has a very familiar sound. Not so much that I’ve heard it before, but more that it’s comfortable.

Stand out songs for include: Into Me, Open End, Movin’ On…oh heck, I like them all. This is a fantastic record and I hope to hear more from her in the future. I’m pretty sure this will be on my ‘best of’ list.

- Review by Amy Lotsberg

Johnstown native Rachel VanSlyke arranges gear on her bike on East Fulton
Street in Gloversville Thursday. VanSlyke was in the area as part of a 3,650-mile
bike tour promoting her new compact disc and raising awareness about nutrition,
exercise and what she calls “faith in humanity.”


JOHNSTOWN - Musician Rachel VanSlyke, a Johnstown native, achieved success last year when she
signed with a record label in Los Angeles and recorded her first compact disc, titled "So I Begin."
VanSlyke, 25, grew up in Johnstown and graduated from Johnstown High School. After living in Los
Angeles and Florida for several years, she signed with TSR Records in Los Angeles and recorded her
music, which she calls a mix of alternative rock and adult contemporary. She sings and plays guitar on
the album.
The next logical step was a tour to promote her music.
Most musicians board beat-up vans or, if they're lucky, posh buses, to go on tour. VanSlyke packed
her bags and hopped on her bike.
Since April, she's biked about 3,650 miles from Florida to Maine, up to Quebec and, this weekend,
back to her hometown. Along the way, she's played at festivals and coffee houses to promote her
music, but the bigger goal, she said, is to promote the reality of sustainability.
"Society instills fear in us, and I want to show that we can help each other," she said. "We live in fear
of one another, afraid to look each other in the eye. We're afraid people are going to judge us. This
tour has made me not afraid. My faith in humanity has been restored."
VanSlyke said she is often asked if she is afraid when she bikes through "bad
neighborhoods."
"I can honestly say there has never been a time when I was afraid," she said.
VanSlyke is also hoping to raise awareness and show people can rely on themselves for their own
survival.
"Everyone gets caught up in the rat race of life, never seeing your own children, worried about having
the greenest lawn," she said. "This trip has been so liberating for me."
She bikes 50 to 90 miles a day and takes a break when she has a performance scheduled. Of the
roughly 100 days she's been biking, she's slept in hotels twice. Every other night is spent either in her
tent or, preferably, under the stars.
"I'm spoiled," she said. "I need that fresh air now."
Usually, she knocks on a person's door and asks to sleep in their back yard. Often, she is offered
much more than that, including a hot meal or other amenities.
"People have been so kind to me," she said. "It's really wonderful."
VanSlyke planned the tour by mapping out her route on Google. She set aside days for resting and
kept her mileage goals moderate so she could make sure she didn't miss a show. Money from the sale
of her CD sustain her as far as food and the occasional piece of gear, she said, but she also relies on
virtual strangers who offer help and their own fundraising efforts.
VanSlyke's 110-day trek has not been without its problems. She almost didn't get started because of a
drunken driver who hit her while she was biking before the start of her tour, she said.
That crash put her in the hospital for several days, she said, and her injuries still bother her. Biking,
however, helps, she said.
"I feel so much better, so much more fit and healthy," she said.
The occasional flat tire doesn't pose a problem, as she can fix them herself. And she rarely, if ever,
has a problem finding a place to sleep. By carrying her tent and sleeping bag on her bike, she has a
home away from home wherever she goes.
She zig-zagged across the East and played as far west as Asheville, N.C. She went to Quebec to play,
then crossed back into the states and went through Vermont and New Hampshire.
While her needs have been reduced to the bare minimum, VanSlyke said she relies on technology to
do at least one thing every day: text-message her mom.
"Every single night, I get either a call or a text," said Deborah Bowen, VanSlyke's mother, who lives in
Johnstown. "As she got farther along, the texts weren't quite as long, though - something like, 'I'm
safe, love Rach.'"
Bowen, who is a musician herself, said she is astonished by her daughter's accomplishments, but also
has some motherly worries.
"The mother side of me said, 'Don't expect me not to be worried,'" she said. "I'm extremely proud of
her. I just wish I was brave enough to do that when I was younger."
VanSlyke will play in Northville on Saturday during the village's Independence Day festivities.
Her tour will wrap up in Saratoga Springs July 16. She is already thinking about her next album, which
she says will reflect the bike tour and be a very "back-to-the-basics, bare-bones" recording.
"Now I feel like I can go anywhere," she said. "Society shows us negative images every day, but I've
seen so many amazing things."
For more information, visit www.rachelvanslyke.com.
- The Leader-Herald/Kayleigh Karutis

This is Rachel Van Slyke’s debut record and it’s a great start to what I am sure will be a long career in music.

She is a great songwriter, these songs are addictive and catchy but not too mainstream or commonplace. I can imagine them being played on the radio but only on cool stations. There’s a complexity here that you don’t find in your average top 40 songs.

Her style reminds me of Marie Frank especially on track 3, ‘Into Me’. Her vocal tone is different, but the manner is similar. Her voice has a very familiar sound. Not so much that I’ve heard it before, but more that it’s comfortable.

Stand out songs for include: Into Me, Open End, Movin’ On…oh heck, I like them all. This is a fantastic record and I hope to hear more from her in the future. I’m pretty sure this will be on my ‘best of’ list.

- Review by Amy Lotsberg