SONGWRITER MOVING

TO THE NEXT LEVEL

bu Barry Lemoine

Hair today, gone tomorrow. That's the story for music artist and hair stylist Rachel Fleetwood, who after 17 years will be closing her beauty salon in Arabi to pursue her passion as a songwriter for the popular local band Vieux Carre.

The Band released its first CD on Dec. 1, 2000 after nine months in production.

After 10 years playing at festivals, casinos and weddings, Fleetwood felt it was time for something else. "We want to play at more venues on the music scene like Jazzfest or House of Blue," she said. "We'll always do some covers, because there is good money in that, of course, but it feels good doing our own music. And it's always nice to see people move to your music. It's a good feeling."

The new direction has inspired her songwriting, as she has written five new songs in the past month. "It's an escape for me to get on my piano and write songs. And I find that the troublesome times are when I write my best," Fleetwood said. "Closing the shop after all this time was really very emotional and took a lot out of us, but I feel like it helped me to really find my niche. I want to write songs and produce for others. I find that very fulfilling."

Fleetwood said she better understands the amount of work that goes into production, spending literally hundreds of hours recording, mixing, and editing. "We wrote, financed and self-produced the whole thing and we're really proud of it. It's very relaxed and very New Orleans, but it has a unique sound."

Vieux Carre will perform Feb. 8 at Boomtown Casino.

Fleetwood said it's difficult saying goodbye to longtime salon customers and supporters. "No one has supported me more. Closing and selling the shop is like losing a little piece of history. This was my grandparents' house and has been here over 50 years. It's really just a business decision, but I want the people in St.Bernard to know how appreciative we've been of them.

Fleetwood realized, however, that in order to pursue her true passion, she had to give up something. "It's just been to hard running the salon and the band. I'm tired of being a manager, singer, owner and debtpayer. My goal is just to sing and write songs."

So, to all of you music lovers out there, I say check out the new Vieux Carre CD. To Rachel Fleetwood and the band, I say may the muse of music lead you to your desired destiny. And to all of Fleetwood's friends, supporters and customers who have a new appreciation of the saying "parting is such sweet sorrow," I say "Bravo."

Barry Lemoine writes about people involved in theater, music and the arts in St. Bernard Parish. He can be reached at 276-3947 or Blem869667@aol.com

"...a full bodied groove throughout this impressive debut."

Lagniappe Magazine

- Sound Advice

With the 10 smartly arranged, expertly rendered original compositions on their self-titled debut, the members of Vieux Carre fill a local void with sleek contemporary funk and R&B overlaid with smooth jazz influences. Vocalist Rachel Fleetwood glides over the easy funk of "Never Let You Go" then opens up for the mid-tempo "You're The Reason." Reggie Murray's alto saxophone is a consistent presence throughout, Steve Martin's guitar shadows the piano in "You've Got My Heart" then veers into blues territory on "You Walked Out On Me," and drummer Chip Caillouet and bassist Rod Fleetwood consistently lock into a full bodied groove throughout this impressive debut.

"Vieux Carre is a fusion of rock and jazz with a touch of blues thrown into the mix."

offBeat Magazine

- Dean M. Shapiro

Consisting of a core group of Rachel Fleetwood on lead vocals, Rod Fleetwood on bass and guitar, Reggie Murray on sax and keyboards, Steve Martin on guitar and Chip Caillouet on drums, Vieux Carre is a fusion of rock and jazz with a touch of blues thrown into the mix. Murray, whose last outing was with the all instrumental quartet, Rhino, doesn't get to shine as much on this CD, but he shows more versatility here. He plays keyboards on six of the ten original tracks, in addition to sax and flute and he gets a few good solos alongside trumpeters Tracy Griffin and Brian Graber on several cuts. Rachel Fleetwood is blonde and beautiful with a voice to match. Her vocals are controlled and evocative; soulful and expressive, adding spicy emotion to the ensemble's repertoire. Stylistically, she is akin to Helen Rogers, the lead singer for Paul Hardcastle's Jazzmasters. Unfortunately, she's not heard on all the tracks. Martin plays a mean guitar and some of his solos are as good as they come. Rod Fleetwood does get some great licks on the few tracks where he replaces Martin on lead guitar. And, as icing on the cake, there's the ubiquitous and much in-demand Michael Skinkus on percussion on half the cuts. Skinkus, who beat out a mean set of skins on Betsy Brauds's Jazz Nurse Perscription CD of several years ago, has lately found a home with Latin rocker Freddy Omar's "su banda." He is emerging as a renaissance man of the percussion genre and he sounds great here too.

 When she was eight, a minister told her, "One day your voice will be used like a golden harp and your husband will be part of that music."

Give credit to the prophetic minister, for now Rachel Fleetwood and her husband, Rod fleetwood are a musical couple of the brink of success in the record industry.

Rachel describes herself as "a girl who grew up in Metairie, lives in Gretna and works in Arabi." By day, she styles hair in a local salon on Mehle street, working in the house that her mother and biggest fan, Gerry Lalumia, grew up in. "I've been cutting hair since I was a kid. Always fixing my hair and makeup. And now, this job allows me the freedom to play my music." And music is the passion of this singer and songwriter. Her band, Vieux Carre' and its eight members are eagerly awaiting the release of their self-titled album debut in March. "It's very versatile. It's a mixture of R&B, pob and blues, and it has some beautiful power ballads. But all of our music has a funk groove. Something to dance to," Fleetwood said.

The CD contains at least a dozen tracks of original music, but it's the release of another CD that has the band excited.

"Secrets of New Orleans," produced by SONO productions and entertainment lawyer Ellis p\Pailet, is a compilation album of local artists, including Vieux Carre, which has two articles features.

The deal also allows each artist on the album to have its own Cd distributed along with the compilation CD in every K-mart and Wal-Mart in the country.

This is not the first time that Fleetwood was poised for music success. Almost 10 years ago, she was on the brink of a record deal with A&M records, the same label that housed Janet Jackson. But the deal fell through.

"At that time the music industry was changing a lot. There were all these hard, guy bands, like Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. It was good-bye pop rock."

But as we learn, the only thing constant about life is change. "Music is not a man's world anymore. With Celine, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Jewell, it's a good time to be a female artist," Fleetwood said.

And she is having a good time. She's energetic and enthusiastic, humble and hard-working And her band has built quite a reputation. After winning a FOX 8 songwriting contest, Vieux carre became the house band for the Mike Ditka show. That gig opened a lot of doors, the next one being the big Endymion celebration.

I feel like I'm ready for success. I don't think I was ready for it 10 years ago. But I have confidence and knowledge now with age. I'm ready.

Fleetwood is ready for her big dreams. She wants to start her own production company, and develop new artists, writing songs for them. But she is content with her life now. "I feel I am already successful. I have a great husband, a new home, and I'm doing what I love. I've proven myself over the years. To me, writing and playing original music is making it."

Fleetwood's contentment is also a reflection of her inner peace. "A few months ago I was diagnosed with some tumors that would require surgery. But after much prayer, the tumors have shrunk and disappeared." She fells that her healing was another gift from God. "I'm definitely into God. Iwant that well-known. I'm not a 'holy-roller,' but I think people are what's in their heart. Being a songwriter means that I was given a gift and I can send a message that will reach people."

Barry Lemoine writes about people involved in theatre, music and arts in St. Bernard parish.