Rachel Ries

Having grown up in South Dakota under the guidance of Mennonite missionaries, singer/songwriter Rachel Ries absorbed an eclectic blend of Congolese spirituals, Mennonite hymns, and the era’s popular Carpenters songs during her early years. She now resides in Vermont, where her first recording, the warmly appealing For You Only, appeared in 2005 as a collection of soulful acoustic folk songs tinged with country influences. In 2007 she partnered with engineer Kris Poulin in Chicago to shape Without a Bird, a self-produced, jazz-inflected successor issued on her own SoDak Records label. The following year Righteous Babe Records released the Country E.P., a split effort with folksinger Anaïs Mitchell; afterward Ries devoted herself to extensive touring alongside Mitchell, Bon Iver, and additional performers. Her engagement with Chicago’s theater scene earned her a Chicago Arts Award in 2010 while she broadened her creative scope. In 2012 she commenced work on her third album with producer David Vandervelde, the Secretly Canadian recording artist, tracking the sessions at the Chicago studio once belonging to the late Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett and enlisting an array of esteemed guest musicians. Ghost of a Gardener emerged in February 2014.