Long ago in an earlier lifetime of performing, I did a lot of busking, playing bars, hotels and cruise ships. There were publishing deals, almost record deals, voice over’s in movies and a job as A&R for Atlantic Nashville out of LA. It was a wild and rambling time.
Eventually the tides changed as they so often do, and I found myself immersed inside a different life of painting and photography. It was full of soul searching . I believe the solitude of being a painter and the exploration of a unique style of painting offered me a different perspective to songwriting. Not sure if its an innate sense of restlessness or if the winds were just revving up again, but eventually I put the paintbrush aside in search of a different kind of canvas and palette.
At a particularly low point when I was sure the tide would never come in again, a friend took me to a concert. The me walking into that concert became transformed, transfixed and re-ignited during those life-changing 90 minutes.
Diversions LA says in their February 2018 review, Carolee Rainey Tells Listeners to Feel Fearless. “Evoking comparisons with Stevie Nicks and Ricki Lee Jones the songs on her potent debut mini-album reflect inspirational and empowering messages lyrically. The music is solid, strongly singable, and will delightfully lodge in listeners internal musical repertoire for a long time. Rainey says she was inspired while attending a Rickie Lee Jones concert. She found Jones’ performance transformative, and immediately began to write her own songs. “It was the next stop on the train for me,” she says.
Philosophically, Rainey says she views life as a journey. She asks that listeners tune in to her songs because “they’ve got life, wisdom and lightness even if they can get rather lonely and dark.” Tight backing musicians create compulsively listenable support to Rainey, including Doug Yowell, Richard Hammond, Thad DeBrock, and Clifford Carter on acoustic piano and keys. The EP was produced by Grammy and Emmy award winning producer Robert L. Smith.”
Gr8 voice