Rachelle Van Zanten

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.

Posted by Rachelle at 3:59 PM | Permalink

Lakes District Fall Fair
Burns Lake, B.C.
8 pm showtime

Posted by Rachelle at 5:05 PM | Permalink

I live for the Lakes District Fall Fair. I love the giant pig and the mini donuts and the medium goats and the bouncy apparatus. I also loved the show we had on saturday night. Beckie Bowerbank, Shane Bowerbank, Jeremy Walsh, and Yvonne Hernandez backed me on my set creating a very original concert. A BIG thank you to Redpine Sign and Design for the new killer tshirts...I love going local. The next day was Logger Sports Day and I won 2nd in the rolling pin throwing contest. I come from a long line of rolling pin throwers thus knew i could do it. I think I may gotten 2nd in the double women's crosscut saw as well but can't remember because that was about the time that the rootbeer floats went on sale for 50 cents.
I need to catch a ferry now. My motherland is calling me home. Tonight is a fresh trout bake.

Posted by Rachelle at 3:44 PM | Permalink

Showerhead, Rachelle Van Zanten (from the RZV Records release Where Your Garden Grows) Canada’s Van Zanten sure can play a mean guitar. What really caught my ear, however, was the confidence and brawn in this track. Mix the rawness of a Lucinda Williams tune with the slide guitar chops of Bonnie Raitt and a touch of Chrissie Hynde attitude and you’ll end up with something like “Showerhead.” Read it!

Posted by Rachelle at 9:46 AM | Permalink

I loved Robson Valley Music Festival. The food was local and organic and made me want to rock harder than ever before. The people were sooo friendly and felt like my family. The landscape was stunning and I managed to identify most shrubs and bushes with my handy dandy plant identification book. I played the main stage with Jake Jenne and Chris Chapman on saturday night and had the honor of inviting up Coco Love Alcorn, Mel Watson, Wil (drummer for Coco), Shara MacDonald, and sooo lovely sarah Noni Metzner. Take My Right Back was insane fun. This bliss could not last forever as I had to speed away Sunday to go fight forest fires on East Ootsa Lake. My faithful skidder, Bertha, was awaiting my arrival fully dressed with a 500 gallon water tank and Mark 3 pump. It was intense and I learned quickly how to live in logging camp conditions and become a ping pong champ (actually i lost in the end). I formed an alliance team that would help me fix my faithful 1975 beauty when she sprung leaks. I like doing these kinds of things when I am off the road. It keeps me real and reminds me of how my grandmothers survived in these parts. Next I am taking on a powersaw. I need to be able to cut 5 pick up loads of wood before the snow flies.

Posted by Rachelle at 9:08 PM | Permalink