First things first. You may have heard about the terrible wildfires that have been plaguing parts of the South. I've been to Gatlinburg, TN a couple of times and it's such a beautiful part of the country. It's a wonderful place to visit and so seeing all the footage of it burning broke my heart. As of right now, three people have been killed and who knows how many buildings have been destroyed. They could really use our help right about now. If you can, and feel led to do so, here's where you can donate to the American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation. You can also donate to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee who will be giving grants to nonprofits helping out. If you're unable to give at this time, please keep the people of Gatlinburg in your thoughts and prayers. Everything helps.
Now, today's EP isn't new, but it's a good one. I mean, it's Rachel Potter. I've said it about her before, but Rachel is the kind of singer that makes me want to become a better singer myself. She has so much control over her voice. One of those singers you listen to and it's so clean and precise, it's almost like hitting notes on piano. Take that ability and combine it with her skills as a performer and you have something special indeed. She's worked at Disney and performed on Broadway, if that tells you anything. Voices like her are my favorite kinds of voices. It's so versatile. She can make it sound delicate and sweet one moment and then she'll hit you with a power note that'll make your jaw drop the next.
I guess you could say that I'm a fan. I feel like I've said this every time I've written about her, but her voice sounds better live. This is a woman who could sing anything and have it sound great. That said, there's something especially wonderful about her singing some classic Christmas songs. Simply Christmas was the perfect title for this EP. That's what the instrumentation is: simple. It's interesting because a few days ago I reviewed Brett Eldredge's Christmas album and he went with the full orchestra treatment. Instrumentally, this is almost the exact opposite. I love both. I outlined what all I loved about him in that review, so if you missed that, you can go back and read it. As far Rachel, this EP is as beautiful as it is soothing. The simplicity of the music itself lets her voice really shine.
Though, let's be real. Her voice shines in general. This just keeps it at the forefront. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that at all. So, let's talk a bit about each of the tracks.
"The Christmas Song". First, the piano in this is so beautiful. I challenge you to listen to this and not feel at peace in the process. It's a wonderful vocal by Rachel. This is also a great example of what I was talking about in the introduction. She starts off singing relatively softly and builds it up into a belt and then back down. How I love when people actually think about dynamics when they sing. They make everything so much more interesting.
"Baby It's Cold Outside" featuring Chase Peacock. If you've been keeping up with all my Christmas album review lately, you know how I feel about this song. It's not exactly a favorite of mine. But see, here's the problem. It's Rachel - with Chase Peacock, whose voice goes with her quite nicely - and she can make anything sound good. She makes it so that I can still manage to enjoy her performance, even if the lyrics creep me out a bit. So, for that I say, kudos Rachel. There's not too many singers who can make me not skip when this song comes on.
"All I Want for Christmas is You". A more stripped down version of the Mariah Carey classic, this is one of my favorite tracks on the EP. I love how the tone changes when you simplify the music and slow it down. It feels so much more heartfelt to me. Plus, I always appreciate it when people make the effort to change a song up and not just go with a carbon copy of the original. Really like this one!
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". I like the feel of this version. It's another one that's nice to relax too, especially at the end of a long day. I'd argue that this is one of her best vocals on the EP. She basically sings the mess out of it and I like that. The way that she can come down from a belt is great. I think it's one of the things that shows off her control over her voice.
"Grown Up Christmas List / Let There Be Peace on Earth". I love the way these songs blend together here. Such a beautiful vocal be Rachel, as well. Meanwhile, I'm not sure that there's a Christmas song that needs to be heard right now more than this one. It's a song about healing and love and just wanting things to be better. Wanting there to be peace and harmony in the world. There's so much division right now and I know that I'd love to see people start coming together. As the words to "Let There Be Peace on Earth" remind us, it all starts with us. There's so many things that we don't have control over in this world, but you know what we do have control over? The way we choose to treat other people. Even those who we don't always see eye to eye with; especially them.
One thing that's helped me is to remember that we're all created in God's image and that right there makes us beautiful. There's value and potential in every single person out there. Just imagine what it would be like if everyone remembered that? Because I'll tell you right now, that thinking about that tends to put things into perspective. I said it in another of my recent reviews, but keeping that in mind helps you see the person behind the opinion. That's one of the big problems right now, if you ask me. We look at another person like they're just that one opinion, but of course they aren't. We all have different parts of us, different aspects of our personalities. That differing opinion is but one little thing about that person. We have to start seeing other people as people first. Everything else is secondary. I really believe that that is a great step towards achieving peace. Especially if everyone starts doing it.
As Rachel sings so beautifully, "Let there be peace on Earth / and let it begin with me / Let there be peace on Earth / the peace that was meant to be / With God as our Father / Brothers all are we / Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony". Yeah. How about we start doing that?
Now, today's EP isn't new, but it's a good one. I mean, it's Rachel Potter. I've said it about her before, but Rachel is the kind of singer that makes me want to become a better singer myself. She has so much control over her voice. One of those singers you listen to and it's so clean and precise, it's almost like hitting notes on piano. Take that ability and combine it with her skills as a performer and you have something special indeed. She's worked at Disney and performed on Broadway, if that tells you anything. Voices like her are my favorite kinds of voices. It's so versatile. She can make it sound delicate and sweet one moment and then she'll hit you with a power note that'll make your jaw drop the next.
I guess you could say that I'm a fan. I feel like I've said this every time I've written about her, but her voice sounds better live. This is a woman who could sing anything and have it sound great. That said, there's something especially wonderful about her singing some classic Christmas songs. Simply Christmas was the perfect title for this EP. That's what the instrumentation is: simple. It's interesting because a few days ago I reviewed Brett Eldredge's Christmas album and he went with the full orchestra treatment. Instrumentally, this is almost the exact opposite. I love both. I outlined what all I loved about him in that review, so if you missed that, you can go back and read it. As far Rachel, this EP is as beautiful as it is soothing. The simplicity of the music itself lets her voice really shine.
Though, let's be real. Her voice shines in general. This just keeps it at the forefront. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that at all. So, let's talk a bit about each of the tracks.
"The Christmas Song". First, the piano in this is so beautiful. I challenge you to listen to this and not feel at peace in the process. It's a wonderful vocal by Rachel. This is also a great example of what I was talking about in the introduction. She starts off singing relatively softly and builds it up into a belt and then back down. How I love when people actually think about dynamics when they sing. They make everything so much more interesting.
"Baby It's Cold Outside" featuring Chase Peacock. If you've been keeping up with all my Christmas album review lately, you know how I feel about this song. It's not exactly a favorite of mine. But see, here's the problem. It's Rachel - with Chase Peacock, whose voice goes with her quite nicely - and she can make anything sound good. She makes it so that I can still manage to enjoy her performance, even if the lyrics creep me out a bit. So, for that I say, kudos Rachel. There's not too many singers who can make me not skip when this song comes on.
"All I Want for Christmas is You". A more stripped down version of the Mariah Carey classic, this is one of my favorite tracks on the EP. I love how the tone changes when you simplify the music and slow it down. It feels so much more heartfelt to me. Plus, I always appreciate it when people make the effort to change a song up and not just go with a carbon copy of the original. Really like this one!
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". I like the feel of this version. It's another one that's nice to relax too, especially at the end of a long day. I'd argue that this is one of her best vocals on the EP. She basically sings the mess out of it and I like that. The way that she can come down from a belt is great. I think it's one of the things that shows off her control over her voice.
"Grown Up Christmas List / Let There Be Peace on Earth". I love the way these songs blend together here. Such a beautiful vocal be Rachel, as well. Meanwhile, I'm not sure that there's a Christmas song that needs to be heard right now more than this one. It's a song about healing and love and just wanting things to be better. Wanting there to be peace and harmony in the world. There's so much division right now and I know that I'd love to see people start coming together. As the words to "Let There Be Peace on Earth" remind us, it all starts with us. There's so many things that we don't have control over in this world, but you know what we do have control over? The way we choose to treat other people. Even those who we don't always see eye to eye with; especially them.
One thing that's helped me is to remember that we're all created in God's image and that right there makes us beautiful. There's value and potential in every single person out there. Just imagine what it would be like if everyone remembered that? Because I'll tell you right now, that thinking about that tends to put things into perspective. I said it in another of my recent reviews, but keeping that in mind helps you see the person behind the opinion. That's one of the big problems right now, if you ask me. We look at another person like they're just that one opinion, but of course they aren't. We all have different parts of us, different aspects of our personalities. That differing opinion is but one little thing about that person. We have to start seeing other people as people first. Everything else is secondary. I really believe that that is a great step towards achieving peace. Especially if everyone starts doing it.
As Rachel sings so beautifully, "Let there be peace on Earth / and let it begin with me / Let there be peace on Earth / the peace that was meant to be / With God as our Father / Brothers all are we / Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony". Yeah. How about we start doing that?
And on another note, how about we all keep up with Rachel too? Here's where you can do just that.
Rachel's country trio, Steel Union:
*they use her YouTube channel
Thanks, as always, for reading!
Thanks, as always, for reading!
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