“folk-pop full of wisdom and instrumental warmth“ MOJO ★★★★

“One of our favourite artists" Lauren Laverne BBC6Music

Rachael Dadd is a spirited independent songwriter based in Bristol who has headlined tours around the UK, Europe and Japan and has performed many times with friends and collaborators This Is The Kit and Rozi Plain. Her most recent album ‘Kaleidoscope’ (2022) included a limited edition DINKED vinyl with a bonus EP of non-album tracks featuring This is the Kit and Rozi Plain, which followed Rachael's critically acclaimed ‘Flux’ album that gained a coveted 6 Music's Album of the Day. Rachael has received wide support from DJs on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 Late Junction, BBC Radio 4, Xfm and France Musique, and has done multiple live sessions for Radio 4's Loose Ends and The Roddy Hart Show on BBC Scotland as well as creating an hour show for BBC6Music's Loose Yourself. With a background in fine art, Rachael puts great attention into the conceptual and visual through her music videos, album artwork and merchandise.

Three years ago Rachael branched out into community music facilitation with an aim to bring diverse community into her life, and as a way to provide service and contribution. Rachael now writes songs for her Bristol based community choirs BYOB Choir (bring your own baby) and OAK Choir (Of All Kin) which she runs with an ethos of inclusivity where joy and wellbeing are held above perfection. The songs she writes celebrate nature and community and are rich and grounding like roots and earth while simultaneously stretching open wide to the sky and the stars.

In 2023 Rachael became an integral part of a new Bristol network of Mothers in Music discussing the barriers in the music industry for mothers and how to challenge them and pave the way for change. Last year she set up a new collective called MMILK (musician mothers in loving kinship), a well-being focused exploration of changing identities whilst traversing matrescence and a space to encourage each other to be vulnerable and brave, improvising and trying new instruments and ways of being.

Within the last year Rachael has become a facilitator of both Dovetail Refugee Orchestra and The Beehive singing Circle (inclusive intergenerational group). With her own growing sense of belonging to Bristol’s diverse and vibrant community she is now producing a new event series called Grove which brings all of her groups together. Growing the community is at the very heart of this project and music is the glue, alongside community garden planting in the neighbouring green spaces.

In the last year Rachael has started a new music project called Corner of the Garden with electronic music artist Sam Dickison, aka Kulture. Together they create music from field recordings of nature, influenced by the production of dubstep and drum and bass with clarinet, piano and vocals. The music is their ode to the natural world, especially to the natural spaces they find solace in within their home city of Bristol.