A lot of people have been asking who the hell I am – so here’s a very brief summary of my background.
I’m a music publicist who works with folk, Americana, and country independent musicians, and I’ve worked in the music industry for 30 years in various positions. I’ve owned my own agency for about six years, and I’ve never done any client outreach – it’s all referral-based.
Here is my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelandthecity/
Be sure to check out the recommendations section of the page.
Here are some of my client testimonials: https://sweetheartpr.com/testimonials/
I’ve had a presence online in some form or another since 2003, when I started a blog called Rachelandthecity. I created it while living in NYC (it was supposed to be my take on what it was like living in New York while working in the entertainment industry versus what was shown on Sex and the City) – but it really didn’t take off until I moved back to Memphis in 2004. There, it went on to win the Memphis Flyer’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Blog three years in a row (2005, 2006, and 2007).
That led to me being hired by The Commercial Appeal to write a weekly music column called On the Record, chronicling the Memphis music scene. This then led to me being recruited by John Fry to work at Ardent Studios (look it up) to help them transition into digital media. This was before the term “social media manager” existed, so my title was new media consultant.
At Ardent, I helped launch a new record label and took over publicity duties for Big Star during their relaunch. We had multiple projects planned, including a huge SXSW show, until Alex Chilton passed away the week before. While there, I also started The Ardent Sessions and The Warm Up podcasts, which were listened to by hundreds of thousands of music fans.
This is an extremely truncated list, but I’ve worked extensively in film and television, including at MTV and on movies like Hustle & Flow and Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. I’ve produced and hosted podcasts for Breakthru Radio, been an official blogger for Lollapalooza, Beale Street Music Festival, and Gonerfest. I created one of the first MP3 blogs that was sponsored by Yahoo!, I’ve written for major magazines, I’ve hosted and curated multiple SXSW parties, and I’ve spoken on panels at CMJ, AmericanaFest, and Indie Memphis. I’ve hosted benefit concerts like Rock for Love and 6 Degrees of Memphis, and probably a dozen more things that I’ve forgotten about.
In addition to my work in music, I created the Make Memphis! website in 2013, which invited community and city leaders to share ideas for making the city a better place to live for everyone. I also built a Facebook group with 13,000 members to help implement these ideas.
I also worked as a digital media consultant on the Memphis police chief’s mayoral bid (I know, I know—ACAB—but this was a completely different situation involving the city breaking its contract with city workers, which led to my father losing his insurance while he was battling pancreatic cancer. He became the poster child for the movement to replace the current mayor).
So, the point is – I’ve spent decades building a CV and a name for myself. And while, in the same vein as Taylor Swift, I certainly can’t say that everyone likes me, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who would say I haven’t put in the work.
Anyway, I’m telling you all of this simply to share with new followers that I have a long-established reputation, and this is not my first rodeo when it comes to fighting the power.
I’ve built a lot of social capital, and I’ve chosen to spend it on speaking out about the fall of our government. And I’m about to go even harder – so RIP my Reputation (Taylor’s Version) if I fail, but also, RIP my rights if we don’t win.