At 15, Rachael Lampa the wide-eyed vocal powerhouse captivated a nationwide audience with her debut appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and became an instant star in the Contemporary Christian Music world with her hit 2000 Word Records debut Live For You. Since then, the Dove Award winning performer has quickly blossomed into a visionary artist whose focus on her career is surpassed only by her ever-growing commitment to Christ. She took more creative control on her equally successful 2002 follow-up, Kaleidoscope, co-writing five songs and incorporating a widening range of influences, from Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill to U2. Even as "I'm All Yours," Kaleidoscope's third single, is scaling the Adult Contemporary and CHR radio charts, Rachael is ready to unveil the next exciting phase of her musical journey, the unique and progressive project, Blur.
Reflecting Rachael's desire to take her music beyond its adult contemporary origins and into a richer, funkier and more youth-oriented realm, Blur features pop, techno, funk, dance and hip hop reworkings of ten handpicked tracks from the two previous recordings, created by the industry's top programmers, remixers and producers. It's Rachael's music and powerful gospel message refashioned for Rachael's generation, a true portrait of the artist at 17.
"As I get out there and tour and meet more people in more places, I'm constantly being enlightened about other kinds of music," she says. "I'm more into rock and funky hip-hop stuff like Lauryn Hill and Sheryl Crow. I love the two albums I've done, but I thought it might be fun to give the songs new life to show where I'm at musically. People really related to these songs, and I'm excited about reaching an even wider audience with this new direction. It's part of a learning curve for me, finding out who I am as an artist. I signed my record deal when I was 14, and I didn't really know what sort of artist I wanted to be. Now I have more input as to my career direction. The first album was pretty mellow, while Kaleidoscope had a little more edge to it. Blur just takes that concept even further allowing me to blur the musical stereotype people have of me."
Released in March 2002, Kaleidoscope has been enjoying great success, with "No Greater Love" and "Savior Song" both reaching the Top 5 on Radio & Records' Christian AC airplay chart. When the idea of a re-mix album idea came up, it didn't take long for it to come into fruition. "I have so many supportive people around me who are receptive to these new ideas," she says. "My A&R guy Chris Rodriguez is incredible and knows the kind of music I'm into now, and so we got together to talk about some new musical directions. The idea for this kind of album just started making sense to us.Choosing which songs to include was a very cool process. I've been on the road a lot so there were many conversations over the phone. We knew there was an exciting experimental quality to what we were planning."
Six of the tracks on Blur come from Kaleidoscope, and four from Live For You. Once Rachael and company had chosen the songs they wanted to revisit, the original tracks were sent out to the remixers, who chose the ones that best suited their individual talents. Dan Muckala, who has done programming for Mandy Moore and Aaron Neville, also programmed some of the original tracks on Live For You. He does a pulsating rendition of the title track from that album, complete with a house beat and chopped up Spanish guitars. "For Your Love" has been transformed into an atmospheric groove. His other track is "Day of Freedom" one of Lampa's personal favorites, which mixes rock guitars with Middle Eastern sounds. Tedd T., who has programmed for Plus One and Delirious, tweaks "A Song For You" into an upbeat European pop song and takes "Free" into a 180 degree turn by adding a rapper to the verses.
Csaba Petocz, who has engineered for Cher and LeAnn Rimes, creates a stripped down version of "Lead Me I'll Follow" and a symphonic pop vibe for "Blessed." Jeff Savage most recently co-wrote and produced 2 tracks for TobyMac's Momentum album, additionally he has added his creative touch to a Michael Jackson remix, a Natalie Imbruglia album, and even found time to DJ on Christina Aguilera's last tour. He took "Savior Song" and "I'm All Yours" into a hard-edged, hip-hip vein. Jim Cooper rounds out the list by adding cool scratches and an acoustic guitar – vocal swirl effect to a tight hip-hop remix of "Brand New Life."
Pretty heady stuff for the self-described simple, girl next door from Louisville, Colorado who is looking forward to "more time as a normal teenager" during her senior year in high school. "I'm on the road a lot and I do get homesick," she says. "I tend too put too much pressure on myself to keep up with everything. Then I talked to my mom one day and she, with God's help, helped me realize that I don't need to be perfect, and I don't have to know everything about life or Christianity, that this is a journey we're on. I made a promise to myself to grow deeper in love with God every day and focus on what needs to be worked on. I like the image in 2 Corinthians about us being jars of clay. We're not proclaiming ourselves, but Jesus. I see everything as preparing me to be a light for Him. I don't close myself off to anything because that's what makes it exciting."
That adventurous spirit has been part of Rachael's life since her very early years singing in her baby crib and later, singing along with records of her favorite artists, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. When she was 12, she appeared on the Jenny Jones Young Talent Search, finished in second place at the World Championship of Entertainment and became a regular performer of the national anthem at Colorado Rockies baseball games. Soon after the organizer of a local Christian music event called "Praise in the Rockies," heard a rough demo of a song Rachael had recorded and invited her to come to Estes Park and perform two numbers. Word Records signed her shortly thereafter.
Rachael's passion for God, life and her music resonates through everything she does, and she's long said that the true excitement of her journey is looking forward to what He has in store. Blur is our introduction to a new side of Rachael's artistry, and she's only too happy to take her fans along on this fascinating ride.
"On the road, I feel that every conversation I have, every person I meet is feeding me wisdom, as if God is putting them there to guide me somehow," she says. "I'm learning so much from everyone, finding myself challenged as a Christian by observing what they focus on. I am often reminded that I still have a long way to go, and I am intrigued and inspired by that. God has put me in a unique position to be a positive role model for young music fans, and I basically want them to see that I'm no different from what they are. I'm 17, and I struggle with grades and curfews right along with them. On the musical side, I feel like the music on Blur communicates directly to those fans. It was fun to go out on a limb, not have to hold back, try new things, and do what I feel like doing. It's so important to always be challenging yourself both as an artist and as a child of God."
Source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/artists/rachaellampa.html
