For 17 years, Rachel McCartney had set aside a music career and all the anxiety and uncertainty that came along with it. She was in her mid-30s and wanted a family and some stability. Once she started a new life as an ICU nurse and mother to two young children, her musical career and the momentum she had created over the past three decades in New England and Western Pennsylvania didn’t much cross her mind.

I met Rachel when I was 18 years old while at Emerson College. It was the year 2000 and the folk scene in Boston was popping with incredible talent: Lori McKenna, Deb Talan (The Weepies), Anaïs Mitchell and many others were selling out shows left and right in listening rooms across New England. Rachel was a frequent name that popped up in the newspaper, on radio, as a busker in the subway and around town at venues like The Kendall Cafe, Toad and of course, the folk mothership, aka Club Passim. It was a lucrative time for the singer-songwriter with a big voice and great songs.

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She would frequently appear with another Boston-famous, yet under-the-radar songwriter, the Atlanta-born Brian Webb. Although, their friendship was hard-won after their brief romantic relationship ended. However, they kept performing together as the two were each other’s musical kindreds, their voices blending effortlessly. If you were at Rachel’s recent album release, you were treated to some Rachel & Brian classics that lit up the WERS Coffeehouse in the early 2000s. Needless to say, I am so thrilled that Rachel’s released new music and am very excited that she agreed to be on the podcast today.

In our conversation, we discuss her move from Iowa to Massachusetts as a teen and how the impact of that has influenced the way she makes decisions for her kids. She talks about her relationship to the guitar, her singing and her songwriting. She addresses the allegations that, indeed, she is a horse girl through and through.

She moved to Pittsburgh in her 20s on a whim, something we have in common. She reflects on Pittsburgh, busking in Boston and what it was like to choose a stable life with a family in nursing. Her new album, Taming Dragons, was produced by Zack Hickman and she shares what it felt like to be in the studio after nearly two decades. I was pleased to point out that dragons also appear on Tori Amos’ new album (In the Time of Dragons), which then led Rachel to share what the dragon symbolizes for her.

We did this interview in my backyard (like Oprah) and you can hear birds, lawn mowers and Francie in the background, but I think it all adds to the atmosphere. I have interviewed Rachel many times, but it was all before my cerebral cortex was fully formed, so this is basically the first real interview I have done with the fabulous Rachel McCartney!

Photo Credit: Off The Mountain Productions