After dropping Glory Daze, TN-based independent country singer-songwriter Rachel McIntyre comes back and releases her new single, Miss Highfalutin.
Miss Highfalutin
After her Glory Daze, on August 5, Rachel McIntyre Smith returned with a new single. The country independent singer and songwriter released her new single, Miss Highfalutin. As she said herself, the song is a “boot stomping song full of steel guitar, funny quips, banjo, & drums.”
The singer commented the song on an Instagram post saying:
“This one goes out to all the folks who get too big for their britches. “
She then added
“I noticed a trend with some people who had moved away from home. Once they got a taste of what the city was like, they started talking down about our hometown. I began jotting down little snippy one liners in my phone that I wanted to tell those people.”
The song is an ironic song about saying goodbye to a “bad vibes” person, the so-called “Miss Highfalutin.” As McIntyre explained:
“If you’re not from the south, you may not be familiar with the phrase “highfalutin.” That’s a country way of saying “stuck up”. I think we all have at least one Miss Highfalutin in our life.”
With phrases of anger mixed relief, the singer delivers a loud and clear “goodbye.”
Glory Daze
The singer ironised on the song Glory Daze, saying that “If a quarter life crisis was a song, it’d be this one.” The song first got some attention on TikTok. People compared her songwriting to the stylings of country music legends, including Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, and Linda Ronstadt.
McIntyre then posted an acoustic version of the song to YouTube. The song immediately gained a huge success, especially for an independent artist who’s just starting releasing songs. In fact, the singer released only 5 songs, starting in 2020. However, her first single, 2020 High School Reunion, has more than 41.000 plays on Spotify.
As she mentioned for her song Glory Daze, which at the time was added to multiple playlists, “As an independent artist this is a HUGE DEAL to me.”
Rachel McIntyre Smith
McIntyre is a great lyricist and charismatic performer (as one can see in her multiple live appearances), especially when one considers that all that she’s done so far was made as an independent artist.
Raised in the small East Tennessee town of Oliver Springs outside of Knoxville, Smith began intensive piano training at 9 years old. She even won the Tennessee State Piano Competition twice. Moreover, she taught herself ukulele and guitar and also served as clarinet section leader in her school band. Although she always dreamed of being a singer, her bashfulness kept her from singing in public until she was a junior in high school. She made her debut singing “Please Mister Postman” in the high school theatre arts production of “Ducktails & Bobby Socks.” As Smith progressed in music, she started combining her two passions of music and writing, also following her mother’s encouragement in writing music.
After high school she went on to study Communications and Spanish at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. There she learned web design, graphic design, social media marketing, videography, and other skills needed in order to succeed in a world where all musicians have to double as content creators.
The singer created lyrics and music on her own through her playing both guitar, piano and drums. With some poignant and some hilarious lyrics, Smith pulls listeners into her headspace as she attempts to move into the next chapter of her life.
Moreover, the artist was great at creating herself a strong and well recognisable image though colours. In fact, purple and pink resonates not only in her covers but are also easily associable to the music. This strikes the attention especially when compared to other country artists, in which the more “classic” and “minimal.” Her music is indeed a good representation of a 20-year-old woman’s life, swinging from songs like High School Reunion to Glory Daze. However, the country influence stays central while discussing more “pop” themes.
Is she going to be the next Taylor Swift? Let us know what you think in the comments!
An upcoming album
Smith is set to release her debut EP, Glory Daze, independently on September 30, 2022.
She began working with producer Dran Michael at Deadbird Studios in Chattanooga in the fall of 2020 to record the songs that would, collectively, form Glory Daze.
The EP explores the uncertainty, nostalgia, and regret that comes along with becoming an adult and letting go of your childhood. Smith explains
“At the start of the pandemic, I moved back in with my parents. I saw all the people I had grown up with getting married and having kids. Meanwhile, I was sleeping in the same twin bed that I had slept in for the first 18 years of my life. In that process, I felt so many different emotions. I poured them all into this six-track EP; if a quarter-life crisis was an EP, it would be this one. I started evaluating a lot of my decisions and reliving old memories. This sent me going down a spiral, and, as I fell to rock bottom, I wrote these songs.”
The tracklist includes her latest singles Glory Daze, High School Reunion, and Miss Highfalutin.
Track listing
Glory Daze
Queen of Our Hometown
The Woulds
First Love
Miss Highfalutin
High School Reunion
