Rachel's Nasty Woman

Rachel's Nasty Woman

Bruce Von Stiers

Rachel Burns is a very vocal activist. She spent several years protesting the Trump administration, often seen in a Wonder Woman costume. Rachel is also a cancer survivor, which in itself provided her with a certain resilience. In addition, Rachel is a gifted vocal performer. She has performed at venues in both Boston, and her hometown of Washington, D.C.

Last year, Rachel released her debut EP, titled Living My Breast Life. It was a collection of songs that dealt with her breast cancer with both humor and hope.

This year finds Rachel on a slightly different track. She is releasing another EP. This one is titled What A Nasty Woman. Once again Rachel is using humor in her songs to bring across strong messages.

The first song on the EP is Mansplainin'. It is a soul styled song, with fun, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Rachel takes on men who think women aren't capable enough to perform certain tasks. And after the guy fusses and cusses and screws things completely up, the woman has to come behind him and fix things. Even though the song pokes fun at a supposed antiquated social convention, some guys are still that way. As for me, if I start acting that way at home, I get this look from my wife and I know I stepped over the line.

For the second song on the EP, Rachel provides a head bopping, toe tapping soul groove rendition of All Shook Up.

Triple D's is about women being polite and follow the tenant of the triple D's. That is to be demure, diminished and to defer. That you should let him have his way sometimes and just suffer. It's kind of a throwback to an earlier time where women were fairly subservient to their men. And that some men still act that way, so you have to appease them.

Pollyanna's Lament is a soft and gentle, yet sad song. It is about her sticking with him even though she should have left. Rachel states that the song was inspired by her grandparents' unhappy marriage and how she hopes to teach her own daughters never to settle. That is, to not settle for an available man and seek someone who will truly love and respect you.

Tiny Hands is a fun, tongue-in-cheek tune. It's all about someone with tiny hands bringing misery. Having been a strong protestor of Donald Trump, I can only surmise that this song is directed towards him.

Sundown of the Macho Man is ballad with a spaghetti western touch.

The final song on the EP is a radio edit version of Mansplainin'.

There were several people involved with putting What A Nasty Woman together. Karl Straub co-wrote some of the songs with Rachel. He also played rhythm guitar, guitar and alto sax on some of the songs and helped produce them.

Boris Darcy produced a few of the songs. He also played the drums, keys and baritone saxophone. Jarrett Nickolay helped out on the production of a couple of songs.

Rachel wrote a couple of the songs and co-wrote a few more. She also did the arrangement of All Shook Up.

Several musicians lent a hand on the EP. Timothy Burns played bass and upright bass. Eli Staples played piano and Fender Rhodes. Also on piano were Timothy Bias and Ariel Francis. Kevin Cordt played trumpet. Paul Bell played lead guitar on one song. Jason Hayes played the drums on two of the songs.

Helping out with backing vocals were Jerrica White, Kisha Holmes and Bonita Sellers. Bunny Sellers did backing vocals on one song and Boris Darcy helped on backing vocals on one other.

What A Nasty Woman is filled with songs of hope and humor. Rachel Burns takes on condescending men, suffering abuse, having to be less than who you can be and even infatuation. All this is done with an honesty that is reflective of Rachel's own struggles and triumphs.

What A Nasty Woman is set to be released on July 7 th .

Here is a link to the streaming and downloads page for What A Nasty Woman. https://rachelburns.ffm.to/whatanastywoman .

To learn more about Rachel Burns and this new EP, What A Nasty Woman, visit https://www.rachelburnsmusic.com/

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