Rachel Riccuiti: On performing live and her journey through the Country scene

Singer-songwriter Rachel Riccuiti continues her journey through the Australian country music scene with her latest single ‘Bittersweet’.

Following in the footsteps of her musician father, the 20-year-old from the Yarra Valley has been playing the acoustic guitar since she received one as a gift at 4 years old. Reflecting on her future in music, Riccuiti stated ‘I am constantly evolving and working on my musical style and try to reflect my life and innermost thoughts through my lyrics.’ Her experience on stage has pushed this process along as she says ‘the best place to improve as a musician is on a stage with people that are better than you. Every time I’m in that situation, I have the time of my life.’

Ricciuti’s sound has been moulded by the greats of Australian country music past. She names a variety of iconic artists that she admires and seeks to replicate the energy of whilst telling stories of her own.

‘I’ve always loved listening to the greats like Slim Dusty, and the way that his writing style can paint such a vivid picture while still sounding so simple. The side of Australian music that really gets to me is the songs that highlight our uniqueness as a culture, and again, the rawness of the outback lifestyle. I love music that is real and comes from a place of genuine experience. Australian country music feels like that for me. Modern artists like Fanny Lumsden make me feel like this – I can hear their connection to the land in the songs that they write, and it is so inspiring to me,’ she explained.

‘Bittersweet’ serves as the lead single to her upcoming album – her first since 2015’s Wrote A Song. Riccuiti spoke on the process of putting the album together and how it marks a progression from her previous work.

‘This was recorded last year but was unfortunately put on the back burner because of the state of the world … ‘Bittersweet’ felt like a turning point for me. I wrote it when I came back from The Academy of Country Music in Tamworth, the very first year that I was out of high school and in the real world. There were so many intense emotions that I had at that time, and ‘Bittersweet’ felt like the beginning of being able to describe my emotions without really saying what they were. It also felt like a turning point in the way that I wrote my melodies – I felt like I started to put more emotion behind the layout of the song, not just the words.’

Riccuiti closed with a few poignant words on the power of music and its ability to bring people together.

‘To me, music is about community. It’s about artists supporting artists, and people spreading love and joy to other people. I will happily go wherever the wind takes me, but I’m perfectly okay with the idea of only ever singing to small rooms of passionate people. Small rooms are where the magic happens.’

Rachel Ricciuti’s second album is on its way and it surely one to keep an eye on.

Rachel Ricciuti
rachelricciuti.bandcamp.com
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