Chattanooga’s Rachel McIntyre Smith has a new song that’s so beautiful and full of love that it brings grown men to tears.
I’ve seen it happen on multiple occasions.
In fact, I’m one of those grown men who has thrice now been reduced to a blubbering, sniffling mess by this particular song.
More on that song and how you can hear it in a moment.
But first, let me introduce you to Rachel. She grew up playing clarinet in her school marching band and piano at classical music competitions around the state. In college she found her own voice, and began writing and performing original songs around Chattanooga, Nashville and Knoxville.
She’s has two EPs available on all your favorite streaming platforms. Her songs are well crafted stories that explore the pressures, regrets and insecurities she faces as a young woman.
But this new tear-jerker song of hers tells a story that’s equally relatable to an old dude like me.
In “The Attic” Rachel describes an aging parent with an attic full of old artifacts they can’t seem to let go of. One way or another, time will win and everything in the attic will go away. But for now at least, it’s easier to allow those things to pile up than confront the difficult truths about our own mortality.
It kinda blows my mind that a song of such depth and maturity came from such a young songwriter.
“Out of sight out of mind / Out of room til I’m out of time / Paralyzed by how it spreads / And how it hangs over my head / Let’s not unpack it / Let’s leave it in the Attic.”
I bet this song hits close to home for lots of us. Personally, I have a couple of aging parents with an overstuffed attic. The other day I counted how many chairs these two people had collected, and including those stacked in the attic, my official tally reached 80. This was naturally the subject of some good natured ribbing among the family, but Rachel's song made me feel guilty for joking about their mountains of chairs.
“My grandma’s quilts and the life she built / Condensed down to a box and kept here out of guilt / We saved her stuff because we couldn’t save her / And thought we’d just deal with it all later.”
Oh man. It happened again. My eyes are getting teary.
So this is usually the point in an article where I’d share a link to this song so you can hear it too and have your heart trampled for a few minutes. But here’s the thing… this song hasn’t been released yet. It’ll soon be posted as part of the deluxe edition of her new EP, Honeysuckle Friend. But until then, your only chance to hear it will be when Rachel plays live.
But you’re in luck because Rachel will be performing live this Saturday, November 2nd at a pop-up concert in a donut shop. Yes, that’s right – a donut shop! Julie Darling Donuts to be precise. She’ll perform along with Nic Bevins and Jerry Holiday as part of the Quiet City pop-up concert series.
So grab a box of Kleenex and come hear Rachel McIntyre Smith perform The Attic on Saturday November 2nd at Julie Darling Donuts. Music starts at 8, and there is a $10 cover.