Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You

When Rachel Tripp was 3 years old she ran up on stage and stole the microphone at her daycare Christmas program belting “Amazing Grace.” Since that moment, she and everyone around her knew she was born with the itch to perform. Her young debut was followed by many performances with her father’s band around the southeast Beach Music circuit. She grew accustomed to performing for large outdoor festivals and belt Motown tunes from Gladyis Knight to Stevie Wonder. Her love for Motown, with throwback melodies and instrumentation, helped form her “New Soul” sound. Rachel’s classically trained voice has powerful control with soulful swing, that is paired with dynamic stage presence.

Over the past 23 years, she has gained the tenacity and passion to hone her craft. She’s performed across the nation and world from Notre Dome in France to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Those performances led to attending the South Carolina Governor’s School of the Arts and Humanities and receiving the William Guess Young Entertainer Award twice. Continuing her training, she auditioned for the National Foundation of Advancement in the Arts, YoungArts Program for Popular Voice. She was 1 of 5 selected out of 3,000 applicants. Some voice alumni of the program include Josh Groban and Chris Young. YoungArts created many opportunities for her, including being selected as a participant in the Kennedy Center/Renee Fleming American Voices Master Classes and Symposium studying with Alison Krauss, Sara Barellis, Tim Folds and other renowned artists.

While balancing a music career and being a full-time student at the University of South Carolina, she jumped at every opportunity to share her gift of music and perform. Her next opportunity came in 2013 when she auditioned for the X-Factor and was selected as a second round contestant in Hollywood. Her journey ended after Hollywood, but she was left more determined to find the next challenge. The next summer she decided to be involved in the Miss America Scholarship Organization. Being a first time pageant girl, she won and was crowned Miss Hilton Head Island. The Miss America Organization opened many doors with community service, performing and being a thought leader in her home state of South Carolina. She finished in Top 15 out of 55 contestant at the Miss South Carolina Pageant and stole the show with her powerful rendition of Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All.” Her performance on the Miss South Carolina stage, ignited a fire that pushed her to move to Nashville the following year, after college graduation, to chase her dream of music.

Two years later, she still lives in Nashville performing, songwriting and working on a new self-titled EP.

“This project is a confession of everything I’ve experienced in life up to this point. The lyrics are heartfelt, sassy and uncomfortably honest. I’m crossing genres and mixing my love for Motown with bits of swing, rock and soul.”

The project will have 4 songs, with the goal to eventually complete a full length album and perform her music with sold out arenas or a small group of superfans who want to listen to her message and passion.

“Music is my outlet, it’s self-reflection, meditation and the only way I can let the world see my raw uncensored self.”