Rachel Bissex

Eleva Chamber Players to Honor Rachel Nov. 15 & 16, 2008

The Eleva Chamber Players, Central Vermont's professional chamber orchestra, will perform the world premiere of a piece honoring Rachel on November 15th and 16th. Lament for Rachel was written by Rachel's stepmother, Glenda Bissex, after Rachel's death in 2005, but it has never been performed until now. Rachel's daughter, Emma Goldberg - a recent graduate in music performance (violin) at the University of Vermont, will join the orchestra in performing this very special piece.

More information from the Eleva Chamber Players website

Letter to Martin

Rachel recorded her ode to Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter to Martin", on her 1991 album "Light in Dark Places". In honor of MLK Jr. Day in 2007 we made copies of this song available here. Please download and enjoy, especially when the holiday comes around.

You're welcome to share these files under the terms of the Creative Commons "Attribution-Noncommercial" license, which basically means: tell people it's Rachel, and keep it free.

iTunes Music Store

Remembering Rachel is now directly available from the iTunes Music store.

In White Light

Rachel wrote "In White Light" especially for her son, Matt, who was serving in the US Army in Bagdad at the time; Rachel wrote that she was inspired by the notion that the moon and its light was the same the world over. She dedicated In White Light "to all those with loved ones far away."

In that spirit, we want to share the song with people who haven't heard it. Downloads of "In White Light" are now available:

(To download, rather than playing in your browser, right-click on the link and choose "Save.")

Scholarship Fund

You can contribute directly to the scholarship fund by visiting rachelbissex.org.

Nothing Like Dreaming

Many of you know that Rachel had a leading role in Nora Jacobsen's film Nothing Like Dreaming. DVDs are now available for purchase. In addition to the movie, the DVD features a special cut of Rachel performing "Dancing With My Mother."

The Grammy Possibility

We, Rachel's family and friends, wanted you all to know that Remembering Rachel: the Songs of Rachel Bissex is in consideration for a Grammy Nomination! It was entered in the contemporary folk category where only five out of the many submitted will be nominated. There are, of course, no funds for a promotional program -- the kind the record labels mount. We are looking for help from you, the members of what Scott Alarik calls the Deep Community, the community of the folk world. There is much you can do.

The ballots are out to voting members of the Recording Academy and are due in by November 9th. From what we can learn, BUZZ is what's needed. The album needs to be brought to the attention of the academy members and play, press, and direct contact is the only way this can happen. Rachel's story and the story of this album need to be told.

So, here's what you can do if you believe in this project for Rachel, for her music, for all the musicians and others who gave so freely to create this beautiful tribute CD:

If you're a voting member, please give Remembering Rachel one of your votes.
If you know any voting members talk up the album, give or loan them the CD or send them to the website to listen.
Call your favorite DJs and let them in on the news.
If you are a DJ, bless you. Please give the album some additional airplay and attention.
If Rachel or one of the artists on the CD is well known in your community send out a press release to your local publications. Be sure www.RachelBissex.org is referenced. (example press release)
Send this to anyone you can think of -- National attention would be so wonderful!
If you have any suggestions for us to pursue, we'd love to hear them. Send to mary@bissex.net or lynnegoodson@aol.com

Thank you to all who have helped so much already. Our window of opportunity for the Grammy is very tight. Please act now.

Sing on, sing out, dream big dreams!

Mary Trerice-Bissex (Rach's sister-in-law and member of the CD committee)
Karl Bissex (Rach's big brother)
Lynne Goodson (good friend)

Top Seller

Remembering Rachel was CD Baby's seventh biggest seller during August, and is listed on their current top sellers page. Thanks to everyone who has purchased the album and everyone who has spread the word.

Remembering Rachel

The amazing 2-CD tribute album is available from CDBaby. To quote executive producer Vic Heyman:

This is a fabulous 2-disc set of 23 of Rachel's best songs have been recorded by some of Rachel's best friends and admirers. Dar Williams and Patty Larkin, Catie Curtis and Jennifer Kimball, Ruthie Foster, Tracy Grammer and Jim Henry, Greg Greenway, Groovelily, The Kennedys, and Tret Fure, Diane Zeigler, Ellen Bukstel, Kate McDonnell, Siobhan Quinn, Sloan Wainwright, Rachel Garlin, Stephanie Corby, Kim & Reggie Harris, Lucie Blue Tremblay, Ronny Cox and Eric Schwartz, Amy Carol Webb, David LaMotte with Rachel's daughter Emma and nephew Daniel, Freebo and Jim Photoglo, Annie Gallup, The Dreamsicles and The New Hicks, Holly Figueroa with Annie Wenz, Kristin deWitt, Stephen Goldberg and Rachel herself.

All proceeds from sales will go to the scholarship fund for Rachel's children, thanks to the generosity of the many, many people involved.

Champlain Valley Folk Fest

The Champlain Valley Folk Fest featured a tribute performance, Rachel Bissex: A Celebration of Her Life in Song. August 5th, 2005.

Falconridge

An amazing lineup of folk luminaries gave a tribute performance dedicated to Rachel at the Falconridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, NY on Sunday, July 24th. The official release of the tribute CD was at the festival, and a live CD of the performance was made available as well.

Rachel's Music

Rachel's other CDs are still available, and purchasing them is one way to help her family and keep her memory alive. See the list to the right to order direct from CDBaby.com.

Rearranging Things

We're still working on rearranging the site to deal with the reality of Rachel's passing. Check back for updates and re-emergence of old content like the photo archives and music samples.