March, Rachel Baiman Americana Bluegrass from Nashville comes to Birmingham

Well versed in a variety of fiddle traditions including Old-Time, Bluegrass, Scottish and Canadian styles, Rachel Baiman is a versatile and dynamic musician. Rachel is a winner of the Midwestern Fiddle Championships as well as a two-time winner of the Illinois State fiddle Championship and a second-place winner of the 2012 Nashville Grand Masters Fiddle Championship in the “Traditional Styles” category. Her love for folk and acoustic music inspired a move to Nashville in 2008, where she earned degrees in Music and Anthropology at Vanderbilt University.

Baiman’s 2017 label debut Shame was featured on NPR’s “Songs We Love”, called a “Rootsy Wake-up Call” by Folk Alley, and described by Vice’s “Noisey” as “flipping off authority one song at a time.” It was nominated for the Independent Music Awards Americana Album of the Year and was the recipient of the Indie Acoustic Award’s Americana Album of the Year award.

Rachel’s latest album is COMMON NATION OF SORROW. “When I was a kid, my dad was in this tiny fringe political group called the Democratic Socialists of America”. That was considered extreme, something I didn’t tell my friends about. Now my generation has had to wake up to the intensity of our own economic oppression. We sit around talking about how anyone affords to buy a house, and how we can get rich people to pay for our albums” she laughs.

In contrast with her previous work, Baiman is the sole producer of Common Nation of Sorrow, which she recorded in her hometown of Nashville. She leans heavily into her bluegrass and old-time sensibilities on this new record. “In some ways, this is a homecoming project for me”, she says. “I wanted to explore these songs based on who and where I am right now, with the town and the people who have raised me musically, using the music from the place I’m singing about”.

“Baiman confronts the truth, even when it’s tough” No Depression. “A rootsy Wake-up Call” Folk Alley. “Flipping off authority one song at a time” Vice’s “Noisey”

March 2023

8^th Glasgow CCA

9^th Lerwick The Mareel Shetland.

11^th Newcastle Cluny 2

12^th Shrewsbury The Hive

14^th Birmingham Kitchen Garden Café

15^th Leicester The Musician

16^th Manchester Gullivers

17^th Shipley The Live Room

18^th Selby Selby Town Hall

19^th London The Green Note

20^th Bristol The Wardrobe Theatre