Rachel McIntyre Smith - Honeysuckle Friend EP (2024) Hi-Res

I like artists like this because they have enthusiasm & are untouched by the corporate crunch to produce hits & grind out product. But in reviewing these shiny fresh artists I’ve often had to criticize a bit but always with suggestions. I don’t want to see them disappear; I don’t want to get discouraged. I want to see them aspire, to climb that greasy-smudged hill called the music industry.

Rachel McIntyre Smith has an immersive talent but is also imbued in a genre with many variations through the decades. Rachel has had some success already, but the trick is to maintain it. That’s the undertaking.

Produced by Dran Michael (acoustic guitar/banjo/bass/mandolin) the 5 attractive strands that make up Honeysuckle Friend EP are homegrown touches on good memories, looking forward to the future & being focused on new beginnings. Not so different for country music but let’s see.

Originality & creativity are a blur for most of today’s country music. Some mine the tradition well & others fall back into a pop country with saccharine pinches of real country. Lots of mainstream country is ho-hum, pop music. But an artist like Rachel while having an uphill battle to justify her more traditional textures has the positivity. She is far above the ordinary. And that’s a big plus.

This extended play CD by this Nashville-based Americana/country artist is a sample of what kind of magic she may have in her kit bag. Her two start-off tunes are prime examples of a good singer with fine material: “Grow Up Slow,” & “Parenthesis,” both sung with a young person’s view & brushed by country music maturity.

Rachel cruises on a Reba McIntyre-Alison Krauss high-wire with “Memories In the Middle.” It’s a nice upbeat tune & well-recorded. Fortunately, I don’t find Ms. McIntyre bogged down in the country cliches a singer-songwriter could find themselves in. Thinking to be good they have to emulate the past or concur with what is popular presently.

Some other reviewers have compared her favorably to singers who haven’t been around the barn as many times as some of the more legendary ones. These artists, as well & have been influenced by others so I defer from comparing Rachel to any of the more contemporary artists.

With a song like “Stoke The Coals,” Rachel may have found the burrow that suits her style fine. Does she still need work? Yeah. But it will come with experience. Her songs are good, they’re interesting & next time around she could sharpen her cleverness & add a dash of vinegar to show a more lived-in character.