“Blue Southwestern Skies” is a heartfelt song complemented by rich vocals. It was written by folk-inspired singer-songwriter Rachel Hill to acknowledge and appreciate the love and support from her mum and the sacrifices she has made for her throughout her pursuit of a music career. It is a sweet song worth listening to. Plus, you can even play it for your mum. We had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Hill, and here’s what she had to say:
Q: What does this song “Blue Southwestern Skies” mean to you?
HILL: “Blue Southwestern Skies” was written on Mother’s Day 2022 and has been released almost exactly a year later, on Friday the 17th of March, just two days before Mother’s Day 2023. Deeply connected to my family and to our home in Dorset, “Blue Southwestern Skies” replaced the original title “I’ll Always Call You Home”. I am constantly torn between the musical opportunities that London has to offer, and the inspiring tranquility of the Dorset countryside. This song is a declaration of love for my mum, and a promise that wherever my musical career takes me, home for me will always be my family home under those blue southwestern skies.
Q: What is your favorite memory from the production process of this song?
HILL: My favourite part of any production process will always be the point at which the songwriting is finished, the vocals and instrumentation have been recorded, and I am left to my own harmonic devices. This is always the point at which I reach my flow state, layering up the backing vocals to my heart’s content until the song feels like it has a warmth breadth of vocal timbres supporting it: a ‘wall of sound’ as I like to call it.
When I recorded the harmonic stacks for this song I was still studying for my master’s in Commercial Songwriting and Production at Tileyard Education, London. One of the major benefits of the programme was the access granted to sound-proofed rooms for vocal recording. ‘Writing Room 4’ became my sanctuary for a good few weeks as I layered harmony over harmony to create these gorgeous textures which just lifted every song on the album.
Q: What was your songwriting process for this song?
HILL: The songwriting session which created ‘Blue Southwestern Skies’ was a record breaker in terms of how long it took for the whole song to form. It was written in our family home on the piano which has survived multiple house moves. It’s quite rare for me to sit down and write a fully-fledged song all in one go, but it has happened occasionally, and this was record speed, taking only about an hour. Having spent years wanting to write a song dedicated to my Mum, inspiration finally seemed to strike. I played it to my Mum then and there, within seconds of finishing the song, sneakily recording her reaction so that I could capture this incredibly special moment for the both of us. It is a video that I cherish and a clip of it even makes an appearance in the official music video being released on the 31st of March.
Q: At what point did you decide that you want to be a musician? And how did your family react to this?
HILL: I have always been surrounded by family members supportive of my musical aspirations. I first learnt to play piano on my Grandma’s lap, bashing out chopsticks with my index fingers. Having led lots of music within her primary school teaching career, she claims that she knew I had potential as a singer from an early age, picking up firstly on the fact that I could confidently match pitch with the piano and sing along in time to her accompaniment.
My family moved up to East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire just before my eighth birthday and I suddenly found myself surrounded by musical opportunities at my new school in the village. By the time I had left primary school, I would have taken up classical singing, piano lessons, and violin lessons, as well as having a valued place in an all-girl guitar group. I would remain for many years blissfully unaware of how financially draining and physically tiring it must have been for my parents to drive my sister and me to all of our lessons, concerts, and ensembles well into our teens (not to mention the emotional toll of having to semi-supervise music practise in those early, exceedingly frustrating years – I have never been good at accepting that perfection requires practise).
Only in my later teenage years would I begin to grasp just how much time, energy, and money they had invested into every musical opportunity. A revelation kickstarted largely by my accepting a place to study composition at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Junior Department) every Saturday for two years alongside my A Levels. It was a truly special day halfway through my second year of attendance when I finally passed my driving test, meaning I could now at least drive myself to Grantham train station at 7am in the morning to catch the 08:17 train to London in time for my long musical day to start with Chamber Choir at 10am.
Whilst my parents were always very clear about the importance of school, studying, and doing my best across all subjects to keep my options open for the future, never once did they question my decision to pursue music. They could see it made me happy and that was all they ever wanted for me. Writing this song for my Mum has been one of the main ways I can show her just how grateful I now am for all that she has done for me. How I am finally beginning to appreciate every sacrifice, and just how much she has shaped me as a person. I now need to plan a new single to release for my Dad to even out the mix!
Q: How do you balance your music career with your social life/other obligations?
HILL: I am in a very fortunate position to be able to prioritise my music-making above any other job, even if this has recently meant having to temporarily leave London to financially recoup. I have seen so many friends struggle to balance energy-sapping part-time jobs just to pay rent and further their musical careers. When you’re a wide-eyed child with big musical dreams, nobody tells you just how much money is behind every successful artist. If it’s not family wealth, it’s the wealth of someone who has discovered and believed in that artist enough to invest in every aspect of their career, from the recording, distributional and promotional costs to the development and maintenance of their brand image. I have always had an all-or-nothing personality, and that’s why I’d rather commit to making music 100 percent right now and live with my wonderful parents than have to take up an unrelated job that drains my creativity for a considerable part of my week. It’s not an option everybody has and I’m extremely grateful for my circumstances.
As I properly enter into graduate life, with friends taking up a whole host of 9-5 jobs, I am realising just how unique a musician’s life is. The instability and spontaneity that comes with freelancing make it difficult for me to align schedules with people outside of my musical bubble. Generally, however, I am very lucky to have understanding and accommodating relationships, having always valued my friendships and my time with family. With my schedule changing day by day, week by week, there is never a dull moment and this certainly gives me lots to talk about whenever I get the chance to have a good catch-up.
Q: What message do you have for your supporters?
HILL: I am so grateful to the gradually-growing group of friends and fans that I rely on time and time again to show up for me. They give me renewed confidence in my goals and abilities and renew my determination to keep pushing through a career that has its fair share of imposter syndrome and frustration.
I ask so much of everyone around me and consistently rely on the generosity of those I hold dear to me. Whether it’s buying a ticket and showing up to a gig, clicking a pre-save link, sharing a new release, ordering merchandise, commenting on a new YouTube video or social media post, or even just telling someone new about my music, it all helps to get me one step closer to making this a successful career.
I have never and will never seek fame. I just want to write as much meaningful music as I can and perform it to as many people as need to hear it. Everybody who plays a part in getting me there is appreciated more than they know. To all of those kind souls: I hope I’m making you proud, and there is so much more I have yet to give. Thank you so much for being part of the journey.
Interviewed by Zoey King
FOLLOW RACHEL HILL:
