Rachel Brooke, the unapologetic “Rattlesnake” of underground country is set to release her long-awaited new album, Rachel Brooke Sings Sad Songs, on March 28, 2025. The first of three new records, this intimate collection of acoustic, lo-fi tracks is a raw, unflinching exploration of longing, love, loss, and life’s deeper questions, all set against the dark backdrop of America’s unsettling future.
Written and recorded during a time of personal pain, Rachel Brooke Sings Sad Songs serves as both a cathartic release and an artistic testament to her resilience. Drawing on her own powerful storytelling and a mix of co-writes with Brooks Robbins, a cover by friend Louis Osborn, plus classic songs by the likes of Hank Williams Sr., Kurt Cobain, and John Hartford, this 14-song album blends raw emotion with timeless influences, each track capturing a different facet of heartbreak, loss, and survival. True to her DIY spirit, Rachel Brooke Sings Sad Songs was recorded in her basement in the span of a week, then re-recorded onto cassette tape, capturing that nostalgic, lo-fi aesthetic that matches the album’s unpolished honesty•
It feels like we’re all just trying to outrun sadness, pretending everything’s okay and constantly looking for the next thing to make us feel whole,” she says. ” But I’ve found that the only way out is through. This record is about embracing sadness, letting it breathe, and finding some kind of healing in the process.
Rachel Brooke Sings Sad Songs is a deeply personal journey through pain and healing – Embracing vulnerability, and offering a raw, real antidote to the noise of modern culture. And In a time when so many are yearning for authenticity, Rachel’s songs are a beacon in the dark.
Rachel Brooke truly is one of those “if you know, you know” artists. She’s a master storyteller, underground country queen, Ameripolitan outlaw winner (2023), multi-instrumentalist, honky tonk poet, raised on bluegrass and red tomatoes. She’s the “The Rattlesnake” – a name given to her while drumming in a punk band during her teenage years – ever evolving on the fringe of country music, bucking the system, and never losing the game. She’s a witty introvert off stage, whose wall-shaking voice has earned her a place at cutting- edge roots music festivals like Muddy Roots, SXSW, AmericanaFest, Mountain Top, Cowboy Fest, and the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
She’s a self-produced, self-released independent rtist who has been featured in major media outlets like CMT, Parade Magazine, The Boot, Music Row, Glide, and Cowboys and Indians, garnering the attention from Nashville big-wigs.
But when you sing this well and play like hell, who do you have to answer to anyways?
