Hello beautiful humans, and sending warm wishes from chilly-but-sunny New York!

As the year swiftly comes to an end, Rachael and our whole crew here at MPress have so much to be grateful for. From your collective support of her 15th full-length album The Other Side, to y'all coming out full-force for multiple tours throughout the US and across the pond, it's been a dozen moons of dynamic adventures and memories made.

In lieu of a typical newsletter, Rachael has pulled together her own personal 2023 "Top 12" creative highlights, reflecting a dynamic year of musical mayhem, artistic exploration, and friendships forged. (For those who may prefer a little poetry, here's a link to to Rachael's classic holiday poem, "Oy To The World!", along with a special YouTube playlist featuring all the music clips Rachael released this year).

Enjoy – and may you all have a safe, healthy and glittery holiday season with musical moments galore!

xo & light, and serenade you next year!!
Rachael Sage & Team MPress

#1 OFFICIAL SHOWCASE AT FOLK ALLIANCE CONFERENCE
Rachael started 2023 with a (quiet) bang, performing an Official Showcase at Folk Alliance (FAI) in Kansas City, where she and bandmate Kelly Halloran previewed Rachael's new Americana-folk-pop material, and generally whooped it up with members of the acoustic music community where jaw-dropping talent abounds. A keynote speech by Valerie June inspired!

#2: WINTER FILM AWARDS: "REVELATION GROUND"
Back in February, Rachael's animated video for "Revelation Ground" – directed by the uber-talented Antje Duvekot – was selected for the Winter Film Awards International Festival, where it won the prize for Best Music Video. Rachael & Team MPress attended the exciting festival, where Rachael also spoke on a panel and generally enjoyed mingling with talented film-creatives and taking in a wide variety of cinematic entries (including one starring her favorite actor, Oscar Isaac!).

#3: BUDDY HOLLY BASH AT SXSW
In March, Rachael Sage & The Sequins were honored to perform at the annual Buddy Holly SXSW Kickoff Bash in Austin, TX! The lineup was brilliant, many musical discoveries were made, and presenter and all-around-indie-champion Stephen Easley made all the artists feel over-the-top appreciated! Oh how we love Austin...and any event celebrating The Buddy Holly Foundation!!

#4 MOUNTAIN STAGE DEBUT WITH KATHY MATTEA
Performing at the legendary Mountain Stage in March with her band The Sequins was a musical highlight for Rachael, but moreover it was a communal, positively delightful evening of cross-pollination and discovery of fellow performers including Royal Wood and Darlingside. Our own Rachael even sang with host and country legend Kathy Mattea in the festive finale. We love Mountain Stage!!

#5 "OUT OF THE VALLEY TOUR" WITH ANNALYSE & RYAN
In April/May of 2023, Rachael & her fab violinist Kelly Halloran took to the road with dear friends and Hudson Valley neighbors Annalyse & Ryan, playing a series of U.S. shows (including live on WDVX's Blue Plate Special) celebrating their respective new records while frequently jumping on the mic during each other's sets and harmonizing. It's a particular pleasure to tour with artists whose music you respect, but traveling and working with such lovely peers was definitely one of the year's highlights!

#6 BLACK DEER FESTIVAL
What a joy it was for Rachael to play Black Deer Festival in the UK this past June! One of the UK's most renowned Americana music festivals did not disappoint, with Rachael, her violinist Kelly and special guest Will Wilde captivating the appreciative crowd at the Caffé Nero stage. Rachael & co. were thrilled to also catch some of their favorite artists at the fest including The Pretenders, Bonnie Raitt and rising Nashville-based folk phenom Kyshona. It was a welcome musical whirlwind!

#7 TOURING THE UK WITH NELL BRYDEN
A Radio 2 darling with a passional UK following, acclaimed singer-songwriter Nell Bryden invited Rachael to join her for her June shows, including an appearance at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (yes, THAT Liverpool Philharmonic! #TheBeatles). If you're not familiar with her brilliantly thoughtful, soulful songwriting, we hope you'll go check out her gorgeous music asap!

#8 OPENING FOR RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
For those lucky enough to be in attendance, Rufus Wainwright's special solo show in July at The Towne Crier in Beacon, NY – with Rachael supporting, woohoo! – was a dream, and the two alt-folk-pop songsmiths were a perfect musical pairing, if we dare say so ourselves! They say "never meet your heroes", but in this case Mr. Wainwright (and his adorable dog) couldn't have been any more down-to-earth and warm. Go check out his Grammy®-nominated new record Folkocracy, if you haven't already!

#9 MEMORIAL CELEBRATION FOR ARTIST RIKI CHEN
In September, Rachael and a group of his friends helped organize a special memorial concert for multi-disciplinary artist Riki Chen in San Francisco benefiting The Shanti Project, a local non-profit that "reduces isolation, enhances health and well-being, and improves quality of life for individuals experiencing inequities and barriers to care." Chen, whose colorful painting inspired Rachael's song "Heaven Is A Grocery Clerk", sadly passed away from a brain tumor but his beautiful work lives on, and impacted many.

#10 AMERICANAFEST
Rachael & MPress Records attended Americanafest for the first time in September, where Rachael performed alongside her "I Made A Case" cowriter Jeff Cohen, and attended shows at the legendary Ryman Auditorium, The Bluebird Cafe, and The Nashville Symphony. Rachael's got regional roots, with half her relatives hailing from the South – so she always feels right at home in her sparkly cowboy boots in Music City!

#11 THE BIRCHMERE WITH MARSHALL CRENSHAW
This fall one of Rachael's favorite venues, The Birchmere welcomed her as support for Top 40 singer-songwriter/guitarist Marshall Crenshaw – one of MPress' longtime favorites, and performer of hits like "Someday Someway" & "Cynical Girl". With his kick-arse rock band and engaging storytelling, Marshall and his 40+ year career of music-making bring special panache to the term "prolific" (not unlike someone else we know!).

#12 "I MADE A CASE" DUET WITH HOWARD JONES
In her final end-of-year musical offering, Rachael released an artful video for her duet with UK pop icon Howard Jones! Directed by the talented Tobias LaMontagne, it features hand-crafted miniatures, projections, and performance footage of Rachael shot by multi-talented polymath Mikhail Pivovarov! (And holy smokes, thanks to everyone who's been viewing & sharing it for the over 30k+ hits so far!).

**END-OF-YEAR HOLIDAY SHOW IN NYC, 12/18**

This hasn't happened yet so it's not included in the list of highlights above ...but because we're psychic, we know it's gonna be fabulous!! For our NYC friends, you can still come hear Rachael one more time in 2023 on December 18th, 7pm at City Vineyard. Come help us ring out the old and herald in the new, preferably in sequins!

12/18/23 | City Vineyard | New York, NY
2/21 - 2/25/24 | Folk Alliance International  | Kansas City, MO
3/8/24 | WMOT Finally Friday @ 3rd & Lindsley | Nashville, TN
3/20/24 | The Back Room @ The Star Inn | Guildford, UK
3/21/24 | The Bedford | London, UK
3/23/24 | Chapel Arts Centre | Bath, UK
3/24/24 |The Six Six | Cambridge, UK
3/25/24 | Katie Fitzgerald's | Stourbridge, UK
3/26/24 | The Musician | Leicester, UK
3/27/24 | Holmfirth Tavern | Holmfirth, UK
3/28/24 | Retro | Manchester, UK
3/29/24 | Forty Five Vinyl Cafe | York, UK

TICKETS

MPress Records - The Muscle Behind the Glitter!
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"The Other Side" OUT NOW
Rachael's catalog is on sale for the holidays RIGHT NOW!
Follow Rachael on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok
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Now booking Spring/Summer 2024 & beyond!
Email booking@mpressrecords.com for inquiries.

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