Happy Halloween!

Anyone who knows me is aware of my not-so-enthusiastic attitude towards Halloween, but in the spirit of fun, I'm indulging Zach by dressing up and attending festivities with him tonight. And although I was against the idea to begin with, now that we have our costumes planned I'm actually getting excited about it. Who would have thought? I know you're curious as to what we're going as...so without further ado, here is our inspiration:

That's right, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon! Ok, so actually we're going to be Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, but these two were way prettier than any pictures we could find of the real Johnny and June, so we modeled our costumes after the movie version of them.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to post after tonight, so I will be sure to share them with you this weekend. In the meantime, if you'd like some instant photographic gratification, click on the "photos" link in the left hand column. I am in the process of adding albums, but there are a few to tide you over for now.

That's all I have for now. It's been a busy week, so I'm excited to let loose and enjoy the weekend, even if it is Halloween :) Bye for now!

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Rachel Rambach was born on June 5, 1983 in Springfield, Illinois. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, she kept herself busy with school, music lessons, and community theater. Upon graduation from Springfield High School in 2001, Rachel made the decision to pursue a degree in vocal performance from Rollins College, a small liberal arts school in Winter Park, Florida.

While studying at Rollins, Rachel pledged Kappa Delta sorority and was a member of several vocal ensembles. She graduated in two and a half years (December 2003) and moved back to Illinois to attend Illinois State University. Two years later, she graduated with a masters degree in music therapy and moved back to Springfield to take a job as the first music therapist at the Hope Institute for Children and Families.

Rachel teaches private voice, guitar, and piano lessons as well as providing music therapy to children in the community. She has also provided services to families at The Autism Program. Rachel has been featured in Springfield's Own Magazine, Illinois Issues, and Me Magazine for her work in the music therapy field. She writes a blog called Listen & Learn Music, a collection of the music therapy songs she's written.

Rachel met her husband, Zach, in the sixth grade (when they briefly "dated") and reconnected with him on her 21st birthday. They have been together ever since, and were married on August 8, 2008. After a honeymoon on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, they returned to Springfield where they own a home. Zach is a sales and service agent with AAA Insurance.

Zach has been Rachel's #1 fan for the past four years, and just recently has taken on the role of promoter and manager (or so he likes to think). He takes credit for filling the seats at Rachel's first gig in downtown Springfield at The Alamo, a feat that will, with any luck, be repeated time and time again.

Rachel describes her sound as a country-pop-folk hybrid, and performs covers by current artists such as Carrie Underwood, Jason Mraz, Sheryl Crow, and Tracy Chapman. She has a slowly-growing collection of original songs which fall into those overlapping genres.

Keep up with Rachel's blog for the latest news and information.

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From Mozart to Mraz: A Look Back

It's incredible to think that five years ago today, I gave my senior voice recital at Rollins College. The program included selections by Beethoven, Faure, Mozart, Purcell, and Schubert, which I sang in Italian, French, German, and English. If you asked me to sing one of my recital pieces today, I'd be hard-pressed to remember an entire verse.

I spent countless hours of my college career learning the correct pronunciations for all those languages, memorizing song after song, and hitting notes that I can only dream of these days. It was an amazing experience, and I wouldn't change anything about it...mostly.

So now here I am, five years later, still immersed in music - but of a very different breed. It was exciting and challenging to sing Mr. Mozart's stuff, but now I prefer Mr. Mraz (Jason, that is) and his cohorts. I know that lots of people in the classical world look down upon "pop" and other contemporary music, but while I was in that world, I was never one of those people. And that's a good thing, because if I was, my life may have taken a completely different track.

I'm happy doing what I do, but sometimes it's fun to pull out my old music and see if I've still got it in me. Usually I don't, but every once in a while, I surprise myself :)

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My Alamo Debut

Ok, so the poster isn't glamorous...but hey, everyone starts somewhere, right?

The Alamo was the place to be last Friday during happy hour (obviously!). By the time I finished my third set, the place was packed, which came as a surprise to me. I would have been happy with an audience of 15 people :)

I couldn't think of a more fitting place to play my first gig - after all, I've spent many nights there (either as a patron or working in the beer garden) over the last four years. It was so much fun performing in such a familiar venue, and in front of so many friends, family members and Alamo regulars.

I'm already anxious to do it again, and luckily I won't have to wait too long: I'll be playing on Wednesday, November 26 from 5:30-7:30. It's the evening before Thanksgiving, so bring all your friends and relatives!

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rachelrambach.com

Welcome to the first ever rachelrambach.com! This isn't my first website (in fact, while you're at it, be sure to check out my music therapy song blog) but it is the first that is dedicated to my adventures as a singer/songwriter. This is where I'll be posting my songs as I write and record, as well as news and events.

I've been extremely busy with work lately, which means I haven't had much time to devote to writing down the songs that have been formulating in my head over the past few months. But look for "Second Chance Dance," "Sweet Sweet Summer," and "What You Have to Do" to be posted soon.

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More About Rachel Rambach

Have a question for me? Hopefully you'll find the answer here, but if not, just shoot me an email.

Q. How long have you been writing and performing?
A. I've been performing in one capacity or another since the 6th grade. However, I've only been writing and performing my own songs since 2008, when I started dedicating my free time to doing so.

Q. Do you have a day job?
A. Yes! Otherwise it would be pretty difficult to pay the bills :) I am a board-certified music therapist in both private practice and at the Hope Institute in Springfield.

Q. Are you on Facebook? If so, can I be friends with you?
A. Yes and yes. You can find my profile here. Simply add me as a friend, and if you don't mind, leave me a short message to let me know how you found me. Thanks!

Q. What about MySpace?
A. Here's a link to my MySpace Music page. I also have a personal MySpace page, though I always forget to check it. I'm more of a Facebook gal.

Q. Wow, you are all over the internet. Any other places I should know about?
A. I'm glad you asked. In addition to the songs you'll find here, I also write children's songs. Check them out if you have a moment.

Q. Do you have a CD I can buy?
A. For my latest, just click on "music" in the menu at the top of this page.

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