Earshot- Sept. 27, 2009
With just her second album, guitarist and singer Rachelle van Zanten is already a veteran of the B.C. roots scene and a regular face on the summer festival circuit. Where Your Garden Grows is a more rock influenced album that her first full length, Back to Francois, but it's still solidly based in the roots. She's not a stranger to rock, having spent four albums as a member of Painting Daisies. Rachelle bounces easily through many different genres, from a straight up blues track to lead off (a love song of sorts, titled “Showerhead”, you figure it out...), into some country/folk territories ('My Country', 'Windmill Hill'), even some First Nations influences (“Black Horse”). All of the various sounds come together in the standout song on the album, “Halo”, which packed a power-pop sound like it was written by Alex Chilton, and the rootsy “Green Eyed Boy”, based around some playful slide guitar and Rachelle's clear-but-mournful voice. Knowing Rachelle, she'll be touring her butt off for this album, so catch her in an open-air stage or murky bar of your choice soon.